Auction houses found selling Nazi memorabilia, Holocaust survivors irate

The proper location for such items is the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and Museum , said its chairman Dani Dayan.

By World Israel News Staff

The Israel-based Pentagon Auctions received backlash after offering up some 20 pieces of Nazi memorabilia for sale next week.

The list of artifacts includes daggers, an SS officer’s helmet, a Nazi symbol that was once attached to a Nazi official’s car, and a large banner that was hung at official Nazi buildings, Israel Hayom reported.

Yossi Pollack, director of the Dorot Hahemshech memorial organization, said he received a number of complaints via a number of Holocaust-related Facebook pages that his organization runs, according to the news site.

“People wrote me and asked how we could be willing to allow such a thing to happen,” he said, adding that his own father had a scar on his arm from a Nazi guard who stabbed him for “trying to eat grass.”

“I see the knives that are offered for sale and think to myself: And what if it’s this knife? We won’t let this slide,” Pollack vowed.

Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and Museum Chairman Dani Dayan responded to the incident, saying that the proper location for such items is the museum. He noted that the trading of Nazi memorabilia is problematic as it encourages a market for forgeries – a market that has only grown in recent years.

However, auction house head Eyal Benita dusted off complaints, stating that by selling the items he was only helping, the Israel Hayom report said.

“The seller in question is a man who acquired the items so that neo-Nazis wouldn’t buy them and now needs money. If the self-righteous are interested in approaching the seller and giving him the money, I’ll waive the seller’s fee. I am just a vessel. I just want to help this man,” he said.

On Monday, the Campaign Against Antisemitism called out another auction house found to be selling Nazi memorabilia.

“Can someone please tell us why Cadmore Auctions has been auctioning off Nazi memorabilia all day,” the organization tweeted.

Items included a 3rd Reich General Assault Badge, a Luftwaffe Ground Assault Badge, and a World War Two German military medal.

“These items, which were instrumental in the systematic murder of 6 million Jews, belong in a museum, not in the hands of private collectors,” the Campaign Against Antisemitism stated.