Nazi flags, weapons displayed at antiques fair in Coomera
A Gold Coast antiques fair has been blasted after ‘hate-fuelled’ Nazi collectibles including flags and weapons were put on sale. FULL DETAILS
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A NORTHERN Gold Coast antiques fair has been blasted after “hate-fuelled” Nazi collectibles were put on sale.
The Red Carpet Gold Coast Antiques and Collectibles Fair was held at Coomera Indoor Sports Centre over the weekend and was promoted as “one of the best places for those who love to collect precious and unique antiques”.
However a member of the Jewish community on Saturday spotted a table full of Nazi memorabilia.
Images supplied to the Bulletin reveal items on display included Swastika armbands of the kind worn by members of the Nazi Party during its 12 years in power between 1933 and 1945, armed forces cuff bands for units including the AfrikaKorp, SS daggers and Iron Cross ribbons, and small figurines of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering.
Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies president Jason Steinberg said he was “outraged and disgusted” that “individuals could profit from the sale of horrific Nazi memorabilia glorifying the murder of six million Jews and five million others.”
“It’s hard to believe that in 2023 we can have a table full of Nazi memorabilia up for sale – it had everything from Nazi flags, books, bullets, uniform emblems and general items glorifying the Nazi regime,” he said.
“Unbelievably, they were selling Nazi knives, which could very well have been used in the murder of innocent Jewish men, women and children.
“Other items such as a Nazi armband may seem like just a piece of red cloth, but people have to remember that it was worn by someone who was involved in the slaughter of Jews and others.
“For $40, Queenslanders could also buy cards featuring Hitler – an individual recognised as the most evil person in modern history – the man who was the architect of the brutal industrial-scale murder of six million Jews and five million disabled, LGBTI, Roma, Seventh Day Adventists and others who were seen as different.
“Why would anyone want to own such a card that unashamedly glorifies evil?”
Depictions of Nazi symbols have been banned in Germany since the regime’s defeat in 1945 and in recent years Australian states have moved to outlaw the practice.
Queensland is yet to do so, but Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced in May 2022 it would introduce legislation to make displaying hate symbols a crime, including those of the Nazis.
Some exceptions would be made for religious or educational purposes.
The fair’s event manager disputed that Nazi memorabilia was displayed at the event, claiming the photos were taken on Friday prior to the commencement of the fair on Saturday morning.
“It wasn’t for sale. It isn’t Queensland law so what’s the kerfuffle?” the event manager said.
“We don’t display anything of that nature because it’s highly sensitive, and we don’t want to upset our vendors. You won’t find that at any of our stalls so there’s not a problem.”
Metadata attached to photographs of the memorabilia obtained by the Bulletin show they were taken at 11.12am Saturday morning, more than three hours after the fair began.
They also show price tags on the memorabilia.
Event organiser Allan Lawson said he was unaware of the situation.
“I’m in Toowoomba, but I wasn’t made aware of anything,” Mr Lawson said.
“We have 40 dealers and it’s very hard to police or see what they bring, but if we are aware of it we would’ve sent to remove it.”
Mr Lawson said he was told management flagged “guns or different things like that” which were removed prior to the weekend, but no Nazi related content was brought to his attention.
“They rang me on the Friday to have the other things removed, as the Council don’t allow the sale of those items which is no problem, we removed them immediately on the Friday but management obviously didn’t see the German thing or they didn’t realise,” he said.
“We’re sorry about it, it won’t happen again. I’ve been running fairs for 35 years and never had any problems like this before. We apologise.”
A spokesperson for Gold Coast City Council, which owns the venue where the fair took place, said it had received a complaint about the Nazi items.
“The venue was hired by an event organiser and the City had no oversight on the individual stallholders participating,” the spokesperson said.
“However, after receiving a complaint on site we notified the event promoter and we understand the items were removed from display.”
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