Heirlooms passed from one generation to another are always priceless.

No matter what item it is – a jewel or a family recipe – a family member to whom the heirloom is bestowed carries the honor of keeping something unique of their family. That is why many families look for that one thing they can pass on and tell a story of their past to the future.

The Leiter family never thought one of their prized possessions survived the greatest tragedy in history.

The Holocaust was one of the most horrifying memories for Susie Leiter. She was only fourteen when she bid her parents goodbye, not knowing it would be the last time they saw her. The survivors of one of history’s darkest times can never associate anything good with those events.

But somehow, fate reminded Susie of why it is essential to look back.

After nearly 80 years, Susie and her grandson, Jake, received their family’s heirloom – a Tanakh or the Hebrew Bible. It was found by a family who bought an old house in Oberdorf, Bopfingen, Germany, while doing renovations.

The Tanakh was hidden behind a double wall in the attic.

It was owned by Edward and Ernestine Leiter, Susie’s late husband’s grandparents. The couple was forced to move into the house during the Holocaust, along with other Jewish families. It was one of the many items hidden behind the wall, but the rest were never returned. The Bible was sold on eBay for around $75 last April 2017 to a historian named Gerhard Roese.

This started the Tanakh’s long journey home.

Gerhard knew the item had more significance than its cost on eBay. It weighed 22 pounds and was three inches thick. Based on the text engraved on its cover, he donated the book to a synagogue in Germany near the house where the book was found.

After four years, he reached out to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

It was then that one of their staff and researcher tried to search for the book’s rightful heir. All they had was a postcard stuck in the pages of the Tanakh, which said it belonged to Edward Leiter. Jo-Ellyn Decker found a certain Jake Leiter on LinkedIn and corresponded with him.

Long story short, Jo-Ellyn confirmed the lineage of Jake Leiter to the owner of the Tanakh.

As a historian, Jo-Ellyn found the importance of tracing and retelling these stories:

“Without those micro-histories, you have no larger history. You have no context in which to really put (together) what happened to people,” she said in an interview with FOX 5.

Jake and his grandmother Susie now share this rare heirloom that reminded them of their families’ horrible past. For Jake, it is important to remember all the past atrocities – something he hoped to tell his kids in the future.

“Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. I want my kids to know that’s real life. This happened and not that long ago,” Jake told FOX5.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: FOX 5 New York YouTube Channel, Heilige Schrift der Israeliten Facebook Page