Item for sale Sunday at Golden Nugget flea market.
Vendors at the Golden Nugget flea market were confronted Sunday for a second day by the son of a Holocaust survivor about continuing to openly display Nazi-themed items on the main outdoor concourse of the West Amwell outdoor antique market.
On Saturday, one vendor at the Golden Nugget was asked to remove his outdoor Nazi display, including a poster of Hitler, a Nazi uniform and armband, but refused.
Another vendor was questioned on Sunday by the Holocaust survivor about his offering for sale a crudely painted skull bearing a German WWII helmet and bright red Nazi insignia, and in reaction purportedly threatened the customer with physical harm. Other customers have confronted vendors at the Golden Nugget in the past, but the practice goes on unabated.
Nazi items for sale on Saturday.
Sales of Nazi-themed articles are legal in the United States to military collectors, but many are Chinese-made imitations, such as the commonly found “Hitler Youth knife” sold widely across the country. Since Nazi items unfortunately sell well these days, cash-strapped flea market vendors appear to have been pushing the limits on visibility, including one who recently draped a Nazi flag across his vehicle.
A spokesperson for Golden Nugget said he was not aware of Nazi-themed items being sold there, and that new management is in place, and “things will be different.”
“We have a large area to cover…we’re not going to tolerate it — we will ask them to leave,” said the spokesperson. “But people have to report it to us when they see it.”
Nazi items are often displayed out of historical context as a way to draw customer attention.
Meanwhile, the Holocaust survivor’s son asked not to be named, as he considers his legal options. He says he tried to complain to management two years ago when he first began seeing Nazi-themed items openly displayed, and was thrown off the premises. This reporter called the management office at the Golden Nugget two years ago, was laughed at, and then disconnected.
“This stuff is sold all the time. There’s no place for it, and the racist items. There’s no room for this kind of hate anymore,” said one long-time seller at the Golden Nugget.
Boom, you seem to have a libertarian worldview similar to mine…but your argument supporting Nazi memorabilia is a bit specious in my opinion. It’s not the same as selling Revolution memorabilia for reasons that should be obvious. It’s not illegal (as in Germany) but distasteful in the extreme. The free market will have a place for a-holes that like this stuff, and the same market will allow the people who run the flea market to ban the sale of this shit to nitwits (which is not memorabilia but Chinese-made items made a year ago, or common items with a swastika painted on with a stencil)
Boom Boom is a nazi. Only people that defend racists and bigots are racists and bigots.
I feel sorry for you, you small minded fool.
So I am a small minded fool? Please tell me how you have in your own myopic view of this situation, determined that anyone in this article, or me, is a racist, a bigot or a Nazi. Where is your proof? Let me tell you something Jim. My Father and all my uncles fought in WWII against the Germans. My grandfather fought in WWI against the Germans. One of my uncles died in battle and is buried in Belgium. Maybe you would like to visit his grave sometime. I can show you where it is. I personally have been to Omaha and the other Normandy beaches in France to pay tribute to the Americans that died there so that your narrow minded views can be posted without recourse according to the 1st amendment of the constitution. You see Jim it is easy to shoot your mouth off with no recourse or consequences on a comment page. Can you back it up? So tell me Jim, who is the small minded fool here?
I was there right next the the vendor on Sunday June 12, 2016. There are 2 sides to every story and you only got one of the sides. The man who was offended about the item is the one who started the problem. He was out of line and shouting profanities to the seller and many others. He wouldn’t let it go and was trying to provoke as much trouble as possible. He only started video taping after he yelled and called 2 people nasty vulgar names. So, anyone who watches his video only got the end of the “real” story. He made sure you didn’t get to hear that he started it and continued for several minutes to make a scene which included many unnecessary profanities loudly. Many vendors and buyers politely asked this man to move along only to get screamed at by him. I am heartbroken that this is what our society has become. As I said, I was less then 5 feet away from this incident and the dealer never once threatened him nor did anyone else. You need all the facts not just one side.
Let’s exterminate over a million of your relatives, then sell paraphernalia glorifying the genocide and see if you remain composed.
I think that your use of the term “relatives” is a bit liberal. It is true that millions of Jews were killed in genocide. However, they were not all related. Now many people have been killed in WWII. Selling war memorabilia of ANY war is not illegal, and there are many collectors for it. I sold a Revolutionary war canteen on ebay a year or so ago, does that somehow mean I am associated with the deaths of the Crown’s soldiers or the Patriots? Does it mean I glorified it? In America we glorify the wars we participated in all the time. There are museums all over the world that buy war memorabilia for their collections and sell off parts or whole collections to fund new ones. Are you accusing them of glorifying genocide? What about all the news reels and films about the same subject that are shown? Are they glorifying genocide? People ( including government agencies, individuals, museums ) selling items dealing with wars are not condoning the actions of those wars. If that same seller was wearing a Nazi uniform and reciting from “Mein Kampf”, then I would say you have a right to complain. Somehow I think your comment was made to arouse emotions rather than think about the subject matter at hand and create an informed opinion.
The item in this photo, has been permanently banned from our market. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Our company policies forbid these type of items to be sold. Moving forward, please report table numbers where these offensive items are being displayed to the office immediately as we have a large area to police. Any help is appreciated
I disagree with you. I think that the market management has made a knee jerk decision based on one complaint. This is part of American and world history. You cannot cover it up. And since these items are highly sought after by collectors, and are legal, I can see no problem with the legal sale of any war memorabilia. People that collect these items will seek them out at Lambertville or in New Hope or at Columbus. All the management is doing is appeasing one person, at the financial detriment of many dealers who have paid rent at this market for many years. The dealers there have a lot more skin in the game at Lambertville than one whiner. It seems to me that one person is somehow trying to erase the past, which is not possible. The Native Americans of the US used a symbol very similar to the swastika. It was their good luck symbol. Much American antique stoneware has been decorated with that symbol. Will that be banned also? In my opinion the person complaining in this case should cough up the cash to buy all these items and then destroy them as he sees fit. Other than that, he has no business whatsoever trying to influence what vendors can and cannot sell, as long as the merchandise is legal. What’s next, some prude complaining about playboy magazines because they are derogatory to women?. I say as long as the merchandise is legal it can be sold. If you don’t like what someone sells, move on or leave. Or buy it and do what you will with it.
PS to the LAM management – people will still sell these items to their customers. Except now they will do it in the parking lots out of the backs of their cars instead of paying you rent. Somehow I think you have just cut your financial nose off to spite your face, trying to appease one person with an axe to grind, that most likely buys nothing from your other vendors.
75 years later and there are still mucaphants selling hate and reminders of one of the darkest times in human history. It is a mad mad world, even in the midst of our progressive and diverse community.
There were many dark times in world history. Try the Spanish Inquisition for one. Or any war. The Crusades. Religion has been one of the largest wholesale slaughter houses in history. Just pick one that suits your style. Selling memorabilia IS NOT selling hate. It is merchandise that flows freely through the American market. The only people selling hate right now are Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
This is beyond belief ….
Next Sunday Im there….this world has gone nuts!!!