Jewish advocate wants Perth trader in 'Nazi' memorabilia closed down

[Vixen]

I received an email from Jamey Blewitt of JB Military Antiques saying that a Jewish lobbyist had been pressurising him to cease trading in certain memorabilia.

To all our auction customers, I wanted to speak to you directly in regards to some of the blatant misinformation that has been levelled at us and German collectors in general this week by certain members of both the media and vested Jewish lobbyists in relation to our upcoming 20th November auction. Most notably the Jewish lobbyist Dvir Abramovich has levelled some pretty nasty accusations against us, which are not only untrue, but propagandist to the point of absurdity, which is why I thought it best to refute here, as he will neither return our emails, phone calls or even engage in any form of mutual communication.

For those of you have never come across this person, Abramovich is a Melbourne, Australia based lobbyist who seeks private donations and funding for his 'Anti Defamation Commission', most notably, until recently, when you accessed his webpage, a pop up box would immediately ask you for a donation, so I probably don't need to describe him any further to you. However, he has a major issue with our company and anyone else in Australia/worldwide dealing or collecting German memorabilia from the Third Reich period. Abramovich has but one tactic in his playbook, that is to scream the loudest at anyone such as ourselves, using the national media outlets and webpages, decrying our supposed hatred of the Jewish people and stating that we and others are profiting upon the blood of the millions of jews who were killed during the Holocaust.

Edited by sarge: 

edited to remove rule 4 violation.

Key points from ABC News:

The business says its customers are simply military history enthusiasts
A Jewish leader says swastikas are often used to incite hatred and violence against his people
The public display of the swastika is banned in NSW and Victoria

I am on Jamey Blewitt's subscription lists because I have bought Finnish Winter and Continuation War memorabilia from him in the past, albeit just two rare items. I was unable to find them anywhere else, with one medal advertised as 'original' on Ebay, turning out to be an obviously newly minted fake. I certainly have zero Third Reich sympathies. However, the Finnish swastika, which predates the German one and is actually different, being a square shape and not turned 45° to a diamond shape. It is pale blue, not black on a red background.

So given how difficult it is to find such genuine memorabilia, when many collectors will simply be relatives of the fallen, who is right, the Jewish advocates or Jamey Blewitt (who obviously has a vested interested and makes a healthy profit on his auctions)?

 

[Planigale]

Can't both be right?

Personally I find collecting any war memorabilia or those participating in military reconstructions (even ancient e.g. Roman) weird. Why would you want to pretend to be a part of something so dehumanising as a war? Collecting Nazi memorabilia is creepy.

However, it is legal. I believe that many people who dress up as Romans and may have Roman memorabilia do not believe in keeping slaves or pitting Christians against lions in public games. I can believe many people who collect WW2 memorabilia are not neo-Nazis.

Equally within the law one is entitled* to campaign against businesses and promote boycotts when one thinks that the business is immoral, whether it is trading in military memorabilia or petroleum. So long as the actions are peaceful and legal. I do have concerns that the emotive language used might provoke actions by Jewish or AntiFa terrorists, but so long as there is not a direct call for e.g. firebombing the shop or assassinating the owner this is probably all fair comment.

So long as no one defames the other by e.g. claiming that the seller of such goods is a holocaust denier or anti-semite or Nazi then both seem to be equally right.

*I believe in some parts of the US campaigning for or participating in boycotts of Israeli businesses operating out of occupied Palestinian territories may be illegal.

 

[erwinl]

The few times I’ve visited a military memorabilia market there was a genuine difference between the people interested in general Allied memorabilia and those who looked for the German ones.
Not all people who were into German memorabilia were so, but there was a very sizeable proportion, who was either skinhead or otherwise carried 1488 tattoos and such.
While I do not believe in wholesale prohibiting such sales, a good hard look at what is sold, who is selling and most importantly who is buying is more than warranted in these cases.

 

[smartcooky]

Personally I find collecting any war memorabilia or those participating in military reconstructions (even ancient e.g. Roman) weird. Why would you want to pretend to be a part of something so dehumanising as a war?

Why would you think that person collecting memorabilia would "want to pretend to be a part of something"?

 

[SteveAitch]

Why would you think that person collecting memorabilia would "want to pretend to be a part of something"?

Depends why they started collecting, or whether the collecting was a result of being a member of some group or other.

Other people just collect things and have no intention of joining like minded people. If there are any. My sister used to collect model pigs, I collect elephants. Both of us do/did it purely for our own pleasure.

 

[lionking]

The key word used by the trader is memorabilia. Defined as:

things that are remarkable and worthy of remembrance. a wealth of early railroad memorabilia. : things that stir recollection or are valued or collected for their association with a particular field or interest : mementos

The Third Reich is not worthy of remembrance. Some Nazi symbols are already banned in the two biggest states of Australia. Let’s go for a national ban.

