An auction house in Launceston is selling Nazi memorabilia on behalf of a client, provoking outrage from the national Anti-Defamation Commission, which is calling for the immediate removal of the "grisly items" from its shelves.
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Armitage Auctions will be attempting to auction off several items of Nazi memorabilia on Wednesday, including a Hitler Youth belt buckle, an SS officer's ring and a Luftwaffe officer's parade sash lock.
Auctioneer Neil O'Brien said the man who was selling the items had been collecting material of this kind for the last 20-30 years and was "a really nice chap".
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"He hated what happened in the war," Mr O'Brien said.
"[Armitage Auctions] condemns what happened in the war.
"But, at the end of the day, there are many historic events - atrocities - that have happened, where things that are related to that moment in time ... become very collectible.
"Until [governments] bring legislation in on selling a lot of these things, we've got to morally make a decision on whether we sell them or not - but if we don't sell them, somebody else will."
Mr O'Brien said the auction house was "sympathetic" to those who might be upset by its decision to sell the items in question.
Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich said Armitage Auctions had chosen "profits over doing the right thing by Holocaust survivors and the diggers who gave their lives to defeat the Nazis".
"[Armitage Auctions] will not get a free pass on this issue and for trampling and degrading the memory of the victims," Dr Abramovich said in a statement.
"Mainstreaming the devil's tools and trafficking in death is flat-out sickening and must never become normal in Tasmania.
"We know that in the real world, anti-Semitic incitement, as represented by this paraphernalia, often results in violence and deadly attacks, and as we witness the growing threat of white supremacist organisations in our nation, we know that such groups have an appetite for these relics."
Dr Abramovich called on Armitage Auctions to "pluck up the ethical courage required and to immediately withdraw these grisly items from their shelves".
The Tasmanian Greens have also urged Armitage Auctions to reconsider its position on selling the items and pressured the state government to consider introducing a ban on the sale of Nazi memorabilia in Tasmania.
"It is one thing not to forget the past to ensure we don't repeat its mistakes; it's another to highlight and try to make money out of the Holocaust," Greens leader Cassy O'Connor said.
Attorney-General Elise Archer said the state government "strongly condemns" actions which "commemorate or seek to legitimise the Nazi movement".
"Any decision to offer Nazi related memorabilia for sale in our state would not be welcomed by the Tasmanian community.
"I strongly urge any individual or organisation in Tasmania to think twice about seeking to profit from the sale of such items."
