Several Holocaust charities have condemned the attempted sale of Auschwitz tattoo equipment by a Jerusalem-based auctioneer.

Auctioneer Meir Tzolman has said that the sale was intended to ‘increase awareness’ and not to ‘diminish the value of the Holocaust’

He told the Times of Israel:”"I want to make sure that the item gets into the right hands and does not disappear from the pages of history."

The auction lot includes stamps that would have been dipped in ink as well as an instruction booklet.

On the website where the stamps are listed, they are described in Hebrew as:”A shocking and extremely rare museum item of unparalleled historical significance” as well as noting that the lot is one of only three similar collections that survive to today.

The two remaining collections are housed in the Military Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and in the museum operating at the memorial site where the Auschwitz camp was located.

The current leading bid for the Auschwitz tattoo stamps is over $3,000.

The sale of these items has come under criticism with Dani Dayan, Chairman of Yad Vashem tweeting in Hebrew that:”Such trade is problematic and we oppose it.”
 

In the UK, the Holocaust Educational Trust has also condemned the sale with Chief Executive Karen Pollock saying: “This is abhorrent and plummets to new depths of depravity - making a profit off the equipment used to maim and mark Jews out for death. It’s despicable and these items should never be on sale.”