The sickening theft and mutilation of the “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign from Auschwitz raises once again the spectre of the sordid trade in Nazi memorabilia.
The sickening theft and mutilation of the “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign from Auschwitz raises once again the spectre of the sordid trade in Nazi memorabilia. A simple google search reveals just how easy it is in the online world to buy, sell and browse all manner of items from the Third Reich.
One such site, Militaria-net, styles itself as “one of the worlds premier sellers of fine quality Third Reich related items including medals, badges, insignia, field equipment, uniforms, daggers, CD’s, Posters and more”, a “‘one stop’ shop” for all your Nazi needs, with over 1000 items on sale.
It boasts of offering a “comprehensive range of reproduction Third Reich Militaria and related items”, ideal for “collectors and re-enactors, museums, film/TV, and Theatre Groups” – though the complete lack of vetting means anyone can buy from them. Within a few clicks, anyone on the planet is able to buy, for example, an “iconic brownshirt worn by Hitlers Stormtroopers”: “100% cotton shirt with french cuffs, silver pebbeled buttons and belt hooks”, complete with “wool multi piece swastika armband for that early NSDAP look”.
Even convicted Holocaust-denier David Irving is cashing in. According to the Telegraph, he too has set up a website selling Nazi memorabilia, reportedly selling strands of Adolf Hitler’s hair, Hitler’s walking stick, and a goblet and spoon given as a christening present by Heinrich Himmler to Hermann Goering’s daughter, described as “unacceptable” by Dr Shimon Samuels, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, who told the Daily Mail:
“This Naz-eBay is extremely distasteful to the point of sick. There’s a market out there for Nazi memorabilia. If this is done to glorify Hitler, as I imagine it is, then it is unacceptable.”
Trade in Nazi memorabilia is banned in Austria, France, Poland and Germany, where it is also illegal to deny the Holocaust, display the Swastika, own a copy of Mein Kampf or give the Sieg Heil salute. In Britain, home to many memorabilia websites, none of these are a criminal offence.
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18 Responses to “Auschwitz theft reveals “Naz-ebay” trade in Third Reich memorabilia”
Liz McShane
Silent hunter – apologies for the silence!
I think what Gordon Brown said re British jobs etc was stupid and crass and something that he probably regrets.
Re denis – no relation he’s a Mac ( normally a Scottish derivation) whereas Mc is normally Irish . You learn something new every day!
Shamik Das
Silent Hunter, my apologies for drifting offline overnight, to get some, y’know, sleep! You are of course right about the “British jobs for British workers” line, there’s not much I can add. On historians, there may well be legitimate reasons for them to research, study and learn from, but should anyone on the planet be allowed to buy this stuff?
As the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, Dr Shimon Samuels, said:
“This Naz-eBay is extremely distasteful to the point of sick. There’s a market out there for Nazi memorabilia. If this is done to glorify Hitler, as I imagine it is, then it is unacceptable.”
Silent Hunter
If this is done to glorify Hitler, as I imagine it is, then it is unacceptable.” Forgive me Shamik but why should he imagine it is collected to “glorify Hitler” for God’s sake – how is he able to discriminate on this point?
When I look at “Nazi Memorabilia” in the Imperial War Museum – is that glorifying Hitler?
No! . . . it’s reminding me that such madmen can easily come to power and that we should never deny that fact or try to “hide history” just because it’s a bit unpleasant . . or it let’s future generations forget what can happen when evil men seize power.
I actually possess a WW2 German helmet and a WW2 RAF flying helmet and goggles – why should one be less relevant as an historical artefact than the other? Neither make me a Nazi sympathiser.
I think you are however, correct that David Irving selling Nazi Memorabilia from his own site probably does have a lot to do with glorifying the Nazis . . . but that’s because of who he is . . . the point I am making is that simply owning a historic artefact does not necessarily mean that you support the people who made it any more than owning an axe, makes you a “axe wielding murderer”.
I think you will find, (& Liz too- forgive me for ever even thinking you could be related to the appalling Dennis) that we probably agree on the fundamental idea that the Nazis were / are evil but I just wish that the criticism was a bit more focussed to avoid the more manic, broad brush, tabloid style approach to any subject.
Hoping you both have a good Christmas and a Happy and peaceful New Year.
All the jolly. :o) from Silent Hunter.
resident leftie
Trade in Nazi memorabilia is banned in Austria, France, Poland and Germany, where it is also illegal to deny the Holocaust, display the Swastika, own a copy of Mein Kampf or give the Sieg Heil salute. In Britain, home to many memorabilia websites, none of these are a criminal offence.
Are you suggesting they should be? We can’t make legal judgements about the nature of people buying things, and we certainly shouldn’t ban their sale. It plays into the persecution complex of the far right, as well as being a gross violation of civil liberties.
Liz
Good piece in today’s Guardian by Timothy Garton-Ash……
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/23/poland-catholicism-nazis-difficult-past