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Buchenwald 4: Profiteering off of the Holocaust

While my family feud is  going on, an English newspaper, The Mail. reports that eBay has hosted sales of the clothes of concentration camp victims including the striped uniform thought to have belonged to a Polish baker who died in Auschwitz, which was on sale for £11,200. Within hours of being alerted to the item by this newspaper, eBay removed it from sale after conducting an ‘urgent investigation’. Of course the damage is already done.

The eBay sellers proudly posted up pictures of the uniforms the victims were forced to wear, with close ups of the buttons and material posted for potential buyersThe eBay sellers proudly posted up pictures of the uniforms the victims were forced to wear, with close ups of the buttons and material posted for potential buyers.

 

Among dozens of sick souvenirs on offer last week was a striped uniform thought to have belonged to a Polish baker Among dozens of sick souvenirs on offer last week was a striped uniform thought to have belonged to a Polish baker

Holocaust survivors, politicians and other outraged citizens reacted to The Mail on Sunday’s findings with revulsion and disbelief.

Among the items we found for sale on eBay last week were:

  • A pair of shoes belonging to a death camp victim advertised for £940.
  • Yellow Star of David armbands singling out Jews for persecution.
  • A Holocaust victim’s battered suitcase priced at £492.
  • A £145 ‘concentration camp toothbrush’.

from the Mail: Meanwhile, other sites were offering gas chamber ‘handles’ adorned with swastikas from Dachau concentration camp in Germany.

The most offensive item on eBay was a complete Auschwitz prisoner uniform, including striped shirt, trousers, cap and wooden shoes, with the seller including an armband from Dachau along with the sale.

he item was accompanied by a haunting image of a pile of garments from camp victims.

The seller, Viktor Kempf, a Ukranian now living in Vancouver, Canada, claimed the uniform once belonged to a ‘Wolf Gierson Grundmann’ whose serial number ‘9489’ is stitched to the breast of his shirt. Mr Grundmann’s name can be found on a database of concentration camp victims held by the Yad Vashem centre for Holocaust research in Jerusalem.

It says Mr Grundmann was born in 1912 and lists his occupation as ‘baker’.

Several Star of David armbands were on eBay, with sellers demanding up to £165. Images showed them on Jewish victimsSeveral Star of David armbands were on eBay, with sellers demanding up to £165. Images showed them on Jewish victims

 

Sellers have been cashing in on the stars that Jewish people were forced to wearSellers have been cashing in on the stars that Jewish people were forced to wear

Kempf, who describes himself as historian, said he bought the clothes, which he insists are genuine, from a reputable dealer in America. It wasn’t immediately possible for experts to confirm their authenticity last night.

Kempf said: ‘I understand why people may think profiting is wrong but I sell these items to document [them] and to fund my book projects. If I was a descendant of a victim, I would want to see how my relatives lived. I would want to buy these items to remember them. I run the prisoner numbers on the items through a database to get the names but I personally haven’t had any contact with any of the families. It’s not my place to go searching for these people.

‘I have had criticism in the past and I find it upsetting. I don’t want people to think I’m just doing it for the money. These periods in history are horrific, nobody should ever forget them.’

Last week Kempf was also selling concentration camp ‘trousers’ with an estimate price of between £5,000 and £5,600 and boasted: ‘Last year the uniform from concentration camp sold on eBay for $18,000!! [£11,200]’ The trousers are said to have belonged to a Dawid Bittersfeld, who died at Auschwitz, and were ‘bought many years ago in Krakow, Poland’ from his family.

Experts believe Nazi and Holocaust memorabilia is becoming increasingly accessible as those who lived through the war are dying, leaving artifacts behind. To some they are simply collectible items, but to others the objects glorify the horrors of the Nazi regime.

