Nazi memorabilia sold at auction

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This article was published 01/03/2020 (2208 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

STONEWALL — A controversial auction of Nazi paraphernalia took place in Stonewall on Saturday, as McSherry’s Auction Service sold off a selection of military memorabilia said to belong to the son of a Second World War veteran.

As many as 150 people, mostly older men, showed up at the auction house. Multiple people who said they frequent McSherry’s auctions said turnout was average for a Saturday.

Holocaust experts from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and the Freeman Family Foundation Holocaust Education Centre told the Free Press they were concerned about the auction earlier this week, saying the items could end up in the hands of extremists who venerate Nazi ideology. The Toronto-based Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre called for the items to be removed from the auction.

A Free Press reporter who asked to interview auctioneer Stuart McSherry on Saturday was introduced to a man who would not confirm his name and declined an interview. (The same man went on to conduct the auction.)

In previous interviews with the Free Press, McSherry initially said, “The product is just a product to me.” He later said he might reconsider selling Nazi memorabilia in the future.

But the Nazi items went on the auction block as planned on Saturday, although they made up only a small fraction of the items for sale. Most of the goods were perfectly mundane: a socket wrench set, antique crockery, two bedpans, a collectible plate with an image of Fort Garry, a refrigerator. Other items included war memorabilia from the Allied forces, like a vintage U.S. war bond poster and a selection of Canadian medals.

Nestled among the knick-knacks was the Nazi memorabilia, much of which was sealed away in glass display cases. Relatively innocuous pieces such as German military helmets, bayonets and tools sat side-by-side with more objectionable items, including documents bearing Nazi insignias and what appeared to be a genuine Hitler Youth knife, a dagger issued to boys who joined the Nazi Party’s youth movement.

Jared Funk was interested in the knife. He said he’s not attracted to Nazi ideology, but is fascinated with the history of the Second World War. The avid collector of Second World War artifacts said he studied the Holocaust during university.

“I was enthralled with how fast a government or even a country can change from one state to another state, you know?”

Asked whether he thinks Nazi items are better off in the hands of private collectors or displayed in museums with the appropriate historical context, Funk said he sees both sides of the debate. He may even donate his collection to a museum someday, he said.

“I believe that history — whether it’s good or bad — should be always there because you’ll forget about it if we don’t (preserve it),” said Funk.

“It seems like nowadays we’re trying to erase the history, all the bad stuff. And when you erase it, you forget about it.”

Auction attendee Ray Jacobs didn’t come to bid on militaria — he had his eye on an antique mantel clock — but he saw no reason Nazi items shouldn’t be sold to private collectors.

“You can’t change the past by trying to hide it. There’s no use in that, because then it just breeds another culture of people who don’t know what happened.”

Military collector Bryan Oliver prefers Canadian or British artifacts. He said he’s a regular at McSherry’s auctions, but has rarely seen this much German memorabilia at a single auction.

“Most of the Nazi stuff that would have come back would have been captured from guys fighting,” said Oliver.

“It was legitimate stuff. I sure don’t support the ideology, I personally don’t want to collect it, (but) I think you should have the right to. The guys who brought it home fought for our country.”

Michael Berezay picked up a small box of German military medals at the auction, including two Iron Crosses with Nazi swastika insignias. He said the medals were definitely replicas, not originals.

“They’re too new-looking, and they’re too clean, and they went too cheap,” he said.

Berezay said he had no interest in collecting Nazi memorabilia himself, and only bought the medals to resell them to collectors.

“It’s surprising you (news reporters) are here today, because this is definitely not the first Nazi memorabilia that’s come up for sale here… It’s all over the place, it’s so common.”

Berezay said he’s heard that Jewish groups sometimes buy Nazi memorabilia in order to destroy it, an idea he thinks is “brilliant.”

“I get why they would want this stuff destroyed,” he said.

solomon.israel@freepress.mb.ca

@sol_israel