Owner of Nazi tattoo kit to donate to Haifa Holocaust Museum
Anonymous seller of Nazi tattoo kit used on prisoners at Auschwitz extermination camp on Thursday informed Tel Aviv district court that he plans to close the case by donating the items to the Holocaust museum from Haifa.
The auction of the controversial items was announced by auction house Tzolman several weeks ago. Following outrage from Holocaust survivors, the Tel Aviv District Court has temporarily suspended the sale. The Center for Holocaust Survivors’ Organizations has filed a lawsuit against the auction house and the owner in an attempt to completely prevent the sale of the matrices.
At the first hearing on Tuesday, the auction house manager, Meir Tzolman, requested that the seller’s name be kept anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter. The court informed the seller’s attorneys that he had eight days to rule on the conflict over the items, which is when it decided to donate the items.
In a letter to the court, the seller explained that as someone who works in the field of Holocaust history and buys items to keep his memory alive, he did not expect the sale auction causes a storm.
The letter also pointed out that from the start, the owner intended to sell the kits to “an individual who would then donate them to a Holocaust memorial organization”, rather than to someone who was not suitable.
The owner stressed that “although he has no legal obligation to donate the items, he is prepared to do so given the fact that ultimately his sole purpose is to act for the commemoration of the ‘Holocaust. “
He decided to donate the dies to the Yad Ezer L’Chaver organization which runs the Haifa Holocaust Museum and works with the survivors.
However, the issue was not favorable to the Center for Holocaust Survivors’ Organizations which wanted the objects to be transferred to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum.
The seller has made his decision known to the court and it is now up to him to decide the fate of the objects.