Online auction site eBay sparks outrage after Holocaust memorabilia items are listed for sale

EBay has since apologised and removed some 30 items of memorabilia relating to the Nazi Holocaust from sale

The hugely popular online auction site eBay has sparked outrage after a British newspaper found 'dozens' of items related to the holocaust listed for sale on the website. (EPA)

The hugely popular online auction site eBay has sparked outrage after a British newspaper found 'dozens' of items related to the holocaust listed for sale on the website.

EBay has since apologised and removed some 30 items of memorabilia relating to the Nazi Holocaust from the site. The company has also made a donation of £25,000 to charity.

According to the Mail on Sunday among the items listed on site was a uniform said to belong to a Polish baker who died at Auschwitz. It was on sale for £11,200, the paper said.

Other items listed included a toothbrush, said to have belonged to a concentration camp victim, and Star of David armbands that were used to mark out Jews for persecution.

Within hours of being alerted to the listings the site had removed them from sale and said it was conducting an immediate investigation.

The auction site uses a filter system to screen out unsuitable items, however, the screening process had apparently failed to detect these items.

In Germany, France and Austria the sale of holocaust memorabilia is illegal. It remains legal in the UK.

In a statement a spokesman for eBay said: "We are very sorry that these items have been listed on eBay and we are removing them.

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. We have made a donation to charity to reflect our concern."

Approximately six million Jewish people were killed in acts of genocide during World War II.

They were murdered along with Soviet prisoners of war, Polish and Soviet civilians, Romany Gypsies, disabled people and homosexuals.