Portland Auction House Listed Dagger Belonging To Nazi Leader For Bidding

A Portland auction house has been facing backlash for listing a dagger supposedly belonging to a prominent Nazi leader, according to Oregon Live.

An online catalog from O'Gallerie reads, “VERY RARE HEINRICH HIMMLER PRESENTATION SS HONOR DAGGER," along with a picture of a knife with a Nazi war eagle stamped on its handle. The estimated selling price is between $8,000 and $12,000, according to the auction website.

Heinrich Himmler was the leader of Adolf Hitler's SS security force, which ran Nazi concentration camps, and one of the minds behind the Holocaust. He killed himself in May 1945 after he was captured by Allied forces.

Bob Hornstein, the director of community relations at the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, said he reached out to O'Gallerie's owners. He wasn't able to get in contact with them.
“We don’t believe that a business or an individual should be able to profit from something like this -- it’s shameful,” Hornstein told Oregon Live. “They don’t care. They just want to make money off of it.”

He's not the only one who disagrees with the listing. Reports said Portlanders have called out the auction, as well, but remain undecided on how to go about the situation. Some suggest the dagger gets purchased so it can be sent to a Holocaust museum. Others believe ignoring the auction reduces the public attention on it.

“You can’t force these people not to sell their stuff,” Portland attorney Hank Kaplan said, who is also the son of Holocaust survivors. “I think it’s shameful, but there’s not a whole lot anyone can do about it other than point out how shameful it is.”

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