DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
SINEAD MACLAUGHLIN
Nazi memorabilia stamped with swastikas and images of Adolf Hitler available to the highest bidder on Gumtree Australia.
Nazi coins, Hitler Youth belt buckles and pins, flags and swords were all posted on the Australian classifieds site, with some items on sale for as much as $2000.
‘It’s appalling to think that Gumtree is benefiting financially from the peddling of this noxious material to millions of consumers,’ Jewish community leader Dvir Abramovich told the Courier Mail.
‘By making these hate items easily accessible, they are re-victimising all the innocent lives extinguished by Hitler’s evil acts.’
The chairman of the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission added that he was ‘deeply distressed and outraged’ to see items for sale that help ‘inflame the embers of discrimination and extremism.’
Gumtree does not specifically identify Nazi memorabilia in its list of prohibited items but in a statement a spokeswoman indicated they would investigate offensive material posted on the site.
‘Gumtree’s Prohibited Items Policy prohibits the listing of offensive material,’ she told the Courier Mail.
We have a broad policy regarding offensive material because we want to ensure we capture the wide range of items which could be deemed offensive. We encourage the community to report any offensive ads, including those for Nazi memorabilia, so we can investigate and remove, if necessary.
Offending items including a ‘genuine’ Nazi Officer Dress sword on sale for $1000 and Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross on sale for $2000 are no longer available on the site, just days after being posted.
Pins with the Nazi swastika and coins featuring Adolf Hitler’s face are also no longer available.
But others including a pendant featuring the Nazi swastika and a silver medal also featuring the symbol are still available.
It is not illegal to sell Nazi memorabilia in Australia, but previous auctions selling such items have faced criticism in the past.
In 2013 a SS dagger sold for $4,250 at a Sydney auction, prompting critics to say the auction house was ‘glorifying’ the genocide.
An Adelaide auction in 2014 sold around 30 items including ten large Nazi flags, causing outrage amongst members of the Jewish community.