Toronto (February 12, 2020) – Advocacy efforts by Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) have resulted in the removal of a variety of pieces of Nazi memorabilia from auction.

FSWC reached out to the auction site Hibid.com earlier today with concerns about a number of items for sale in Quebec, which included pins, small statues and hats bearing the swastika and other Nazi symbols. In a letter to the site, FSWC argued that the sale of Nazi propaganda “is a grave insult to all Canadians who fought to preserve our freedoms in the wake of Nazi encroachment as well as to the Jewish community and others who were victims of the horrors of the Nazi regime.”

This afternoon, Hibid.com responded to FSWC by agreeing the sale of Nazi items was inappropriate. Hibid.com confirmed to FSWC that it had removed all the Nazi items from auction and committed to preventing any similar items from being sold on its site in the future.

“No one should be profiting from items associated with the horrors and evils of the Nazi regime,” said Avi Benlolo, President and CEO of FSWC. “We are very pleased that as a result of our advocacy efforts, another auction house has agreed to no longer sell Nazi items. We thank Hibid.com for their good faith and cooperation in addressing this matter.”  

FSWC has offered to assist sellers in finding suitable organizations to which they can donate Nazi memorabilia