Toronto (March 9, 2021) - Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) is calling on a Montreal-based auction house to immediately remove disturbing Holocaust and Nazi relics - including a used Zyklon B gas canister, SS weapons and military gear, as well as personal items and documents belonging to concentration camp prisoners - from its online auction.

Madison's Historical, which calls itself "a web-based platform auctioneer" that specializes in "World War II and Holocaust related material," is selling the items in an auction that closes on April 4 on the platform LiveAuctioneers. Neither Madison’s Historical nor LiveAuctioneers have responded to FSWC's request for the removal of the items.

"It's unconscionable that someone could profit from or purchase these items, especially murder weapons that contributed to the deaths of 6 million Jews and millions of others," said Michael Levitt, FSWC president and CEO. "As Holocaust awareness diminishes, the need for Holocaust education is becoming more important than ever. That is why these items should be donated to a museum or educational institution to be used to educate people about the Holocaust, not sold for profit and potentially end up in the hands of those with nefarious motivations.”

FSWC calls on LiveAuctioneers to adopt policies similar to those of other large auction platforms such as eBay which prohibit the sale of Nazi military propaganda and relics.

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UPDATE: In an email to FSWC, LiveAuctioneers stated it is suspending the auction house’s listing privileges because they violated a number of listing policies, “including those policies that seek to limit the glorification of vile historical objects and to discourage the modern replication of hateful items.”

FSWC has still not heard from the auction house Madison’s Historical and will continue monitoring to ensure the items are not moved to another auction platform.

Read March 10th Update: Montreal Auction House Suspended, Holocaust and Nazi Relics Removed from Online Platform Following FSWC Action

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