Medals, belt buckles and regalia from the Nazi regime will go on auction in the ACT for the third time in six months, angering Canberra's Jewish community and a national Jewish group .
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry said it was sad to see people were willing to profit from the sale of Nazi memorabilia but the Auction Barn has strongly defended the upcoming sale, saying it did not mean to cause distress and the items were simply war memorabilia.
Dozens of pieces of Nazi memorabilia were sold over two events at the Auction Barn in December, including arm bands, stamps featuring Adolf Hitler and a Hitler Youth knife.
A Canberran who lost family members in the Holocaust, and asked not to be identified, said she had been shocked to see the items on display before they were auctioned on Sunday.
"Both my grandparents were Holocaust survivors," she said. "They went into hiding during the war while many of my family members were lost. My great-grandparents were in Auschwitz.
"I think it's offensive they're profiting from that ... If it's in a museum that's fair enough, but if the auction house is profiting from it and they've had three auctions in six months, it sends a message."
Executive Council of Australian Jewry executive director Peter Wertheim said the sale reflected poorly on those who took part.
"It is sad to see how some people are willing to profit from the collection or sale of Nazi and Holocaust memorabilia while remaining ignorant of, or indifferent to, the racism, bigotry, persecution and mass murder with which these items are associated or worse, see these evils as part of the attraction," he said.
"They are also desensitising others to the realities of Nazi brutality and the immense suffering it inflicted on millions of people."
Auction Barn auction co-ordinator Stan Jordan said it was not the intention of the business to cause distress to members of the community.
"This is a business and we auction items on behalf of our sellers," he said.
"Items for auction at times include Japanese, German, Australian and British war memorabilia.
"While we respect people's opinions, if we blocked accepting particular items for sale that would be discriminating to those items or people."
Mr Jordan said there had been a very high interest from buyers for war memorabilia and the items on sale were similar to those found on eBay.
Nazi-related items are currently banned on eBay under their offensive items listing.
