eBay apologises for selling Holocaust memorabilia

some of the uniforms of the victim of Holocaust in Germany

some of the uniforms of the victim of Holocaust in Germany

eBay is one of the world largest  online auction site, that help buyers meet seller and charges ten percent over every transaction.

Recently eBay has faced condemnation from all over the world for making profit from the sell or trade of more than 30 items that has been pulled out of the Nazi death camp souvenirs.

A pair of Shoes, armbands, suitcase and a toothbrush were among the items advertised on eBay, other sites also advertised items such as gas chamber handles from concentration camp in Germany

A concentration uniform which belonged to a polish baker who died in Auschwitz was among the item listed on eBay site. It was being sold by a Ukrainian nationalist, Viktor Kempf, who is now living in Canada. He describes himself as a historian who is selling the items to people who are related to the victims so that they can document them because his clothes are genuine. According to him he had sold another piece of concentration camp uniform on eBay last year for 11,200 EUROS. He defends his action arguing that if he was a descendant of one of the victims he would have bought the items to know how they lived during that time.

some of the Holocaust victims wearing their uniform
some of the Holocaust victims wearing their uniform

It is legal to sell Holocaust– related material in UK but in some European country it has been banned. One of the council members of the site was suspended. Yahoo has also sale of Nazi memorabilia banned

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, of the Simon Wiesenthal Central in Los Angeles said that it was disgusting for eBay to benefit from the sales of uniforms worn by Holocaust Victims. He argues that the items are supposed to be in museums because they witnessed history and it is demeaning to everyone who died in the Holocaust.

Eva Clarke, a Holocaust survivor who was born in a concentration camp in 1945 lost 15 members of her family said it was disrespectful to the victims for a site like eBay to profit from the sales of memorabilia.

According to The Telegraph, eBay released a statement apologizing for the items listed in their site and promised to remove them.  They also said that they don’t allow items of that nature and they have dedicated thousand of staff to policing their site to detect items that shouldn’t be for sale using latest technology.

They made a donation of 25,000 EUROS to charity to show regret of not living up to their standards.

Steve Khalif

Steve Khalif is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE