Dutch Jewish groups have filed a legal complaint against a man for auctioning Nazi memorabilia at a military fair in Houten.
The auctioneer offered an assortment of WWII-related artifacts including swastikas, SS badges, SS uniforms, knives, helmets and various documents.
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Two Judenstern badges offered for sale among other WWII-related items at a military fair in Houten, Netherlands
(Photo: Channel BNN)
He also put up for sale two examples of the Judenstern — a yellow Star of David-shaped badge the Nazis forces Jews to wear on their close to differentiate them from the rest of the population — for the asking price of 2,500 euros. One of the badges had the identity card of the original owner still attached.
The story first broke out on the Dutch TV show Kassa and prompted Jewish organizations in the European country to pursue legal action.
"It's appalling. World War II is still alive in the veins of the Jewish community. It is really offensive," Center for Information and Documentation Israel Director Ronny Naftaniel told Kassa.
The event's organizer, Gaston Vrolings, said he can understand why people are upset but does not see the reason for stopping such fairs.
“The war has happened. Do you have to hide everything that has to do with the war?” he asked. "Visitors at the fair do not have to be far-right supporters to purchase these items. Officers regularly walk around here, and they have never seen anything unusual. They’re just people into stuff related to the war.”
Eddo Verdoner, the government’s national coordinator for combating anti-Semitism in the Netherlands, expressed his concerns amid rising extremist trends across Europe.
“It is naïve to think that this is only about a bunch of dusty items, especially if you look at the emerging extremism in Europe.”
According to him, two people have been banned from attending such fairs in the past due to their suspicious behavior.
Dutch Minister of Security and Justice Ferd Grapperhaus said in response to the incident that the Nazi regime was "a criminal extremist regime" and that "the glorification of Nazi ideology through the sale of Nazi items at fairs is undesirable and morally reprehensible."