Nawrocki calls for gov't action over auction of German war crimes victims' items
Polish President Karol Nawrocki is demanding that the government take action regarding the auction of memorabilia belonging to victims of German war crimes, Nawrocki's spokesperson has said.
The Felzmann Auction House in Neuss, western Germany, is scheduled to start selling a private collection of documents and items related to the victims of Nazi German war crimes.
Reacting to the news, Rafal Leskiewicz wrote on X on Sunday that "The President of the Republic of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, expects the Polish government to demand the return, and ultimately buy out all the memorabilia of the victims of German crimes on Polish soil, and add the cost of this undertaking to the general bill of reparation claims."
He added that Germany started World War Two, and that Poland was its first victim, and that "Germany's sins have never been accounted for, the consequences of which are still felt today."
"The president will consistently demand reparations for German crimes committed in Poland during World War II," the post further read.
Earlier, the International Auschwitz Committee (IAC) and the Fritz Bauer Institute in Frankfurt am Main had also protested against the auction.
The list of items for sale at the Felzmann Auction House, as reported by the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), includes 623 items. Among the documents is a letter from an Auschwitz prisoner "with a very low number" to an addressee in the southern Polish city of Krakow. The starting bid is EUR 500.
A medical diagnosis on a forced sterilisation of a prisoner at the former Nazi German concentration camp in Dachau, southern Germany, is valued at EUR 400.
A Gestapo file card with information about the execution of a Jewish prisoner in the Mackheim ghetto [in Makow Mazowiecki in central-east Poland) in July 1942 has a starting bid of EUR 350. The catalogue also includes an anti-Jewish propaganda poster and a Jewish Star of David from the Buchenwald German Nazi concentration camp near Weimar, Germany.
FAZ wrote that the first part of the private collection was sold six years ago and the buyers are located, among others, in America.
In response to a question from FAZ, the Felzmann Auction House stated that private collectors conduct intensive research and contribute to the advancement of historical knowledge. Their activities serve to preserve memory, not to trade in suffering.
Commenting on Felzmann's position, the FAZ journalist wrote that there is no guarantee that the auction participants' goal is to preserve memory. They could very well be individuals with far-right views. She admitted that banning the sale of such documents is not a solution, as it would only lead to the auction being moved to the dark market or abroad. "We can only appeal for such collections to be donated to public institutions to commemorate the victims," FAZ wrote.
Maciej Wewior, spokesman for the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, addressed the matter in a post on X on Sunday: "We are appealing not so much for the suspension, but for the complete cancellation of this auction. Items related to the crimes of World War II should never enter commercial circulation," he wrote.
"We call for their return to institutions and memorial sites where they can fulfill their proper role as a testament to that time and a document for future generations," Wiewior added declaring support for the Polish culture ministry "in its efforts to protect the memory of the victims."
Culture Minister Marta Cienkowska earlier said that the auction of the victims' memorabilia is unacceptable and must be cancelled.
She also said that the Polish ambassador in Berlin had already been informed of the matter. "I have asked him for an immediate and decisive response. We will unequivocally demand the return of these objects to Poland. Memory is not for sale and never will be," Cienkowska added.
On Sunday afternoon, Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski reported on X that he had spoken with his German counterpart Johann Wadephul about the planned auction of items from the German terror period of World War II and
they both agreed that "such scandal" should be prevented.(PAP)
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