Calls grow to remove Nazi memorabilia from Calgary stores

After an Edmonton antique mall removed Nazi memorabilia from its shelves, some are hoping Calgary stores will do the same.

“These are relics of a genocide which saw six million Jews and millions of others murdered,” said Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, a director of policy at the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Albertan Abe Silverman and his parents were among those who survived.

“I was born in 1942 in a ghetto where the Nazis came in and took everybody out of every other house and shot them on the streets and buried them in a mass grave,” said Silverman. “I mean the trauma is not something that you can verbalize.”

He would also like to see the items removed from shops.

“Those things should not be shared, especially not on a commercial level. That’s very offensive.”

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The owner of Shoulder to Shoulder Militaria and Collectibles calls himself a historian — preserving the different sides of the war, including Nazi Germany.

“If they were part of it, it seems only normal that we should bear reference to that,” said Reid Moseley.

But one history professor from Mount Royal University says there’s an important distinction.

“There is definitely a difference between a war and a war that includes a genocide and I think there needs to be a certain appreciation for that,” said Victoria Bulcholtz.

She says it’s important to listen to the victims in this case who say it’s not a matter of erasing history, but putting the items in a place where they can combat hate instead of potentially supporting it.

“We know that in many cases these items are being purchased by those affiliated with neo-Nazi and other hate groups that are looking to fetishize the horrors of the holocaust,” said Kirzner-Roberts.

“With our current political climate and the rise of neo-fascism and there’s neo-Nazis marching through streets now, the cultural legacy and particular political significance of these items has really taken on a new light,” said Bulcholtz.

Moseley maintains he sells to collectors. Bulchotz says, in general, the purchasers of these items range from those interested in history to hardcore neo-Nazi supporters.

“It’s a status symbol to have these items, to have S.S. Daggers,” said Bulcholtz.

His response to the organization’s concerns was that he’s been selling this stuff for 20 years and that the Nazi memorabilia makes up a small part of his products.

“There’s nothing anti-semitic in here,” said Moseley.

Regardless, Kirzner-Roberts wants the items put in museums or educational institutions.

“We cannot erase history. Those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it. But this is exactly why we ask that these kinds of relics not be hidden away in private collections but instead are used as an educational resource.”