Several items of Nazi memorabilia, including a plaque of Adolf Hitler, are going up for auction later this week in Wicklow.
Although the auction is not focused entirely on collectables from World War II and includes “historical memorabilia, militaria, arms and armour, rare and antiquarian books, sporting memorabilia, toys, advertising and more” from different periods in history, a small number of items are from the Nazi period in history.
These items include a cast iron plaque with profile relief of Adolf Hitler, a cast brass figure of Hitler in an SA uniform, a cast iron novelty money box in the form of a saluting Adolf Hitler and a red cloth armband centred with a swastika on a white circular background.
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Speaking to the Irish Mirror, auctioneer Stuart Purcell at Mullen’s, explained that, these items, while having historical significance, make up a small part of the auction.
Purcell said: “It's memorabilia, it’s fascinating, our clients are typically quite academic, most of them quite scholarly, a lot of the people who assemble collections of whatever takes their fancy, whatever area of history they end up fascinated with.
“A lot of people, largely men of a certain age, are interested in the history of the second world war, a lot of them start out collecting British material and find that they exhaust that quite quickly and a lot of them drift into German memorabilia.
“From our point of view, our sale starts with a bronze age sword and ends up with a collection of autographs of every Apollo astronaut. That’s what we do; we sell historical memorabilia.
“Given the importance of the period in 20th-century history, it forms a very small part of the sale. If you are talking about the most important period of history in the 20th century that’s got to be 1933 to 1945 and we have maybe 30 items in the sale.”
Also for sale at the auction is a blanket from the H Block salvaged from the prison during demolition work, estimated at €300-€500. For any space enthusiast, a signed photograph of every astronaut the Apollo Programme launched into space is also up for auction.
Some European countries have laws in place that ban the sale of Nazi memorabilia, including France, Germany and Austria, however, there is no ban in Ireland or the UK - although some auction houses have refused to sell items related to that period.
However, despite this, Oliver Sears of Holocaust Awareness Ireland, told the Irish Mirror that the “arguments for trading in Nazi memorabilia are very thin.”
Sears, who is a London-born Dublin-based art dealer and gallery owner, is also the son of a Holocaust survivor.
He added: “There is an abundance of such material in museums around the world and, if there is a place for these items, that is surely where they belong.
“Mullen's sale also includes personal photographic albums, which may well include historical data that is significant and worth documenting, professionally. However, making money out of such material is immoral and unethical.
“There is a very good reason why most auction houses refuse to handle this material, including Sotheby’s, Christies and Bonhams. Simply put, this material is tainted beyond any mitigation or redemption.”
The Collector’s Cabinet auction takes place on Saturday, March 11, you can visit the auction online here or in person at Laurel Park in Bray.
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