Too important to sell?

[Justinr]

I read in the Irish Examiner today that a collection hitherto unseen photos of Hitler are coming up for auction in the new year-

Irish Examiner

The photos were taken by Hitler's personal photographer in the years leading up to the war and consist of 'about' 800 negs and 600 'photos' by which I take it they mean prints. This is obviously a major archival resource and from reading the article and what I know of the auctioneers (I used to live just a few miles away) I wonder if selling them off through a provincial outlet as part of just another militaria sale, and I'm not doubting Humberts general integrity, is really the most satisfactory fate for the collection. The fact that the items have not even been counted properly suggests that they haven't been catalogued let alone recorded and the fear must be that the images once more disappear into the hands of a private collector with no intention of sharing them other than at a healthy price or perhaps a holocaust denier who immediately destroys them. The sale is of course a private affair between buyer and seller but it would be comforting to think that the new owners will recognise them as valuable relics from a tumultuous period in history and treat them accordingly.

[chris Johnston]

Someone with a fat check book will climb in and sort it out....

There are always buyers for Hilter.


Chris Johnston
Omaruru Namibia

http://www.chrisjohnstonphoto.com

[Rob C]

The historical perspective is quite an interesting consideration.

Here in Spain, many local powers have already taken down or otherwise disappeared statues and sructures that were originally put up in Franco's honour. I think that terrible, not on a political basis, which isn't really any of my business, but on a historical one: why destroy things that are your visual and historical heritage? To me, that's political vandalism and nothing more. You might as well rip down the Taj Mahal or flatten the Pyramids; officially losing the magic of the name Bombay has also seemed, to me, to be lunacy of a high order. Mumbai? Really? At least in another place they still use Baghdad, with or without its original Thief!

The French do it much better: think Oradour-sur-Glane.

Denial of history is a form of denial of self; a kind of defensive lying.

Rob C