 

[Skeptical Greg]

Why not ban the cross, the star of David and any reference to the genocidal cults of Christianity and Judaism..

 

[lionking]

Why not ban the cross, the star of David and any reference to the genocidal cults of Christianity and Judaism..

Whataboutism at its most feeble.

 

[Skeptical Greg]

Says you... In the peanut gallery.

 

[smartcooky]

The key word used by the trader is memorabilia. Defined as:

things that are remarkable and worthy of remembrance. a wealth of early railroad memorabilia. : things that stir recollection or are valued or collected for their association with a particular field or interest : mementos

The Third Reich is not worthy of remembrance. Some Nazi symbols are already banned in the two biggest states of Australia. Let’s go for a national ban.

Nonetheless, it should never be forgotten, because if it is, it builds a path to repeating those mistakes

IMO, the rise of Nazi Germany, the Third Reich, the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust should be required learning (it is in Germany, where it is taught in middle schools and in upper elementary grades).

But, like its racist, slavery based past, the right in the US wants that part of their history suppressed.

 

[theprestige]

The key word used by the trader is memorabilia. Defined as:

things that are remarkable and worthy of remembrance. a wealth of early railroad memorabilia. : things that stir recollection or are valued or collected for their association with a particular field or interest : mementos

The Third Reich is not worthy of remembrance. Some Nazi symbols are already banned in the two biggest states of Australia. Let’s go for a national ban.

"Defined as" according to who? What's your evidence the guy is using your definition? What makes you think anyone else shares your opinion of what is worthy of remembrance? My view is that history should be preserved. Artifacts should be preserved.

Private collectors and dealers are an important part of the preservation process. If you believe otherwise, why not use your surplus wealth to buy up as many of the offending trinkets as you can, and melt them down or smash them with a hammer or whatever it is you think should happen to them?

 

[Vixen]

Depends why they started collecting, or whether the collecting was a result of being a member of some group or other.

Other people just collect things and have no intention of joining like minded people. If there are any. My sister used to collect model pigs, I collect elephants. Both of us do/did it purely for our own pleasure.

I have one just like in your first picture, plus another couple. I thought I had brought them with me when I moved but I haven't seen them since! Yes, collectors just like to collect whatever interests them. Whilst not as much of an 'anorak' as the male of the species, I have collected and traded various things in my time. My mother handed me down some stamp collections and I do have some stamps leading up to the Third Reich which are historically fascinating as they are over stamped by 'thousands', 'tens of thousands' and even millions of Deutschmarks, as inflation ran rampant (these are worth money but not as much as you might expect). Items are only worth wha people are willing to pay. I've collected first editions of famous authors, and if signed and then wins he Booker Prize, can make £200 a copy on Ebay and I had quite thriving business as a bookseller, especially in the U.S. market. One guy from New York (bookshop) always bought from me. I am also nerdish enough to want to buy the original pressing of an LP if I am a fan of the artiste, plus all the bootlegs, plus a mint copy to be kept unplayed. I also have the original order of service for Charles & Diana, William and Kate and Meghan & Harry (although that one is more a publicly available glossy brochure). They don't take up much space.

As for medals and coins, I only collect ones that have personal meaning for me. Like most people, I have Jubilee Crowns and Churchill Crowns lying around somewhere. Nazi medals are an area I will not go. There seems something immoral about them but I can see that someone of German descent who had relatives caught up in that part of history might have an emotional response for whatever reason. With UK medal, I have never really been all that interested. I think the rule of thumb is that you should not wear or have a medal you have not been awarded. There is disapproval of Finland's role in the Continuation War but that doesn't mean people do not honour the fallen. My grandmother received two Medals of the Cross of Liberty for mourners, with a black ribbon, as the mother of two of the fallen and I have a photograph of her in black wearing them. I am not sure where the medals are now, possibly a cousin has possession, so I wanted to get hold of one. I have the Winter War medals and a Red Lion one. Plus a couple of officer replicas (which are not the same).

Whilst I can see that displaying for example Nazi memorabilia can be offensive, I am not sure you can stop people from collecting. Military History is quite a large part of any library and of endless fascination to anyone who has been affected by war, even a generation or two later.

 

[smartcooky]

"Defined as" according to who?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/memorabilia

Good enough?

 

[lionking]

Nonetheless, it should never be forgotten, because if it is, it builds a path to repeating those mistakes

IMO, the rise of Nazi Germany, the Third Reich, the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust should be required learning (it is in Germany, where it is taught in middle schools and in upper elementary grades).

But, like its racist, slavery based past, the right in the US wants that part of their history suppressed.

All of that can be done without selling Nazi memorabilia.