The internet giant apologised and vowed to give £25,000 to a suitable charity, before removing more than 30 other death camp souvenirs which it said had evaded its strict vetting process
Toothbrushes apparently used by Auschwitz victims were on sale at £145Toothbrushes apparently used by Auschwitz victims were on sale at £145

 

A battered case inscribed with the name Samuel and a Star of David, listed at £492A battered case inscribed with the name Samuel and a Star of David, listed at £492

 

Profiting from pain: Woman's curlers from the Warsaw Ghetto were listed at £17Profiting from pain: Woman’s curlers from the Warsaw Ghetto were listed at £17

 

Wooden clogs were up for sale as part of a female concentration camp victim¿s uniformWooden clogs were up for sale as part of a female concentration camp victim¿s uniform

 

‘I have a yellow badge with the word Jude, which is German for Jew, written on it, which I would never sell as it was given to me by another survivor. To buy or sell this memorabilia is morbid, it sends shivers down my spine.’

TV historian Simon Schama said: ‘This is absolutely beyond belief. Plainly there is no moral atrocity to which eBay will not descend to make a buck. This is an unspeakable act of moral cretinousness.’ Founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar, eBay’s global revenue in 2012 was £9 billion. Its first president was Canadian Jeffrey Skoll, who is from a Jewish family.

The company bans the sale of Nazi paraphernalia, but said in these cases that the items had ‘slipped through the net’.

eBay’s vice-president for UK marketplaces, Tanya Lawler, was unavailable for comment last night, but in a statement the company said: ‘We are very sorry these items have been listed on eBay and we are removing them. We don’t allow listings of this nature, and dedicate thousands of staff to policing our site and use the latest technology to detect items that shouldn’t be for sale.

‘We very much regret that we didn’t live up to our own standards.’

Additional reporting: Ian Gallagher

Who wants to profit from symbols of the camps?

BY GERALD KAUFMAN, MP FOR MANCHESTER, GORTON

 

Q&A ON HOLOCAUST AUCTION

‘HOLOCAUST’ SALES: WHY CAN’T EBAY STOP THEM? The company said it uses a filter system which is supposed to pick up restricted items uploaded by sellers, but admitted that goods can slip through the net. eBay said that in light of The Mail on Sunday’s findings, it would be redoubling its efforts to remove items of concern.

HOW MUCH DOES EBAY MAKE FROM THEM? The site makes ten per cent from the final sale price of items and receives a listing fee ranging from free to a few pounds depending on type of sale and country which it is being sold from. In the case of the concentration camp uniform priced at $18,000, the company would receive a listing fee of 50 cents (31p) and royalties of $1,800 (£1,125) should the item sell for its full price.

WHERE DO THEY COME FROM? The authenticity or origin of Holocaust items cannot be immediately verified, but the sellers claim the memorabilia is genuine and in some cases have stated that it was originally sourced from the victims’ families.

IS IT ILLEGAL? The sale of Holocaust memorabilia is legal in the UK but outlawed in Germany, France and Austria.

For me this is personal. It is impossible for me to know exactly how many members of my family were murdered in the Holocaust, the Nazi slaughter of six million Jews. Some never even got as far as the death camps.

My mother’s mother was shot dead in her bed, in the Polish town of Staszow, during the Second World War.

The German occupation forces decided she was not fit enough to be marched to the railway station, from which that day the Jews of the town were being shipped to the camps.

What goes for me goes for very many other survivor families – and, far more so, for still-living survivors of the camps. I visited one not long ago, in Greater Manchester, to share his memories of his ghastly experiences.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Holocaust was one of the greatest atrocities in all human history.

The filmed news reports of the liberation of those camps, as Allied forces reached them during the final period of the war, in 1945, showed piles of emaciated corpses clad in those obscene camp uniforms, and still living – but only just – survivors of this mass slaughter.

I am appalled that relics of that crime should have been put up for profitable sale.

It was absolutely right that eBay, when it discovered what was going on, should have put a stop to the sales and offered some sort of compensation.

Yet what was going on in the minds of whoever was trying to make financial gain from the visible symbols of the camps?

Those uniforms, those Stars of David that symbolised the religion of the victimised Jews.

While Jews formed the overwhelming majority of prisoners in the camps, there were other, non-Jewish victims, such as gypsies and homosexuals.

In one way, I suppose, we should be grateful to the vendors of the relics.

Whatever their motives, they have reminded current generations of these Nazi bestialities.

We must never forget.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2485251/Ebays-sick-trade-Holocaust-souvenirs-Outrage-auctions-Death-Camp-relics.html#ixzz2jbsZkCu7 Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook


0 Comments Add Yours ↓

  1. 1

    Stephen,dear Stephen, I (respectfully but totally)disagree with you and your article.
    Holocaust is forgotten all over the world, even in Israel;the star of David that my parents and my grandparents wore, the uniforms of their friends and relatives are also forgotten. Buchenwald is now an invention of the profiteering Jews to justify Israel and their crimes; the stories and the documents about Buchenwald are scarce; the witnesses, the rescapees and the victims died already and died in silence. So any piece of cloth, any star, any photo has to be shown; all are testimonies. as any other thing even those are collectible; I met in Israel a collector that showed me the “money” in camps, stars and pieces of clothes, photos; we cried together on his kitchen table…And of course, as anything rare, searched and wanted, also those items from Holocaust have their material value, they are sold and bought…Let’s them sell, let them buy…this way we will safeguard those items to return to the public domain…This is our duty, the daughters and sons of survivors…to unearth the Holocaust and the victims by providing the proof that indeed existed…

  2. theaveeditor #
    2

    Mirel,

    We do not disagree at all. Frankly I think eBay caved into an unreasonable complaint. Their hypocrisy is easily shown by searching eBay for other relics … autographs, Buchenwald money, all this stuff is for sale. Why would anyone want Eichmamn’s autograph except to celebrate the bastard’s deeds? To me it is far more important to save and celebrate the relics of heroes,. like my Dad, who did their best to save noit just Jews but others.

    What I see is that we .. not just Jews but everyone who claims to be a liberal or progressive, have fallen into a trap. That trap is accepting victimhood. The scraps of the camp survivors are far less important to us than the meagre stories told of those Jews who fought against the Nazis, especially those like my Dad who played a role in recuing the victims. Imagine what it must have been like when Rabbi Lau, as the child Lulek, realized that he was being rescued by Jewish soldiers? I am far more proud of owning the camera my Dad used to take these pictures, breaking US laws!, then I would be of having some scraps of camp uniforms he collected or some armband with a Hackenkruz.

    Another friend of mine, a goy, has a similar story. He fought in WWII himself as a medic for the Soviets. He collected a scrapbook of Nazi atrocities against the Russian people. I saw that scrapbook not as a testimony ot the suffering of the Russians but the heroism of my friend. The sad part is wondering if my friend’s heritage will disappear? I hope, even in the mess of today’s Russia, he or his son is able to see that that story is passed on.

  3. Bob Raymond #
    3

    You comment “I am far more proud of owning the camera my Dad used to take these pictures, breaking US laws!” What are you talking about?

  4. theaveeditor #
    4

    We, sadly have a family feud. The feud arose because my brother is my Dad’s executor and has, for five years blocked efforts to release pictures my Dad took as the commanding officer of the fist medics into Buchenwald before Patton’s official liberation.

    The camera was a gift to me many years ago before, discovering the pictures, realized its importance.

    If you are interested you can read more at this URL

    http://handbill.us/?s=Yom+Kippur+Hugh

  5. Bob Raymond #
    5

    I’m not at all interested in your family squabble, and I doubt that anyone is. There are two sides to every story, and you only present your side; I’d guess that the other side would have an entirely different view of what happened.

    What I had asked (and what you did not answer) is why you felt that taking photos violated US law.

  6. theaveeditor #
    6

    Robert Schwartz made the pictures in defiance of explicit orders form General Patton.

    Why do you ask?