Prozess gegen die Juden von Trient

Commissioned in the 1470s, it came into the possession of a convent in Vienna in the 17th century and remained there until 1937, when it was purchased at auction by Lessing J. Rosenwald in order to avoid the document falling into the hands of the Nazis and being used to justify anti-semitism.

Rosenwald was certain that, should the manuscript be obtained by the Nazi German administration, it would be used to justify anti-Semitism, and insisted that his auction agent spend whatever amount of money was necessary to secure it.

[3] As soon as the work arrived in the United States, Rosenwald shipped it to the American Jewish Historical Society, mandating that it be sealed and hidden for 50 years.

When this time period expired, the Society auctioned the manuscript for $176,000 to Erica and Ludwig Jesselson, a pair of Jewish cultural collectors and patrons.

[3] The Prozess is not a complete copy of the trial proceedings, as it was commissioned during the campaign to secure Simon of Trent's status as a Catholic Saint; it contains only selected documents.