Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski condemned the sale in a statement on X, emphasizing that the memory of Holocaust victims "is not a commodity and cannot be the subject of commercial trade." Sikorski said he raised the issue directly with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, describing the auction of objects from the period of wartime terror as unacceptable.
"We agreed that such a scandal must be prevented," Sikorski wrote. He added that Poland’s ambassador to Germany, Jan Tombiński, who had been intervening with authorities in North Rhine–Westphalia for several days, confirmed that all the listed artifacts had already been removed from the auction’s website.
The collection offered for sale included Star of David armbands, private correspondence of victims of Nazi persecution, and drawings made by prisoners - objects bearing deep historical and emotional weight. Their appearance on the open market sparked outrage among Polish officials, historians, and memory institutions.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maciej Wewiór also issued a strong appeal on X, calling not merely for the suspension but for the complete cancellation of the auction. "We call for their return to institutions and sites of remembrance, where they can fulfill their proper role, as testimony of that time and as documentation for future generations," Wewiór wrote.
The Polish government maintains that such artifacts must remain in public collections to safeguard historical truth and ensure respectful commemoration of Holocaust victims.
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SOURCE: IAR