An auction of Nazi objects, organized in Caen this Saturday evening, brought together around twenty buyers. But this was widely controversial.
Gas masks, photos of SS soldiers and identity cards of French people of Jewish faith published under the collaborationist Vichy regime.
Many lots dating from the Second World War, including Nazi objects, were put up for auction this Saturday, November 23, in Caen, according to information from France 3 Normandie.
Around twenty buyers were present this Saturday evening in the sales room. Quickly, the different items were sold one after the other.
Prohibited from wearing or displaying these items
However, this sale was widely controversial, according to the French Souvenir association.
“This card is stamped 'Jewish', these elements were stamped by the Gestapo, we can imagine that these people disappeared in the concentration camps”, details Frédéric Pécout, member of the association and archaeologist at the National Institute of preventive archaeological research.
Like other associations and individuals, it campaigns to regulate this type of sales. “We can ask ourselves questions, particularly when descendants question us about these public sales, and we can also ask ourselves questions about the interest of collectors in acquiring this type of object,” he protests.
However, the possession and sale of Nazi objects and documents is legal, as long as article R. 645-1 of the Penal Code is respected. The latter specifies that it is prohibited to wear or exhibit objects “reminiscent of those of organizations or people responsible for crimes against humanity”, under penalty of a heavy fine.
“From the story you buy”
According to auctioneer Jean Rivola, the interest is historic. A photo album of a French militiaman was put up for auction starting at 1,000 euros. An interesting object, because it is “the only one known in the world which unfortunately shows the French who took the wrong side”. “It’s history you’re buying,” he says.
The majority of these objects are sold “to enthusiasts who write books, articles, who work every year on what the resistance was and what the occupation was, or to public institutions, which open them to the public”, justifies the auctioneer.
According to the famous historian and lawyer, Serge Klarsfeld, it is necessary to ban this type of sale. “I am completely opposed to these auctions of Nazi emblems, swastikas, or SS insignia, which carry a criminal ideology, which are sold to people fascinated by Nazism,” he said. he declared on franceinfo. Instead, he calls on the owners of these objects to entrust them to a museum.
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