Jewish organizations want Nazi memorabilia removed from antique stores, auction houses

While it’s not against the law in Canada to own, buy or sell Nazi memorabilia, several Jewish organizations are calling on stores to stop profiting off a dark period of human history.

This comes after an Edmonton antique store – the Old Strathcona Antique Mall – decided to stop selling items with Nazi symbolism after an uproar online and social media pressure.

READ: Edmonton antique store removes Nazi memorabilia after Twitter backlash

Another antique store in Edmonton – the Blue Jar Antique Mall – also decided to stop selling replica rings, pins and signs that bear a swastika after CityNews alerted them to community concerns.

The owner declined an interview but apologized for causing any harm.

Nazi memorabilia at Edmonton’s Blue Jar Antique Mall on Nov. 2, 2021. (Credit: CityNews)

The sale of items related to the Holocaust is extremely problematic, say Jewish groups.

“Even just in the past year, we’ve seen used Zyklon B canisters, which is the lethal gas used in the gas chambers in Auschwitz and other camps, being sold,” said Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, director of policy at Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies.

“These items very often end up being purchased by those who are fetishizing the items. So we’re talking about white supremacists and hate groups.”

In parts of Europe, these symbols are illegal in public. But in Canada, organizations often reach out to antique stores or auction houses to highlight the harm of selling them on the open market.

Several big auction houses have already agreed to stop selling such items.

“These items shouldn’t have been on the shelves in the first place, but it’s something we all can learn from,” said Jenn Magalnick, the Holocaust education coordinator at the Jewish Federation of Edmonton.

The organizations are calling for all Nazi-related items to be taken off the open market and donated to museums or learning centres where the context of the Holocaust is preserved.

“We ask all members of Canadian society to step in and be allies against antisemitism and racism in any form,” said Kirzner-Roberts.