Amid a global outcry over an auction in Germany offering personal effects of Nazi victims, one bright moment emerged: Yad Ezer L’Haver (Helping Hand to a Friend), a Haifa-based nonprofit that supports Holocaust survivors, purchased a significant portion of the items and transported them to Israel.
The artifacts, including clothing, religious articles and letters, will now be displayed at the organization’s Holocaust museum in Haifa.
“We couldn’t stand by while memory was being sold,” the organization said in a statement. “This is a moral obligation to rescue the past for future generations.”
The controversy began several weeks ago after reports surfaced about a planned auction in Germany that included personal belongings of Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. Among the items were suitcases bearing Jewish names, clothing, toiletries, prayer books and personal belongings of Jews who were deported to concentration and extermination camps, including a yellow star of David badge.
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Items slated for sale in Germany and brought to Israel
(Photo: Courtesy of Yad Ezer L'Haver)
The objects were probably old collections held by dealers, private collectors or inherited estates, and were scheduled for sale by the German auction house Felzmann.
The very idea of selling such emotionally and historically charged items, preserved for decades as silent witnesses to the Holocaust, drew condemnation in Israel, Germany and Jewish communities worldwide.
Institutions including Yad Vashem, Israel’s Foreign Ministry, and Jewish groups in Europe strongly protested the sale and demanded its cancellation. Following public pressure, the auction house canceled the sale and issued an apology.
Amid the uproar, Yad Ezer L’Haver, which also operates a Holocaust museum and residential facility for survivors in Haifa, took action. The organization is dedicated to Holocaust remembrance and to honoring the victims and sharing the stories of survivors and their families.
The organization dispatched its CEO, Shimon Sabag, along with David Sabag, to Germany to secure the items and ensure they were transferred to a suitable institution in Israel.
“It is unacceptable to trade in items that bear witness to the memory of the Holocaust and the suffering of the Jewish people", said Sabag. ”These items belong in a museum, especially one like ours in Haifa, where entrance is free and students and the general public can learn about one of the darkest chapters in Jewish history,” he added.
Following complex negotiations, the organization acquired a significant portion of the collection. They also reached a binding agreement with the auction house's management to suspend the sale of the remaining items for 10 days, giving the charity time to raise additional funds to purchase them in full. Sabag pledged to do everything possible to ensure all the items are brought to Israel and exhibited at the Haifa museum.
The arrival of the artifacts has moved Holocaust survivors living at the charity’s Haifa campus. “It’s very important that the organization brought these letters and items from the Holocaust,” said 94-year-old survivor Manya Herman.
“These letters show how Jews communicated. Schoolchildren who study the Holocaust should see them and understand. The letters must be preserved, and if possible, translated, so that future generations can read them. The Holocaust must not be forgotten."
Sabag called the acquisition a moral and historical achievement. “Yad Ezer L’Haver is committed to doing everything possible to prevent the inappropriate trade of Holocaust artifacts and to ensure their proper place is in education, commemoration and remembrance,” he said.
On Monday, between noon and 6 p.m., the Knesset’s Special Committee for Combating Drugs and Alcohol will host a special exhibition organized by Yad Ezer L’Haver in the presence of Holocaust survivors and public officials. The event will feature the recently acquired artifacts, now on display in Israel for the first time.