Auschwitz concentration camp
Photo: AP
Montreal Jew sells concentration camp soap
Abraham Botines, owner of World War II collectibles shop, under fire for selling bars of soap made in 1940 Nazi death camps. Police asked to probe whether soaps made from fat of Shoah victims
Abraham Botines, 73, is the owner of a small antiques shop in Montreal, and has recently added to his list of collectibles soap made in the concentration camps in Poland.
Botines, a Spanish-born Jew, sells items from World War II, including Nazi soldiers' former belongings. His recent decision to sell soap from the concentration camps has evoked the anger of many members of Montreal's Jewish community.
The shop owner bought the soap, which were manufactured in 1940, from a Canadian citizen who served in the Second World War. Each bar of soap costs at around $300.
Botines says he is not selling the items to promote Nazi propaganda, but to preserve the memory of the Holocaust. He also says he did not know that the Nazis used to manufacture soap out of the fat of their Jewish victims.
Botines tried to sell the soap to the Holocaust museum in Montreal, but was rejected.
The museum said in response that it is shameful that such items are put on sale. "They belong in a museum, where they can be used as educational tools," a museum source said.
Representatives of the Jewish community in Montreal have requested police investigate the matter, and examine whether the soap really was made from human fat.
