Czech auction Web sites are offering thousands of Nazi-related items that have been growing in popularity.
For instance, Aukro.cz had 1,335 items in its “Germany 1933-1945” section on Wednesday.
“We have recently sold a knife of the National Socialist Motor Corps for 80,000 crowns,” or $3,188, auction operator Oto Obdrzalek told the daily newspaper Mlada fronta Dnes Thursday.
Klara Kalibova, from the nongovernmental organization Tolerance and Civic Society, said neo-Nazis are among the buyers of the memorabilia.
“A Hitlerian wing has recently won in the extremist National Resistance movement and its members buy these items to strengthen their identity,” Kalibova said, referring to an extreme-right movement.
Some buyers indicate their support for neo-Nazi ideas with their nicknames, such as Fritz88 and Pavel88, using the two numbers symbolizing the Heil Hitler salute.
Oto Lustig, who runs the auction site Odklepnuto.cz , told Mlada fronta Dnes that Holocaust survivors often send him letters complaining about the sale of Nazi-related items.
A police officer specializing in right-wing extremism said the Czech police monitor the auction sites.
