Patronage of documents

In November 2025, an auction house in Neuss wanted to sell a total of 428 Holocaust-related documents from various concentration camps, ghettos and other sites of Nazi-crimes to the highest bidder. Among the items up for auction were postcards, letters from victims, perpetrator documentation, ghetto currency, and other authentic artifacts.

These items are invaluable for teaching the history of the Holocaust and could likely have ended up in private collections or be misused. International protests prevented the auction from taking place and helped preserve the dignity of the victims. With the mediation of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the financial support of generous donors Roswitha and Erich Bethe, and its own financial contribution, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation was able to purchase the collection. All of the historical artifacts will now be handed over to their places of origin to ensure that they are handled responsibly in the long term.

As a result, other auction houses from various countries contacted us to give us the opportunity to purchase similar collections. However, we are dependent on financial support to do so. For this reason, we are looking for donors who are willing to sponsor one of these historical testimonies and enable its preservation. Your donation will restore dignity to the victims and ensure that their memory is honored.