San Jose–based eBay has apologized for allowing Nazi memorabilia to be sold under its auspices.
The online auction site removed about 30 items for sale within hours of an investigative report published in the Nov. 3 edition of the London Daily Mail.
The newspaper said items for sale included shoes and a suitcase from concentration camp prisoners, Star of David armbands that Jews were forced to wear and the alleged uniform of a Polish baker who died in Auschwitz.
In addition to removing the items, eBay said it had donated $40,000 to a suitable charity.
“We are very sorry these items have been listed on eBay and we are removing them,” eBay said in a statement. “We don’t allow listings of this nature, and dedicate thousands of staff to policing our site and use the latest technology to detect items that shouldn’t be for sale. We very much regret that we didn’t live up to our own standards.”
In its rules, eBay rejects the sale of Nazi memorabilia. — jta & ap