Maynards pulls Nazi memorabilia from auction after Richmond MLA's criticism
Credit to Author: Harrison Mooney| Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2019 01:46:12 +0000
A Richmond-based antiques company has pulled a number of Nazi memorabilia items from an auction after outcry from a local MLA and other community members.
A firearms and militaria auction by Maynards Fine Art & Antiques is set for Saturday morning in Richmond. The large lot of antique weaponry and other military items is sourced from countries and cultures all over the world. Among the items up for bid: a West African fighting sword, an antique Vancouver police constable’s billy club and several Soviet-era helmets.
Among the items no longer up for bid: Nazi Germany military and police helmets, Nazi navy hats, Nazi badges and pins, a Nazi wall plaque, and a Nazi flag.
Those items were pulled by Maynards Friday evening after a Facebook post by Richmond MLA Jas Johal, as well as complaints from community members and media inquiries.
“We bowed to public pressure,” said Maynards Vice President Hugh Bulmer. “We’ve heard from a lot of people in the community, especially the Jewish community, about their feelings on these items coming up for sale. … We’ve pulled the items. We don’t want to offend anyone.”
In a Facebook post Friday afternoon, Johal called the auction of Nazi paraphernalia “inappropriate and disgusting,” adding, “Maynards needs to withdraw these auction items immediately.”
Johal suggested the items should be given to a museum or educational institution where they can put in their proper context.
“Companies should not be marketing, promoting, or commercializing genocide,” Johal said. “Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime. Companies should not be profiting from genocide.”
Johal told Postmedia Friday evening that he was especially troubled that the auction was taking place in his riding, saying that there was “a broader community standard” that Maynards needed to meet.
“It’s really a symbol of the ability to live together and be tolerant,” he said. “Richmond is 76 per cent visible minority now. I don’t know of any other jurisdiction in North America that would compete with that type of diversity. That’s why I think, of all places, to hold this in Richmond, a community that I think reflects diversity and tolerance, is a bit offensive.”
Johal said going ahead with the decision to auction Nazi paraphernalia would have stained Maynards’ reputation.
“This is a well-known company that sells beautiful paintings,” Johal said. “They don’t need to be wallowing on this side of things.”
Bulmer initially defended the decision to auction these items, pointing out that many items in Saturday’s auction came from major world conflicts and they had important historical significance.
“We like to sell these items showing the history of what’s happened in the world and we feel that even up through the 20th century, it’s important that we continue the story so that younger people are aware of what happened in these conflicts, not hide it away and burn the books away like Nazi Germany did.”
But after Maynards fielded several more calls about the controversial auction, and just moments before a Jewish community member’s radio interview on the same subject, the vice-president contacted Postmedia a second time to reverse his stance.
“Since we spoke,” he said, “we’ve decided to withdraw all the Nazi memorabilia from the auction.”
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