Finci: Sarajevo Haggadah stays in the capital of BiH, we didn't even allow it to go to the USA

(Patria) - President of the Jewish Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina Jakob Finci stated that the Sarajevo Haggadah, a precious manuscript that got its name precisely after Sarajevo, will remain in the capital of BiH for "ages and ages".

He said this commenting on the statement of the President of SNSD Milorad Dodik, who during his visit to Jerusalem said that he would propose that the Sarajevo Haggadah be “returned to Israel,” claiming that it has become a subject of political abuse of Jewish cultural heritage.

Finci emphasized that the Haggadah has never left Sarajevo since it arrived there.

"It was only one day in Zagreb at the exhibition ‘Jews on the Territory of Yugoslavia,’ and it returned the same day. Therefore, I doubt that during his lifetime the Haggadah will leave Sarajevo, but life is ahead of us, so we'll see," he said.

He also recalled the earlier invitation from the Metropolitan Museum in New York for the Sarajevo Haggadah to be exhibited in the USA, but the Jewish Community did not allow it due to the high risk of transport.

"It is too dangerous for it to leave Sarajevo, let alone go somewhere further, especially far away where it has never been," Finci said.