The affair of the Nazi seals continues to branch out, and now the Zolman's auction house is offering to end the saga and find a solution that will allow the Holocaust to be commemorated alongside the possibility of letting the seller reimburse his expenses.
About a week ago, it was reported in "Israel Hayom" that the Zolman's auction house in Jerusalem was offering stamps for sale in which the Nazis tattooed prisoners in Auschwitz.
These are rare stamps, which as far as is known have only two other collections - in the museum in St. Petersburg and in the museum in Auschwitz.
After the publication, a storm arose, and the district court issued a temporary restraining order for the sale of the stamps, which were to be sold today (Tuesday), following a request from the Center for Holocaust Survivors' Organizations.
At the first hearing on the subject, to be held on November 16, the judge will address the question of whether any proprietary, physical or contractual action on the object should be prohibited.
The petition, filed against the auction house, the seller, who remained anonymous as well as the Custodian General and the Attorney General.
"The mind does not give in light of the thought that someone is willing for greed to trade in the historical item," the petitioners argued.
The stamps offered for auction, Photo: Yehonatan Shaul
Earlier, we announced that Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit was considering appearing in Tel Aviv District Court in a petition against the Zollman's auction house in an attempt to prevent the sale of Nazi stamps.
The Ministry of Justice confirmed this and noted that "the possibility of the attorney general appearing in the proceedings is currently being examined."
The auction house is now saying that they have a compromise in place that will allow the saga to end.
Meir Zolman, the owner of the auction house, noted that following the publications, many approached them with an offer to purchase the item, and in his eyes this is a solution that will allow the items to be commemorated forever in a museum dedicated to the memory and commemoration of the Holocaust.
"We never intended to harm the memory of the Holocaust, and we wanted to sell the item to a person who would take care of the respect he deserved," Zolman noted in an interview with Israel Today.
He said, "We were amazed at the allegations as if we wanted to sell the stamps for greed only, because that is far from the truth."
"Following the publication of the sale, many philanthropists approached us asking to purchase the item from their own pockets, and donate it to the Yad Vashem Museum, so that they would use it to commemorate the Holocaust for future generations, just as we do in similar items in museums around the world. And it is up to the State of Israel to put the affair behind us. "
Zolman added and promised that the item would only be sold to a person who was interested in donating it to the Holocaust Memorial Museum.