German auction house backs down following condemnation from survivors and Polish government
A controversial auction of Holocaust artifacts has been cancelled in Germany following widespread backlash from Holocaust survivors and international diplomatic pressure, with Poland’s foreign minister confirming the cancellation on Sunday.
The auction, scheduled for Monday at Auktionhaus Felzmann in Neuss near Düsseldorf, was set to sell more than 600 items under the title “The System of Terror.” The collection included deeply personal letters written by concentration camp prisoners to their families, Gestapo index cards, and other documents from the Nazi persecution apparatus that identified victims by name.
Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski announced the cancellation via social media, stating he and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul had agreed that such a scandal must be prevented. By Sunday afternoon, all information about the auction had been removed from the Felzmann website.
The sale drew sharp criticism from The International Auschwitz Committee, a Berlin-based organisation representing Holocaust survivors. Christoph Heubner, the committee’s executive vice president, condemned the auction as a cynical and shameless exploitation of victims’ suffering for commercial gain.
“For victims of Nazi persecution and Holocaust survivors, this auction is a cynical and shameless undertaking that leaves them outraged and speechless,” Heubner said in a statement issued on Saturday.
The committee argued that such documents represent the personal history of murdered and persecuted individuals and their families, rather than commodities to be sold to the highest bidder. Many of the items contained identifying information that would allow victims to be traced by name.
“Their history and the suffering of all those persecuted and murdered by the Nazis is being exploited for commercial gain,” Heubner said, adding that such materials belong with victims’ families or should be displayed in museums and memorial exhibitions.
The cancellation represents a victory for survivors’ groups who had urgently called on the auction house to demonstrate basic decency by withdrawing the sale. The controversy highlights ongoing sensitivities surrounding the commercialisation of Holocaust artifacts and the ethical questions raised when items documenting genocide enter the private market.
Auktionhaus Felzmann did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday regarding the cancellation or the circumstances surrounding the original decision to proceed with the sale.
The incident comes as the global community continues to grapple with questions about how best to preserve Holocaust memory and artifacts as the generation of survivors dwindles, with fewer witnesses remaining to share their testimonies directly.
