Nazi defendants seated in the dock during the Nuremberg Trials include Hermann Göring (first row, far left), considered to be the most important surviving official in the Third Reich after Hitler's death. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

French auction of Hitler box, Nazi items canceled

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Nazi defendants seated in the dock during the Nuremberg Trials include Hermann Göring (first row, far left), considered to be the most important surviving official in the Third Reich after Hitler's death. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Nazi defendants seated in the dock during the Nuremberg Trials include Hermann Göring (first row, far left), considered to be the most important surviving official in the Third Reich after Hitler’s death. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

PARIS (AP) – A French auction house is abandoning plans to sell dozens of items from Nazi Germany including a small wooden box bearing three swastikas that was once owned by Adolf Hitler.

The Vermot de Pas house says about 40 items including passports of Nazi leader Hermann Goering, silverware and a German aviator’s watch will not be sold as planned on April 26.

House co-manager Laudine de Pas said Monday that the house faced “political pressure” including “insulting e-mails and phone calls.”

She said the sale was conceived to remember history, and some proceeds were to go to an association linked to Auschwitz deportees.

The office of French Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti said she sent a letter Monday to France’s auctions authority asking for the sale to be stopped.

Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-04-14-14 1247GMT

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Nazi defendants seated in the dock during the Nuremberg Trials include Hermann Göring (first row, far left), considered to be the most important surviving official in the Third Reich after Hitler's death. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Nazi defendants seated in the dock during the Nuremberg Trials include Hermann Göring (first row, far left), considered to be the most important surviving official in the Third Reich after Hitler’s death. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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