Melbourne-based online auction of Nazi memorabilia draws outrage

Key points

• More than 60 items of Nazi war memorabilia will go under the hammer this weekend, including swastika flags, a gas canister and arm-bands worn by Third Reich soldiers.
• The auction on Saturday has angered several Jewish organisations, which say it could appeal to white nationalist groups by glamorising evil.
• The owner of the auction house defended the sale of Nazi memorabilia, claiming his clients were historians and genuine collectors.
• It remains unclear if legislation introduced last month to ban the public display of the swastika will apply to the online advertisement of Nazi memorabilia, which often includes the symbol. 

The online auction of almost 60 items of Nazi war memorabilia by a Melbourne business this weekend – including swastika flags, a gas canister and a Third Reich cake fork – has angered many in Melbourne’s Jewish community.

The Victorian government recently introduced landmark legislation to ban public displays of the Nazi swastika that come into force next year, but the trade in collectible Nazi memorabilia remains legal, and continues to thrive.

A cake fork, bowl and book are among the items of Nazi memorabilia up for auction by a Melbourne-based business.

Don Mahoney, 73, is auctioning dozens of items previously owned or used by members of the Third Reich online, via his Mount Evelyn-based business.

He founded his memorabilia business in 1973 and has been repeatedly criticised for selling Nazi memorabilia in the past. He insists he only sells war memorabilia to genuine collectors but concedes there is no way of vetting the background of every buyer.

Mahoney, a former champion bodybuilder and gym owner, said his business did not use swastikas or any other hate symbols to promote its regular online auctions.

“I’m interested in selling history. And you can’t change history.”

“It’s absolutely disgusting what they [Nazi Germany] did to the Jewish people, but I’m interested in selling history. And you can’t change history,” he said.

“If people were marching around the street with swastika armbands or flying flags, I would say arrest the bastards and throw them in jail.”

In Saturday’s auction, a 1940 soup bowl, replete with hand-painted soldier and swastika, had a price guide of $750 to $895 and was spruiked as a “once in a lifetime piece.”

A Third Reich cake fork engraved with a German imperial eagle was expected to fetch more than $130, while a Nazi songbook was estimated to sell for more than $60.

Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich.

Opponents of the auction claim it is disrespectful to the memory of millions of Holocaust victims and could appeal to white nationalist groups by “glamorising evil in the eyes of the ignorant and the impressionable.”

“The sale of these grisly items constitutes the proceeds of crime, and the extermination and dehumanisation of millions should not have a tag price,” said Dr Dvir Abramovich, chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission.

“Do the owners of this auction house ever pause to think about the 1.5 million children mercilessly killed in the Holocaust, or the mothers clutching their infants as they were pushed into the gas chambers?” Abramovich asked.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry research director, Julie Nathan, urged Mahoney to consider removing Third Reich items from future auctions.

“With rising levels of hate incidents against Jews, and with neo-Nazis becoming more active in Australia, we would prefer to see all commercial operators voluntarily stop this trade, rather than being compelled to do so.

“These items belong in museums, not on people’s mantlepieces.”

“These items belong in museums, not on people’s mantle-pieces,” Nathan said.

The Anti-Defamation Commission wants the Andrews government to go further and extend its recent ban on public displays of the swastika symbol by also making the sale of Nazi memorabilia a criminal offence.

A government spokeswoman would not confirm if a ban on the sale of Third Reich collectibles was under consideration, but affirmed its position on public displays of the Nazi swastika.

“The Nazi symbol glorifies one of the most hateful ideologies in history – its public display does nothing but cause further pain and division.

“As a government we want to do all we can to stamp out hate and give it no room to grow – banning the Nazi symbol (especially, the Hakenkreuz) sends a clear message that this vile behaviour will not be tolerated in Victoria,” the spokeswoman said.

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