Only a short while after an investigation uncovered that the Kedem Auction House had knowingly sold artifacts from a problematic source, the auction house once again found itself embroiled in a controversy about its integrity when it refused to stop the sale of stolen goods.
By Anash.org reporter
From fraud to thievery…
Only a short while after an investigation uncovered that the Kedem Auction House had knowingly sold artifacts from a problematic source, the auction house once again found itself embroiled in a controversy about its integrity when it refused to stop the sale of stolen goods.
The Jerusalem-based Kedem Auction House prides itself for “conduct[ing] auctions based on the highest level of credibility, extending courtesy and respect to both buyers and sellers.” But it seems that stopping the sale of artifacts that have been credibly accused of being forgeries, or refusing to auction items that had undoubtedly been stolen from their owners are not part of their definition of “credibility.”
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Over the past few months, hundreds of artifacts purported to have belonged to the Chabad Rebbeim have been sold in a number of auction houses in the USA and Israel. However, most auction houses stopped any future sales, or even renounced previous sales, after incontrovertible proof showed that the source of the artifacts had issued forgeries as proof of his items. Most, but not all. Kedem Auction House ignored the findings, and even announced another auction, set to be held on Tuesday, July 12.
That, however, is not the only issue with the upcoming auction. When a Chabad family in Israel browsed the auction catalog, they were shocked to see an item that had been stolen from their family. They tried reaching out to Kedem, but were even more shocked by their response.
The family was the Gruzman family, children of Rabbi Meir Tzvi Gruzman, a renowned chossid and talmid chochom who served as the longtime rosh yeshiva of the Central Chabad Yeshiva in Kfar Chabad. The item they discovered was a letter from the Rebbe to their father, which had been stolen from their father’s home and which they had been unable to trace…until now.
Over his decades he served as rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Gruzman received tens of letters from the Rebbe. both regarding personal and yeshiva matters. A number of years before his passing, an unknown individual stole tens of those letters from his home, along with other, similar items that were priceless to the owner and his family, such as a notepad where he jotted down his conversations with the Rebbe in yechidus.
At the time, his family members questioned dozens of regular visitors to Rabbi Gruzman’s home to attempt to find out who is responsible for the theft, but all their efforts were in vain. After their father’s passing as well, the family continued with their efforts to find the letters, even filing a complaint with the Israeli Police, but nothing came of it.
All that changed when Kedem published the catalog for their upcoming auction. Among the items being offered were a letter from the Rebbe to Rabbi Gruzman from Elul of 5727, a letter that was among the many stolen from his home and missing up until now.
The family turned to Kedem, expecting them to follow the most logical course of action, and return the letter to its rightful owners. They were in for an unpleasant surprise. Despite the proofs presented to them, Kedem refused to take the item off the auction, and as of Sunday, the letter is still up for auction, with a top bid of $550.
“These letters belong to the family, there are no two ways about it,” an individual involved in the failed dialogue with Kedem told Anash.org. “Any G-d fearing individual will stay away from even dealing with such items, and we will be continuing our effort to have them returned to their owners.”
When asked for a response, Kedem Auction House responded with a word salad, throwing around terms such as chazaka while saying it “was difficult to cover the issue in short words.”
The Gruzman family requests that any individual with information about the stolen collection should reach out to Attorney Sharon Goshen at [email protected]. Full confidentiality is guaranteed.
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