Felzmann auction house: “Such historical evidence does not belong in private households”

In Neuss, Holocaust documents will be auctioned. A scandal followed. Fritz Backhaus of the German Historical Museum on the growing Nazi souvenir trade

November 19, 2025, 16:38

Article summary

Auction of Nazi documents sparks outrage: Historical evidence of the Holocaust was supposed to be auctioned, but cancellation followed due to public criticism. Museums such as the German Historical Museum view these documents as important sources that should be properly preserved. The handling of Nazi documents on the market raises ethical questions and calls for debate over commercialization and sensitivity. Despite questionable bids at auction, DHM relies on provenance research and clear exclusion criteria. Private collectors such as Wolfgang Haney made important contributions to educating and studying the history of National Socialism.

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Pocket watch of a victim of the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre. Members of the Waffen-SS killed 643 people in a French village on June 10, 1944. The clock is displayed along with other everyday objects belonging to victims of Nazi crimes from 1945 as part of the traveling exhibition “Crimes hitlériens”.
© Benoît Sadry

last Monday at the Felzmann auction house in Neuss historical documents from the collection of a “private Nazi researcher” will be auctioned. The auction sparked outrage both at research institutes such as the Fritz Bauer Institute in Frankfurt am Main and in the media and was later cancelled. How do institutions such as the German Historical Museum in Berlin (DHM) view the market for collectors of letters, archives and other evidence of the National Socialist dictatorship?

TIME: Mr. Backhaus, Felzmann’s auction house wanted a collection with a title Terror Systems, Volume II, 1933–1945 auction, including a letter from a Polish Auschwitz prisoner from 1940 (price from 180 euros), a Gestapo index card with information about the execution of a Jewish resident of the Mackheim ghetto in East Prussia (350 euros) and a Jewish star for protective prisoners in the Buchenwald concentration camp (350 euros), with “signs of use” according to the auction description. The sale was canceled a few days ago. Does this object interest you as Director of DHM Collections?