 

[smartcooky]

I have one just like in your first picture, plus another couple. I thought I had brought them with me when I moved but I haven't seen them since! Yes, collectors just like to collect whatever interests them. Whilst not as much of an 'anorak' as the male of the species, I have collected and traded various things in my time. My mother handed me down some stamp collections and I do have some stamps leading up to the Third Reich which are historically fascinating as they are over stamped by 'thousands', 'tens of thousands' and even millions of Deutschmarks, as inflation ran rampant (these are worth money but not as much as you might expect). Items are only worth wha people are willing to pay. I've collected first editions of famous authors, and if signed and then wins he Booker Prize, can make £200 a copy on Ebay and I had quite thriving business as a bookseller, especially in the U.S. market. One guy from New York (bookshop) always bought from me. I am also nerdish enough to want to buy the original pressing of an LP if I am a fan of the artiste, plus all the bootlegs, plus a mint copy to be kept unplayed. I also have the original order of service for Charles & Diana, William and Kate and Meghan & Harry (although that one is more a publicly available glossy brochure). They don't take up much space.

As for medals and coins, I only collect ones that have personal meaning for me. Like most people, I have Jubilee Crowns and Churchill Crowns lying around somewhere. Nazi medals are an area I will not go. There seems something immoral about them but I can see that someone of German descent who had relatives caught up in that part of history might have an emotional response for whatever reason. With UK medal, I have never really been all that interested. I think the rule of thumb is that you should not wear or have a medal you have not been awarded. There is disapproval of Finland's role in the Continuation War but that doesn't mean people do not honour the fallen. My grandmother received two Medals of the Cross of Liberty for mourners, with a black ribbon, as the mother of two of the fallen and I have a photograph of her in black wearing them. I am not sure where the medals are now, possibly a cousin has possession, so I wanted to get hold of one. I have the Winter War medals and a Red Lion one. Plus a couple of officer replicas (which are not the same).

Whilst I can see that displaying for example Nazi memorabilia can be offensive, I am not sure you can stop people from collecting. Military History is quite a large part of any library and of endless fascination to anyone who has been affected by war, even a generation or two later.

I have a friend who has an Iron Cross and an Africa Campaign Medal. The were awarded to his maternal grand-uncle, a Luftwaffe Combat pilot who flew bf109s in the Battle of Britain, and was KIA in North Africa sometime in 1942. These medals are all he has in connection with that side of his family, and I am sure he would not give them up just because someone has an issue with Nazi memorabilia

 

[BrettM]

Is Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, aware that Holocaust Memorial centers collect and display Nazi memorabilia?

For instance, the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust has a "Symbols of Hate" exhibit featuring Nazi memorabilia. Where do these memorabilia come from? I don't think they were donated by right-wing Nazis. Chances are that some of these memorabilia were bought from dealers like Jamey Blewitt.

So is it O.K. to sell Nazi memorabilia to buyers of noble intent and purity of heart, and forbid the sale to the general public?

 

[theprestige]

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/memorabilia

Good enough?

It's a start.

 

[angrysoba]

I don’t think this kind of definitional argument works.

It can only be considered memorabilia if you think it is worth remembering and by that it is assumed you think the thing worth mentioning is good therefore your use of the term “Nazi memorabilia” suggests you think the Nazis are good…

No, that argument doesn’t work for me. I’m not going to make any defence of any particular buyer or seller of Nazi war stuff but calling it memorabilia does not automatically imply the person buying it must have Nazi sympathies. It could very easily just refer to collectors of any kind of wartime stuff because they are interested in the era, and that seems consistent with plenty of other definitions of memorabilia, eg

objects that are collected because they are connected with a person or event that is thought to be very interesting:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/memorabilia

​things that people collect because they once belonged to a famous person, or because they are connected with a particular interesting place, event or activity

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/memorabilia

 

[BrettM]

I think relic might be a better word than memorabilia.

Definition 1: an object surviving from an earlier time, especially one of historical interest.

Definition 2: a part of a deceased holy person's body or belongings kept as an object of reverence.

Definition 2 would apply to the right-wing Nazis who consider these objects (and the ideology they represent) to be worthy of worship, and buy them to display in a shrine.

Definition 1 would apply to those collectors who buy these things because of their historical significance.

 

[smartcooky]

Is Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, aware that Holocaust Memorial centers collect and display Nazi memorabilia?

For instance, the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust has a "Symbols of Hate" exhibit featuring Nazi memorabilia. Where do these memorabilia come from? I don't think they were donated by right-wing Nazis. Chances are that some of these memorabilia were bought from dealers like Jamey Blewitt.

So is it O.K. to sell Nazi memorabilia to buyers of noble intent and purity of heart, and forbid the sale to the general public?

Yeah, rules for me but not for thee!