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Felzmann Cancels Auction of Holocaust-Era Documents After International Outcry

Diplomatic pressure following survivor outcry prompted calls to place the materials under public stewardship.

Overview

  • North Rhine–Westphalia officials said the auction house informed state chancellery chief Nathanael Liminski by phone that the sale was canceled.
  • Felzmann had advertised “Das System des Terrors Vol. II 1933–1945” with more than 600 lots, including prisoner letters, Gestapo files, a Buchenwald Jewish star, and an anti-Jewish poster, before removing the catalogue.
  • The International Auschwitz Committee condemned the plan as “cynical and shameless,” and the Fritz-Bauer-Institut said such records must go to public archives and memorials rather than the market.
  • Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said he coordinated with German foreign minister Johann Wadephul to stop the sale, and Poland seeks transfer of the materials to the Auschwitz memorial.
  • German and Polish diplomatic actors welcomed the cancellation and urged clarification of the episode, transfer to appropriate memorial custody, and safeguards to prevent similar auctions.