A Melbourne collectors shop has rushed to sell off its Nazi artefacts a day before new legislation banning the trade of such items comes into effect.
Oldies Collectables, a militaria shop in Mount Evelyn in the city’s north-east, held an online auction featuring a range of antiques from World War II Germany including paramilitary uniforms and rings worn by Nazi soldiers.
Between 90 to 130 bidders registered to attend the auction. One uniform sold for $9000, according to the firm’s website.
Anyone selling items with Nazi-related symbols could face up to 12 months’ jail from tomorrow under counter-terrorism laws passed by the federal government in December last year.
The Nazi swastika and Schutzstaffel double lightning bolts are specifically banned but the prohibition also extends to items seen to honour or promote Nazi ideology.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus called the auction “disappointing”.
“It is deeply disappointing people are seeking to profit from the trade in symbols that glorify the atrocities of the Holocaust, promote hate and seek to vilify parts of the community,” he said.
The Oldies Collectables auction was the only one the attorney-general’s office said it was aware of so close to the ban.
Prominent members of Victoria’s Jewish community also voiced their outrage over the auction.
“What all these collectors are selling are the worst of the worst. Nazi daggers, SS, swastikas, they’re the emblems of absolute inhumanity,” said Dvir Abramovich, chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission.
In a statement , Oldies Collectables owner and auctioneer Don Mahoney said the shop sold military items from all wars, not just those waged by Nazi Germany.
“It is military history we sell, you cannot erase history, we need to learn from history,” he said.
“We as dealers and collectors do not have a problem with the ban of the swastika or offensive symbols in public, but to give me 12 months jail and brand me a terrorist because I sold my grandfather’s war items is a disgrace.”
Private ownership of Nazi material – such as family war souvenirs and museum exhibits – remains legal.
The move to criminalise the trade and display of Nazi symbols comes after several neo-Nazi rallies in Victoria last year.
Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and the ACT have already legislated criminal offences for public displays of Nazi symbols, with Victoria also banning public performances of the salute last October.
(9 NEWS)