If Timothy McVeigh’s family went door to door trying to sell off his spare fertilizer as keepsakes for the victim’s families, it wouldn’t be more icky than this.
Reiner Hoess, Rudolph Hoess’ grandson, clearly aims to be called the ickiest dude on the planet. With one crazy move, he just rocketed past balloon boy’s father and Jon Gosselin.
Get this. Hoess approached an Israeli agency which memorializes the victims of the Holocaust and essentially said hey listen, my grandfather had a hand in killing six million of your ancestors so I’m wondering if you’d be interested in buying some of my grandfather’s memorabilia from those wacky days.
The Philadelphia Bulletin reports:
The offices of Yad Vashem, the Israeli agency that memorializes the six million Jews murdered by their Nazis and their allies, received an extraordinary and even infuriating proposal recently. The grandson of Rudolf Hoess, the notorious commander of the Auschwitz death camp, offered to sell some of his grandfather’s personal effects to the museum.
The letter to the museum, which was sent several months ago and entitled “Rare objects, Auschwitz, Commander Hoess,” was short and succinct, saying: “These are several objects from the estate of Rudolf Hoess, the commander of Auschwitz: A massive, fireproof box with official insignia – a gift from Henrich Himmler, the commander of the SS, weighing 50 kilograms, a letter opener and folders, slides from Auschwitz that have never been seen publicly, letters from his period of imprisonment in Krakow. I would be very grateful for a brief answer. Sincerely, Reiner Hoess.”
The management of Yad Vashem responded with shock to the proposal and rejected it out of hand. The management of the museum expressed disgust over the desire of the criminal’s relative to profit from Holocaust memorabilia.
Wow. Dude, gotta lay off the Rumple Minze.
But now he’s saying it wasn’t even his idea. His friend, the grandson of Baldur von Schirach, who was the leader of the Hitler Youth came up with this brilliant idea and passed it on to his friend.
OK. Anyone else a little uncomfortable thinking about Hoess’ grandkid hanging out with the grandkid of the dude in charge of Hitler Youth? Could these guys be more tone deaf? I mean, what’s next from these two? These two tailgating the Holocaust Museum with a Grooler full of Beck’s and Schnapps in the back of the Volkswagon?
October 27, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Maybe they are in the same bowling league.
October 27, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Well…who else would hang with them?
October 27, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Robert,
I must admit that's an excellent point.
October 27, 2009 at 3:01 pm
It's tacky no doubt. On the up side, it adds more evidence to contracdict the accusations of fabrication.
Just for thought, to implicate the grandchildren with the crimes of the grandfathers is like blaming the present day Jewish people for the crucifixion of our Lord -imho. I don't think it's fair.
October 27, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I think the writer is off base. They are items the museum should be interested in their collection. They would normally be auctioned at Christie's.
At least the grandson is willing to give the museum the right of first refusal rather than risk sending them to some Nazi-loving organization as holy relics.
The museum was only insulted because they were asked to pay Hess's next-of-kin. Would they have rather paid the mark-up of a middleman?
October 27, 2009 at 3:21 pm
I understand that Adolf Hitler is survived by descendants of his brother. They live quietly on Long Island, and have changed their family name.
But what if they had kept the name?
It's hard enough to have to live with such a heritage and get up and face the day for the rest of your life. So you make a bargain with yourself, and tell yourself that you are not your ancestors, and that you don't have to be ashamed of yourself. The problem arises when some people cross that very fine line, and act as if that for which they are not responsible, never really happened as people say.
That doesn't excuse Hoess' rationale, but it might explain it.
October 27, 2009 at 3:30 pm
I don't blame them for the Holocaust. I blame them for attempting to profit off of it.
October 27, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Umm … typo alert! It's got nothing to do with Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy who flew off to Scotland in 1941; rather it's Rudolf Hoess who was Auschwitz camp commandant. It's usually spelled Hoss, only with an umlaut over the o; if you can't put an umlaut (two dots side by side) then oe is the usual substitute.
October 27, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Thanks for the correction. It's so embarrasing to get your Nazis mixed up.
October 27, 2009 at 5:21 pm
He's not "selling the stuff to victims' families." He's selling it to a tourist attraction for pity's sake. The museum is cashing in on the holocaust, too. How much do you think the museum got from the Swiss banks? "They would have wanted us to get their money," yeah, right.
October 27, 2009 at 8:22 pm
It would probably have been better if he just tried to donate the items. That way, it shows that he is not in it for personal gain and that he is not particularly attached to his grandfather's belongings. I think it was the fact that he wanted a profit that was the problem.
October 28, 2009 at 12:09 am
Anonymous is actually right. The victims of the Holocaust coined a term called "Holocaust industry" which essentially is a self-preserving consortium of museum owners, organizations and lobbiests who collect donations in the name of the victims. The scandal has been that the vast majority of all victims get nothing in the way of direct compensation. With the last generation of the Holocaust on its way out, it will be interesting to see their new strategy.
October 28, 2009 at 12:24 am
I agree that it would have been more tasteful of him to donate the items instead of trying to sell them. That said, had I been the museum's curator, I would have bought those "slides from Auschwitz that have never been seen publicly" and also those letters. They sound potentially interesting.
PS. This new comment box just doesn't work right. I can't even use the arrow keys to move the cursor!
October 29, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Do you think all the stuff in the museum was donated? Nonsense. The Holocaust is a major money maker and I'll bet you that the museum has a gift shop.