MOSCOW, July 8 (RAPSI) – The Moscow Commercial Court said its ruling on the Schneerson Library has become effective because the court had not received any appellate complaints against the ruling, RAPSI was told in the courtroom on Tuesday.

Under the ruling on a lawsuit filed by the Russian Culture Ministry and the Russian State Library in 2013, the Untied States and the Library of Congress must return seven books from the Schneerson library to Russia.

The seven books from the Russian State Library’s collection of rare Judaic literature were shipped to the Untied States in 1994 for temporary use under the interlibrary loan system. A representative for the plaintiff recalled that the loaned books were to be returned upon first request. In March 2013, the Russian State Library requested that the books be returned, which the US organization failed to do.

The books are currently being held by a non-profit religious organization, Agudas Chassidei Chabad.

The defendants were duly informed about the court hearing but did not appear in court.

Gayle Osterberg, Director of Communications at the Library of Congress, commented on the lawsuit saying that the Library of Congress had never permitted any violations regarding the Schneerson Library.

Lubavitcher Rebbe Yosef Yitzchok Schneerson was forced to leave the Soviet Union in 1927. He took his collection with him to Latvia and Poland where he left the books after Poland was attacked by Nazi Germany. The total collection was taken to Germany and confiscated by the Red Army in 1945. Schneerson died in 1950 without leaving instructions regarding the collection.

On January 16, 2013, the US District Court for the District of Columbia ordered Russia to pay fines of $50,000 per day until it returns the books and manuscripts to America’s Hasidic community.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry described the ruling as unlawful provocation.