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JEWISH

Paris bans Hitler auction after Jewish protest

Authorities in France have scrapped a planned auction of personal effects belonging to Hitler and Hermann Goering after the country’s largest Jewish group, backed by the Culture Minister, lodged a complaint.

Paris bans Hitler auction after Jewish protest
A French Jewish group has objected to Adolf Hitler's personal effects going under the hammer next month. Photo: William West/AFP

The auction was due to take place on April 26th but authorities stepped in after it drew the ire of Jewish groups in France.

The umbrella organisation CRIF said the sale was "a form of moral indecency" and disrespectful to "the victims of Nazi barbarism" and had asked the culture ministry to block the auction.

On Monday France ‘s Council of Voluntary Sales, which regulates public sales announced it would no longer take place.

The objects and documents set to go under the hammer were brought back by French World War II fighters from the Bavarian Alps homes of the two Reich stalwarts in May 1945 after Hitler's mountaintop retreat was bombed by Allied planes.

They included Goering's passport, a monogrammed mat with the Nazi eagle belonging to Hitler bearing the letters A H, and a wooden chest presented to the Nazi leader and emblazoned with swastikas.

One of the older pieces was a 17th century manuscript presented to Goering in 1935.

Another organisation, the National Office of Vigilance against Anti-Semitism, had on Saturday called for a ban on what it said was an "obscene" auction.

On Monday France’s Minister of Culture Aurelie Filippetti welcomed the decision she described as “necessary in the light of history and morality.”

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ISRAEL

Germany’s Jews call for protection amid Israel-Palestinian clashes

Germany's Jewish community on Wednesday urged the country to ramp up protection after Israeli flags were burnt in front of synagogues amid escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Germany's Jews call for protection amid Israel-Palestinian clashes
A police car outside a synagogue in Bonn on Wednesday. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Oliver Berg

Police arrested 16 people in two separate incidents at synagogues in the cities of Bonn and Münster, where Israeli flags were set on fire late Tuesday.

Josef Schuster, president of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, blamed Hamas for the escalating conflict in Israel and said tensions were spilling over.

“Israel and Jews as a whole are subjected to hatred and incitement, particularly on social media. The threat to the Jewish community is growing,” he said.

Pointing to the flag-burning incidents, he said “the protection of Jewish institutions must be raised”.

“We expect from the people in Germany solidarity with Israel and the Jewish community,” added Schuster.

READ ALSO: Merkel ‘shamed’ by growing anti-Semitism in Germany

Anti-Semitic crimes have risen steadily in Germany in recent years, with 2,032 offences recorded in 2019, up 13 percent on the previous year, according to government figures.

A German court in December handed down a life sentence to the assailant behind a deadly far-right attack last year that nearly became the country’s worst anti-Semitic atrocity since World War II.

After failing to storm a synagogue, the gunman shot dead a female passer-by and a man at a kebab shop.

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