Nazi memorabilia has been spotted at a car boot sale during a fundraising day in the grounds of a London school.
Several items decorated with swastikas were on display at the Chiswick school sale, which is held on the first Sunday of each month and is in aid of the school’s parent teacher association (PTA).
One woman who photographed some of the items said she was shocked to find Nazi memorabilia at a school sale.
Cecile Ruhe, who works in the pharmaceutical industry, posted three photographs online showing medals and a sign decorated with swastikas. She said she saw about 20 similar items at several stalls.
“I went around the market and doubled back when I realised I had seen this – it’s very unusual,” she told the Guardian. “I was shocked. I saw more and more [examples of Nazi memorabilia] and thought, wait, what’s going on here? I saw about 20 different things on four stalls, maybe five.” She added: “Nobody seemed to say anything.”
Ruhe, who has lived in the west London area for 25 years, said she visited the sale regularly but had never noticed this type of merchandise on sale before.
She shared the photos on the Facebook page of the school’s PTA, which organises the sale, with the message: “Local car boot today highlighted disturbing trend for Third Reich ephemera. Sign of the times?”
A spokeswoman for the PTA told the Evening Standard: “A seller has contacted us to report the stall. This stall is unknown to us and as reported would certainly be inappropriate for any car boot, school-based or not.
“We have never encountered this before and will be amending our website and flyers to reflect our views. I have informed the lady who raised the issue that this is the action that we would be taking.”
Malcolm Fisher, an expert in war memorabilia, told the Guardian that at least some of the items appeared to be originals.
He said Nazi memorabilia sometimes surfaced during house clearances but it was unusual for several stalls to be selling such items at the same sale.
The items in the photos included a medal honouring those who participated in the 1923 Munich putsch, a submariners’ brigade medal, and a medal for the Germanische order, awarded by the SS to foreigners who followed the organisation’s ideals. “I’d say these are all replicas,” said Fisher.
Another photo showed an enamel plaque for the Deutsche Arbeitsfront, the organisation that replaced unions. This appeared to be genuine, according to Fisher.
A third photo showed an eagle and swastika item that was once used as a pole top, he said. “Either it’s genuine or they’ve aged it up by burying it underground.”
