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Australian Watchdog Group Denounces Local Auction of Nazi Memorabilia: ‘Hitler Would Be Applauding Them’
by Shiryn Ghermezian
A Nazi flag discovered flying on a light tower in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, Feb. 17, 2020. Photo: Anti-Defamation Commission.
The Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC), a leading Australian civil rights organization, criticized a “perverse” auction of more than 100 Nazi items that is set to take place this weekend, calling on Western Australia’s Premier Mark McGowan to ban the public display of Third Reich symbols.
Nazi memorabilia that will be sold on Oct. 16-17 by the Perth-based auction house JB Military Antiqu
“If Hitler were alive today, he would be applauding them for glorifying his barbaric crimes and keeping his monstrous legacy alive,” ADC Chairman Dvir Abramovich, who is leading a national campaign to ban the sale of Nazi memorabilia, said in a statement on Monday.
He added, “You would think that by now, auction houses would understand that it is perverse to put a price tag on genocide. White supremacists are nourished by these cursed, blood-stained items, and use them to recruit new members to their dangerous cause. I can’t imagine the pain Holocaust survivors and their families would be feeling right now. Australians expect better than to see this flat-out disgusting event take place and would reject this ghoulish profiteering that is poisoning our society, and which violates our nation’s core values.”
JB Military Antiques has been selling Nazi memorabilia since at least 2016. It held an auction in April that included Adolf Hitler’s personal belongings and those of his mistress, Eva Braun. At the time, the auction house’s owner Jamey Blewitt, a former history teacher, said his company is “not political in any way.” He told The West Australian, “We’re aware that many people find these pieces absolute abhorrent. There are good and bad things in history.”
After ADC slammed JB Military Antiques for an auction in October 2020 that featured at least 23 Nazi items, the company shared on Facebook a photo of Abramovich alongside one of Hitler. Blewitt defended the sale of Nazi items, saying, “We don’t do this because we’re neo-Nazis, we do this because we’re running a business and we’re representing history — good or bad.”
It was announced in September that Victoria will become the first Australian state or territory to ban the public display of Nazi and hate symbols. The selling of Nazi memorabilia is already banned in Austria, France and Germany.
