Nazi auction sale may be last

THE State Government deplored the sale of Nazi memorabilia and would consider a ban in future, Premier Will Hodgman said yesterday.

A Launceston auction house went ahead with the sale of Nazi memorabilia despite concerns raised by Jewish groups.

Among the items being offered by Launceston’s Armitage Auctions was an SS officer’s ring — which fetched $1000.

Mr Hodgman said the sale of such items — while legal — would be unwelcome to the vast majority of Tasmanians.

“We will take advice,” he said. “There is no breach of the law here with respect to the sale of these products, but I do think it breaches community standard and expectations,” he said.

“I would like to think that items like these would not be openly available on the public market, but that’s a matter for the auctioneer and anyone who may wish to purchase them.

“We’ll certainly consider what options are available to the Government.

“I think there has been a line crossed with these items and I’d rather not see them up for public sale.”

Mr Hodgman said the only suitable place for such items was in museums as a reminder of what “must never, ever happen again”.

Auctioneer Neil O’Brien said he did not condone what happened in Nazi Germany but it was legal to sell the items.

Among other items that sold were a Hitler youth belt buckle adorned with swastikas for $500, a German police belt buckle for $525 and a German helmet for $220.

Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, commended the Premier for his comments.

“With far-right extremist groups and anti-Semitic violence on the increase, it is time to raise the curtain on this ghoulish trade,” he said. “The dark obsession and booming demand for Third Reich paraphernalia is alarming, and is an affront to all Australians.”

The auction was “an expression of the worldwide rise in neo-Nazis”, said David Clark, a spokesman for the Tasmanian Jewish community

“The auction ... has provoked considerable emotional outrage among the Jewish community, its supporters, and other groups who are filled with revulsion simply at the thought of such an event taking place,’’ Mr Clark said.