Toronto (July 20, 2020) - Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) has reached out to the owner of an auction house near Aylmer, Ont. calling for the removal of Nazi memorabilia from its online auction.

Hundreds of military items went up for sale last week on the Shackelton Auctions website, including Nazi memorabilia such as matchboxes, pennants, armbands, buckles, postcards and flags, among other items, many of which display the swastika symbol or an image of Adolf Hitler.

Thus far, the owner of the auction house has refused to remove the items, stating the items are from the private estate of a man who wanted the items to be auctioned off.

"While it is not illegal for these items to be sold, it is quite disturbing to see Nazi memorabilia being sold for profit. Such items belong only in educational facilities where people can be educated on Second World War history, the Holocaust and the horrific atrocities committed by the Nazi regime against millions of Jewish people and many other groups," said Rabbi Meyer May, Executive Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

"There is a good chance that the buyers could be extremists and sympathizers of the Nazis. What is unthinkable, however, is that money is being made off symbols that were associated with the murder of 6 million Jews and millions of others," said Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, Director of FSWC's Campaign Against Antisemitism. "These items have no place in our country other than inside the walls of a museum or other institution where they can be used to teach about the results of antisemitism."