Germany cancels auction of Holocaust artifacts after backlash

Berlin: Poland’s foreign minister said Sunday that an “offensive” auction of Holocaust artifacts in Germany has been cancelled, following complaints from Holocaust survivors. He relayed the information from his German counterpart.

Radoslaw Sikorski made the announcement on X, stating that he and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul “agreed that such a scandal must be prevented.” Sikorski also thanked Wadephul for informing him that the auction had been called off.

The auction, organised by German auction house Felzmann, had been scheduled for Monday and was to feature hundreds of Holocaust artifacts, including letters written by prisoners, Gestapo index cards, and other documents naming individuals. By Sunday afternoon, the auction listing had been removed from Felzmann’s website. The auction house did not immediately respond to calls, emails, or text messages seeking comment.

The collection, comprising over 600 lots, was to be auctioned in Neuss, near Düsseldorf, under the title “The System of Terror,” according to the German news agency dpa.

“For victims of Nazi persecution and Holocaust survivors, this auction is a cynical and shameless undertaking that leaves them outraged and speechless,” said Christoph Heubner, executive vice president of The International Auschwitz Committee, a Berlin-based group of survivors.

“Their history and the suffering of all those persecuted and murdered by the Nazis is being exploited for commercial gain,” Heubner added. He noted that many of the documents contained identifiable names.

Heubner stressed that such documents “belong to the families of the victims. They should be displayed in museums or memorial exhibitions, not degraded to mere commodities.” He urged those responsible at Felzmann to “show some basic decency and cancel the auction.”