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Auction of Hitler family portraits raises questions about Nazi memorabilia
Family portraits of Hitler's parents are going up for auction.Craig Gottlieb Militaria, a leading auction house in California, will be auctioning off paintings of Alois and Klara Hitler via Gottlieb's website from September 1 to 17. Gottlieb is also selling Hitler's desk set. The shop is open to prospective buyers by appointment.
The subject of Hitler and Nazi memorabilia comes up regularly here on Gadling. An article about a Hitler tour around Germany started a flame war, and my discussion about the other meanings of the swastika got some interesting and somewhat more level-headed responses. More than sixty years after the fall of the Third Reich, these symbols still elicit strong reactions.
This raises all sorts of questions about how we portray the past, and what should and shouldn't be included. In Germany and Austria, for example, it's illegal to display the swastika expect in specific historical contexts. My article on swastikas probably couldn't get published in a German magazine because it skirts the edge of the law. Other countries display these items freely. At the Imperial War Museum in London you can see a variety of Nazi items. An Orthodox Jewish friend commented that such a context is OK. It makes her wince to see it, but it's part of history and needs to be discussed.
On the spectrum of what's acceptable and what's not, museum displays are on pretty safe ground, although it took many years before a Hitler exhibition was allowed in Germany. But what about selling Nazi memorabilia? Gottlieb's store is full of SS items. He's even written a book on SS Totenkopf ("Death's Head") rings and currently has 44 such rings up for auction. Some countries ban selling Nazi memorabilia, as does eBay, yet an article in Forbes estimates the sale of these items to be in the hundreds of millions.
Gallery: Nazi collectables
I'm a military historian and collector myself. I'm also a struggling writer with a kid to feed, so my collection is pretty small. We collectors buy these things because they give us an immediate connection to history. Yet the thrill I feel when reading a postcard from the Western Front or holding a Civil War bullet is far different than what I feel when I see a swastika flag covering a coffee table. Yes, that's an example taken from experience. I don't have any Nazi items in my collection and I'm not interested in buying any.
London is my favorite place to shop for militaria. Provincial Booksellers Fairs take place all over England and offer up lots of rare books on military and other subjects. Shops in places like Grays Antique Markets and Camden Passage Islington offer a huge variety of medals, weapons, and uniforms. One thing I've noticed is that there are two types of shops: those that sell Nazi memorabilia and those that don't. Those that do often have a lot of it. In one shop I saw an entire set of instruments from an SS marching band.
I asked a shopkeeper who didn't stock Nazi items why he made that decision.
"Because I don't having those people in here," he said.
"Perhaps they're just interested in history?" I offered.
He shook his head and replied, "That's not why they buy it."
While I won't go as far as to suspect anyone fascinated with the Third Reich as being a closet Nazi, I do have to wonder what they get from it, and shake my head in amazement at how much power Hitler and his goons still have over our emotions sixty years on.
Attached is a gallery of the kind of Nazi memorabilia prized by some collectors. What do you feel when you see them? Do you think they should be for sale? Would you accept one as a gift? Is it OK to have them in museums? Tell us what you think in the comments section!
[Photo of Klara Hitler courtesy Wikimedia Commons]
London is my favorite place to shop for militaria. Provincial Booksellers Fairs take place all over England and offer up lots of rare books on military and other subjects. Shops in places like Grays Antique Markets and Camden Passage Islington offer a huge variety of medals, weapons, and uniforms. One thing I've noticed is that there are two types of shops: those that sell Nazi memorabilia and those that don't. Those that do often have a lot of it. In one shop I saw an entire set of instruments from an SS marching band.
I asked a shopkeeper who didn't stock Nazi items why he made that decision.
"Because I don't having those people in here," he said.
"Perhaps they're just interested in history?" I offered.
He shook his head and replied, "That's not why they buy it."
While I won't go as far as to suspect anyone fascinated with the Third Reich as being a closet Nazi, I do have to wonder what they get from it, and shake my head in amazement at how much power Hitler and his goons still have over our emotions sixty years on.
Attached is a gallery of the kind of Nazi memorabilia prized by some collectors. What do you feel when you see them? Do you think they should be for sale? Would you accept one as a gift? Is it OK to have them in museums? Tell us what you think in the comments section!
[Photo of Klara Hitler courtesy Wikimedia Commons]
Filed under: History, Learning, Europe, North America, Austria, Germany, United States
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mike Aug 4th 2011 11:45AM
I'm Jewish
I have collection of Nazi medals and orders among other stuff. I belie it is my right of passage to own part of our Jewish history.
Background.
My father has past away in 2008 he was 85. He was a Holocaust survivor from Poland. A religious and riches man. His mother, father, brother and sisters where all killed in Beltzig concentration camp.
My mother's family and all her relatives where also killed in Babeiyar in Kiev. Her father was killed in action as Russian Army's tank repair specialist on the front lines on May 25 1942 by German troops in advancing to capture city Harkov in Ukraine.
My father collected Nazi concentration camp currency. During the past several years before he died he displayed his collection in Jewish centers so young people can see the evidence of genocide.
In 2002 I came across a small collection of Nazi medals. The collection did not belong to me. I borrowed this collection to show it to my father.
His reaction was surprising. He said it will be a good thing to collect these as an evidence of our survival. he stated.."the most secret items of honor they risked their life's for now rests in the Jewish hands. Such irony. Buy the collection son".
My outlook on collecting Nazi stuff as you can see a bid different than others. However, I would not collect Hitler's stuff. It is repulsive to me.
Crissy Aug 4th 2011 12:51PM
Being a minor history buff I understand wanted to collect odd pieces of memorabilia. I generally wouldn't put much restriction on that, different things make different people tick. But I would be quite suspicious of anyone who wanted Hitler memorabilia, they're either a special breed of collector or a very disturbed individual.
Kurt Aug 20th 2012 2:36AM
I have a Nazi banner that my father brought back from the war. I had it framed and it's now displayed in my apartment. I don't feel that it has any mystical evil powers. It's just a piece of cloth, a piece of history, and the only piece of war memorabilia he still possessed when he died.