Jewish group condemns German auction featuring Hitler’s hat, other Nazi memorabilia

The European Jewish Association on Wednesday condemned an auction taking place in Germany that features Adolf Hitler’s top hat and other Nazi memorabilia.

The Associated Press reports the auction at Hermann Historica in Munich has faced backlash, with the Jewish group saying “it’s wrong to make money off these blood-soaked items, especially in Germany of all places.”

The auction will include more than 800 items linked to Nazis, with a silver-plated edition of Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf” and a cocktail dress owned by his long-time girlfriend Eva Braun among the most prominent items.

{mosads}German news agency DPA reported that the auction house’s owner, Bernhard Pacher, rejected criticism surrounding the auction, saying that a “majority of our customers are museums, public collections and private collectors who really deal with the topic meticulously.”

Menachem Margolin, a rabbi and chairman of the Jewish group, wrote a letter to the auction house urging them to remove the Nazi items.

“I understand that it is not illegal to buy and sell Nazi memorabilia … this is not a legal request but a moral one. It is wrong,” Margolin wrote in the letter, according to BBC.

Pacher noted that there would be protocols in place to “prevent the wrong people” from obtaining the Nazi memorabilia.

Hermann Historica has previously been criticized for auctioning off Nazi memorabilia. In 2016, it faced widespread backlash for selling one of Hitler’s uniforms for more than $300,000.