A picture taken in April 1945 depicts Auschwitz concentration camp gate, with the inscription “Arbeit macht frei,” after its liberation by Soviet troops in January 1945. A New York City auction house is selling a number of Holocaust-related items, including some from concentration camps like Auschwitz.

By Arno Rosenfeld May 15, 2023

A New York City auction house plans to sell a number of Holocaust-related items Saturday. A can of Zyklon B, the poison gas used to kills Jews and other concentration camp inmates, is among the items listed for sale. The lot also includes a patch from the striped uniforms worn by Jews in the concentration camps, several of the yellow badges that Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis and armbands belonging to the Jewish ghetto police in Poland.

The items are part of an “estate liquidation auction” at Antique Arena, which is based in Brooklyn but offers its items for sale online. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday about whose estate the items belonged to or its policies related to selling Nazi or Holocaust-related items.

In addition to the items related to the Holocaust, which also include letters from inmates at Dachau and Auschwitz, the auction features a significant amount of Nazi paraphernalia including propaganda posters, military uniforms and medals.

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Large auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s prohibit the sale of Nazi items, as does eBay, although it remains common in the United States and has been estimated to comprise half of the military antiques trade. But items specific to the Holocaust, like those listed by Antique Arena, appear to be far less common.

Almost all the items in the upcoming Antique Arena auction are listed with starting bids of $10 and estimates between $100 and $150. It is unclear whether the items have been authenticated.

The descriptions on the items are generally sparse, although some include more context. “A World War II Jewish ghetto armband with Magen David and inscription Jude, Jew,” reads the listing for a yellow badge. “Unusual design.”

Other items listed as part of the estate sale include Soviet propaganda posters as well as many items with no connection to the Holocaust or World War II, including fine art prints. Also on the auction block: two pieces of Jewish art, including a lithograph of Abraham, the Biblical prophet, by Israeli-American artist Emanuel Schary, and a Hebrew print of the Book of Lamentations.

Antique Arena has regularly sold Nazi items, including an SS officer’s hat in December for $2,300, a street sign featuring a swastika in March for $192 and a cake server apparently designed for Eva Braun, Hitler’s wife, for $480 last month.

The company was founded in 2019, according to public records. Anton Mesherki, who lists himself as founder of Antique Arena on LinkedIn, regularly promotes its auctions on the social media website.

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