Nazi souvenir sale causes a stir in the Gong

By Angela Thompson
Updated November 6 2012 - 1:50am, first published March 18 2011 - 10:20am
Some of the WWII German military objects offered for sale by militaria dealer Virgo Lentzkow. You can now buy similar souvenirs in Fairy Meadow.
Some of the WWII German military objects offered for sale by militaria dealer Virgo Lentzkow. You can now buy similar souvenirs in Fairy Meadow.

A little roadside antique shop in Fairy Meadow is getting a big reaction for a collection of Nazi memorabilia that includes a postcard signed by the Fuhrer himself.The $1200 piece of cardboard sits under lock and key alongside wingback chairs, fashionable hats and other prized pieces of yesteryear at the newly opened Fairy Meadow Antique Centre on the Princes Hwy.The collection also includes a training school document signed by German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, priced at $750, a swastika flag pole top and belt buckle, exquisitely crafted silver knives and several items emblazoned with the symbol of the SS.A store employee said she had sold only one of the items - a propaganda booklet to a young lady - since the shop opened a week ago.However she had been asked to open the glass cabinet many times.People have had wildly different reactions to what is inside.The experience was "a little Hollywood" to youth with limited knowledge of World War II, but some older people had been repelled by the powerful symbols, she said."I have had a couple of people say that they should be in museum," she said.Others had become "reverent" at a hands-on experience of history."They say, 'I can't believe I'm holding a Nazi knife'."The collection belongs to Southern Highlands militaria dealer Virgo Lentzkow, who became embroiled in controversy two years when he displayed the items at the Canberra Antiques Centre in Fyshwick, angering members of the Jewish community.Mr Lentzkow declined to answer the Mercury's questions about his collection, indicating media scrutiny had upset him in the past.Coverage in the Canberra Times gave rise to an online forum where more than 120 comments were posted about whether trade in Nazi memorabilia should be banned in Australia."It's appalling bad taste, not to mention insensitive to families who have known suffering under the Nazis," one post read.Another considered the suggestion of a ban "censorship"."I dont think the act of collecting nazi memorabillia makes you a nazi sympathiser any more than collecting stamps makes you a postman," it said.Mr Lentzkow told The Canberra Times he sourced his items from contacts in Germany, where displaying or selling Nazi memorabilia is banned.Trade is also prohibited on online auction sites including eBay, but is not illegal within Australia.

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