Saint-Jean de Jérusalem, Nancy

During the systematic examination of the library's holdings for looted property seized due to Nazi persecution, it was possible to determine the previous owners of a French Bible with the New and Old Testaments from 1827.

Through cooperation with the French "Commission for the Restitution of Property and the Compensation of Victims of Anti-Semitic Spoliation" (Commission pour la restitution des biens et l`indemnisation des victimes de spoilations antisémites, CIVS), the Lodge "Saint-Jean de Jérusalem" in Nancy, France, could be identified as the owner.

The book was given to the Berlin City Library shortly after the end of the war by the salvage office for scientific libraries (Bergungsstelle für wissenschaftliche Bibliotheken). It came from salvage order No. 161 "Book Holdings in the Margarine Bunker," a collection and sorting center of the Wilmersdorf district. According to current knowledge, it can be assumed that the book was intended for the planned "Gegnerbibliothek" of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) and was transferred from Nancy to Berlin in this context.

On 20 November 2021, the Bible could be handed over to representatives of the Lodge Saint-Jean de Jérusalem in a ceremonial act at the French Embassy in Berlin.