Danielle Elizabeth Auctions in Australia offered Nazi memorabilia – most notably, a signed photo of former German Chancellor Adolf Hitler – in a December 29th auction in Queensland, Australia, according to Australian Jewish News (AJN).
Among the rare militia items offered in the auction were several pieces of Nazi memorabilia, such as an SS cross, an SS dagger, childhood letters from Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler, a Nazi propaganda children's book and the signed photo of Adolf Hitler.
“The book teaches children, according to the Nazi Party in Germany, what a Jew is and what they look like,” says the auction house in their item description. “This children's book was authored by Elvira Bauer, a kindergarten teacher and Nazi supporter in 1936, illustrated by Philipp Rupprecht, a publisher of the Nazi newspaper Der Stürmer… children's books like Trau keinem Fuchs auf grüner Heid und keinem Jud auf seinem Eid were used to educate the youth of Nazi Germany in being a citizen of the Third Reich,” the item description continues.
Danielle Elizabeth Auctions has previously come under fire for their Nazi memorabilia sales, as they were criticized for auctioning a WWII-era Nazi flag in January and condemned in August for holding an auction of Third Reich memorabilia, including a Star of David armband worn by Jews during the Holocaust.
“We sell [the] history and historical artifacts that tell a story that the world should never stop telling so history does not repeat itself,” Dustin Sweeny, managing director of Danielle Elizabeth Auctions, told the Australian Jewish News (AJN), adding that the sale was “certainly not antisemitic”.
“The hypocrisy is astounding. If the Jewish community wish[es] to enact [the] change[,] they need to lobby parliament to make these items illegal, not attack an honest small business operating legally. Remember we live in a free democracy, and as much as you believe these items should not be sold, we believe they should, and everyone should respect everyone else’s right to a different opinion,” Sweeny responded.
Not everyone shares Danielle Elizabeth auction’s sentiment, Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies President Jason Steinberg told AJN: “We are calling on the government to ban the display of Nazi symbols and here we see this vile memorabilia again in the public domain. We know that sometimes these items are purchased to glorify Nazis and used to recruit right-wing extremists.”
“We have Holocaust survivors still living on the Gold Coast who recognize these items being auctioned for what they really are — pure hate and evil. Enough is enough,” Steinberg declared.
Of the 74 items auctioned on December 29th, 20 were of Nazi-party insignia and memorabilia. Of the 20 Nazi items listed for sale, none were sold at the auction.