Jewish group raises concerns about Nazi memorabilia being sold at Pickering antiques market

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The Canadian Press Article

‍Jewish group raises concerns about Nazi memorabilia being sold at Pickering antiques market

A Toronto-based Jewish organization is raising concerns about the sale of Nazi memorabilia at an Ontario antiques market.

The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies says one of its members was at the Roadshow Antiques South market in Pickering, Ont., over the weekend and noticed a vendor selling items that included a deck of cards printed with swastikas, stamps featuring Hitler, a Nazi flag and Hitler Youth pins.

The centre said it sent a staff member to the market on Wednesday and confirmed the items were still being sold.

The staff member asked customers at the market what they thought of the items, the centre said, and one woman remarked that “her (late) husband admired the Nazis.”

FSWC president and CEO Avi Benlolo said he is concerned about that kind of thinking.

“This kind of thing is horrific,” he said. “People are venerating the Nazis and celebrating the regime.”

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Toronto Sun Article

Nazi memorabilia at Pickering flea market concerns Jewish group

A Pickering flea market vendor is selling memorabilia venerating the murderous Nazi regime.

Avi Benlolo, president and CEO of Canadian Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, said police, the flea market owners and the local mayor’s office have all been contacted about the display, which features Nazi flags, Adolf Hitler stamps and Hitler youth pins.

“We were there observing the reaction of customers, some of whom actually said that Adolf Hitler is a hero and admired by family members — and that was the most disconcerting thing,” Benlolo said Thursday. “It’s unfortunate that there’s a marketplace for people who are still idolizing the Nazis and Adolf Hitler, who committed such atrocities.”

FSWC, which estimates the value of the large collection at $5,000, said the only place for this type of Nazi memorabilia is the field of Holocaust education, and having it sit on a shelf for sale in a Pickering flea market gives it the potential to fuel distortion and revisionism of the Holocaust.

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Canadian Jewish News Article

Nazi Memorabilia Sold at Pickering Antique Market

Nazi memorabilia being sold at a Pickering, Ont., antique market prompted the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) to lodge complaints with the owner of the market, the Pickering mayor and the Durham police.

FSWC president and CEO Avi Benlolo said a community member visiting the Roadshow Antiques South market in Pickering alerted his organization last week to the display, which contained items worth about $5,000, including a deck of cards printed with swastikas, stamps featuring Hitler, a 1942 issue of the Nazi Party’s monthly magazine for political education, Hitler Youth pins, and a Nazi flag.

Benlolo, who went to see the display, said, “it’s very offensive. There are medals from World War II, Nazi medals, all kinds of documents, some training manuals… I think you’ve got to be someone who is a white supremacist or neo-Nazi to buy this material.”

Benlolo said letters sent to Pickering Mayor David Ryan and the owners of the flea market have so far gone unanswered,“but the police appreciated the tip. When we arrived [at the antique market], they were there.”