An auction in Germany meant to showcase a range of Holocaust artifacts, including disturbing letters from concentration camp prisoners, was abruptly canceled on Sunday following widespread criticism.
Organized by Feltsman Auction House, the event, titled “System of Terror,” intended to offer over 600 items linked to the Holocaust and Nazi Germany, such as Gestapo index cards and various documents, including personal letters from camp inmates to their families.
The announcement of the letters particularly incited anger throughout Europe, especially in Poland, where many concentration camps, including Auschwitz, were established during the Nazi occupation.
Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister Radosław Sikorski disclosed that the “offensive” auction had been called off after his discussions with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephol, indicating that they reached a mutual understanding that such actions were unacceptable.
Before Sikorski stepped in, Holocaust survivors had already urged the auction house to cancel the event, noting that it involved documents with identifiable names of numerous individuals.
Christoph Heubner, the executive vice president of the International Auschwitz Committee, called on the auction house to return the documents to the victims’ families or, ideally, to present them in a museum or memorial dedicated to the Holocaust. He emphasized the auction as a “cynical and shameless undertaking,” stating that it left survivors and victims’ families feeling outraged and speechless.
The auction listing was removed from the Feltsman Auction House website by Sunday afternoon. In the past, there have been controversies over similar auctions: in 2019, a Munich auction house faced criticism for trying to sell items linked to Adolf Hitler, including his top hat and a copy of Mein Kampf. Despite public outcry, that auction proceeded, generating significant funds.
More recently, in 2021, a Jerusalem auction house aimed to auction tattoo stamps used on Auschwitz prisoners, but the planned sale was deemed “morally unacceptable” by Israel’s Holocaust memorial and was eventually halted by a court.
