Auction house suspended for listing offensive Nazi antiques used in Holocaust
The auction items included confiscated personal items and documents belonging to concentration camp prisoners and a Zyklon B gas canister used at a concentration camp.
By ZACHARY KEYSERAUSCHWITZ(photo credit: REUTERS)
Madison's Historical, a Montreal-based auction house, has been suspended by online auction platform Live Auctioneers for listing disturbing historical objects used by the Nazis during the Holocaust up for auction to the public, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) said in a statement.The auction items included confiscated personal items and documents belonging to concentration camp prisoners, a Zyklon B gas canister, weapons used by the Schutzstaffel (SS) paramilitary organization and other equipment used by the Nazi military.Live Auctioneers suspended Madison's Historical and removed its privileges as the auction house violated the platform's terms of service, "including those policies that seek to limit the glorification of vile historical objects and to discourage the modern replication of hateful items."The auction house listed the Zyklon B gas canister used at a concentration camp as a once in a "lifetime opportunity" and "the holy grail" of World War II Nazi relics.Live Auctioneers had been initially been alerted by FWSC, who sent letters to both the auction house and the platform to request for removal of the items from listing.FWSC called on Live Auctioneers, at the time, to adopt "policies similar to those of other large auction platforms such as eBay which prohibit the sale of Nazi military propaganda and relics.""This is utterly grotesque and an insult to the 6 million Jews and millions of others who were murdered by the Nazi regime," said FSWC president and CEO Michael Levitt in a statement."There is no place for such relics other than in a museum or educational institution where people can learn more about the items and gain a better understanding of the Holocaust and atrocities committed during that time by Nazis and their collaborators," he concluded.Madison's Historical references itself as an online auction house that specializes in "World War II and Holocaust related material." Although contacted, the auction house has not responded to FWSC's "concerns but has since taken down its website," the statement said.The center will continue monitoring to assure the items are not moved to another website or platform.
