25 July 2022
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Graham Caldwell reports from Down Under where there are calls for an outright ban on Nazi militaria.
A regional collectables store in Morpeth New South Wales, 100 miles east of Sydney, currently displaying Nazi memorabilia in its window, has sparked outrage in the Jewish community and ignited calls for a nationally consistent approach to outlawing the sale of Nazi symbols throughout Australia. Vic Alhadeff, a prominent member of the Jewish community was quoted in The Australian newspaper, for Wednesday 20 July 2022, saying that the display was: ‘Objectionable. Twenty-seven thousand Australia soldiers lost their lives fighting Nazi Germany. Whilst the swastika and the evil it represents are an integral part of history, there is a difference between the responsible sales of such memorabilia and the promotion of its horrendous message’.
Campbell’s Store is well known as an antique and art centre featuring 25 dealers selling original art, books, toys, jewellery, gourmet foods and even novelty teapots. Australian Anti-Defamation Commission Chairman, Dvir Abramovich, who wrote the article, told The Australian: ‘Profiteering from the proceeds of history’s most evil crime is beyond depraved. Anyone offering these cursed, bloodstained items is desecrating the memory of the victims and should be ashamed. Now is the time to act. We urge all state governments, as well as the federal government, to immediately stamp out this ghoulish practice by criminalising the sale of this memorabilia and banning its import’.
Whilst the comments were not that of the Australia authorities, the state of Victoria has already (and New South Wales will shortly) criminalise the public display of the swastika with penalties of $5,000 (£2,885) or imprisonment for six months, or both.
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