Bigcypresshunter
Gold Member
- Dec 15, 2004
- 27,000
- 3,339
- Detector(s) used
- 70's Whites TM Amphibian, HH Pulse, Ace 250
- Primary Interest:
- Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Salvaged Nazi artifacts' fate sparks dispute
Government fears far-right will buy them
By Larry Rohter
The New York Times
Posted August 26 2006
MONTEVIDEO · For more than 60 years, the scuttled wreck of the Graf Spee rested undisturbed in 65 feet of murky water just outside Montevideo's harbor. But now that fragments of the vessel, once the pride of the Nazi fleet, are being recovered, a new battle has broken out over who owns those spoils and what should be done with them.
The private syndicate that recovered them wants to put the pieces up for auction, with the money to be divided evenly with the government, as law requires. But Uruguayan officials, fearing that an auction might let neo-Nazi groups acquire the artifacts, are threatening to suspend the syndicate's permit and take control of the salvaging operation themselves.
"There are ethical limits on the promotion of Nazi symbols in museums, so who are the potential buyers of these icons if not neo-Nazis?" said Miguel Esmoris, director of the government's National Heritage Commission. "We're not against salvagers making a profit, but this is formally an archaeological site, and we cannot allow illicit trafficking in cultural and historical items."
The first items recovered, a cannon and a rangefinder, in 2004, caused little debate, except when the rangefinder was used in a fashion show. But the recovery of the vessel's imposing 9-foot-high tailpiece, an eagle atop a swastika, in February of this year and the announcement of plans to sell it ignited the current dispute.
Alfredo Etchegaray, who leads the syndicate salvaging the Graf Spee, said so far his group has sunk $100,000 into the effort, excluding donated equipment and services.
His lawyer, Daniel Ferrere, said most of the investors were Uruguayans but "risk capital put up by Europeans and foreigners resident in Uruguay" was also involved.
Commissioned in 1936, the Graf Spee was the most lethal of a class of pocket battleships developed by Nazi Germany. When World War II broke out, the vessel preyed on Allied shipping in the south Atlantic until British ships tracked it down at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata in December 1939.
Etchegaray cited recent reports in British tabloids that collectors in Asia and the United States were willing to pay $15 million or more if he succeeded in putting pieces of the Graf Spee up for auction.
"I've received e-mails from colleagues in Europe saying that neo-Nazi groups there are very interested in acquiring the eagle," said Roberto Bracco, a marine archaeologist here who is critical of the Graf Spee syndicate. "This shows that the past, especially the recent past, must be managed carefully and that Germany, Britain and the Jewish community all need to be involved in the disposition of these pieces."
Etchegaray said all potential bidders for the eagle would be carefully screened and that out of respect for the Jewish population, the insignia, at the moment in storage at a warehouse in Montevideo, had been covered up so that the swastika was not visible. Leaders of the Jewish population here, just under 1 percent of the country's 3.3 million inhabitants, have applauded those steps but say they still have concerns.
"We do not object to the recovery effort itself," said Ernesto Kreimerman, president of the Uruguayan Jewish Committee. "This vessel is an historical artifact that offers testimony to one of the darkest periods of modern times. But when it comes time to commercialize the insignia, we believe that it must go to a museum, not into private hands, and that photographs be controlled."
Government fears far-right will buy them
By Larry Rohter
The New York Times
Posted August 26 2006
MONTEVIDEO · For more than 60 years, the scuttled wreck of the Graf Spee rested undisturbed in 65 feet of murky water just outside Montevideo's harbor. But now that fragments of the vessel, once the pride of the Nazi fleet, are being recovered, a new battle has broken out over who owns those spoils and what should be done with them.
The private syndicate that recovered them wants to put the pieces up for auction, with the money to be divided evenly with the government, as law requires. But Uruguayan officials, fearing that an auction might let neo-Nazi groups acquire the artifacts, are threatening to suspend the syndicate's permit and take control of the salvaging operation themselves.
"There are ethical limits on the promotion of Nazi symbols in museums, so who are the potential buyers of these icons if not neo-Nazis?" said Miguel Esmoris, director of the government's National Heritage Commission. "We're not against salvagers making a profit, but this is formally an archaeological site, and we cannot allow illicit trafficking in cultural and historical items."
The first items recovered, a cannon and a rangefinder, in 2004, caused little debate, except when the rangefinder was used in a fashion show. But the recovery of the vessel's imposing 9-foot-high tailpiece, an eagle atop a swastika, in February of this year and the announcement of plans to sell it ignited the current dispute.
Alfredo Etchegaray, who leads the syndicate salvaging the Graf Spee, said so far his group has sunk $100,000 into the effort, excluding donated equipment and services.
His lawyer, Daniel Ferrere, said most of the investors were Uruguayans but "risk capital put up by Europeans and foreigners resident in Uruguay" was also involved.
Commissioned in 1936, the Graf Spee was the most lethal of a class of pocket battleships developed by Nazi Germany. When World War II broke out, the vessel preyed on Allied shipping in the south Atlantic until British ships tracked it down at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata in December 1939.
Etchegaray cited recent reports in British tabloids that collectors in Asia and the United States were willing to pay $15 million or more if he succeeded in putting pieces of the Graf Spee up for auction.
"I've received e-mails from colleagues in Europe saying that neo-Nazi groups there are very interested in acquiring the eagle," said Roberto Bracco, a marine archaeologist here who is critical of the Graf Spee syndicate. "This shows that the past, especially the recent past, must be managed carefully and that Germany, Britain and the Jewish community all need to be involved in the disposition of these pieces."
Etchegaray said all potential bidders for the eagle would be carefully screened and that out of respect for the Jewish population, the insignia, at the moment in storage at a warehouse in Montevideo, had been covered up so that the swastika was not visible. Leaders of the Jewish population here, just under 1 percent of the country's 3.3 million inhabitants, have applauded those steps but say they still have concerns.
"We do not object to the recovery effort itself," said Ernesto Kreimerman, president of the Uruguayan Jewish Committee. "This vessel is an historical artifact that offers testimony to one of the darkest periods of modern times. But when it comes time to commercialize the insignia, we believe that it must go to a museum, not into private hands, and that photographs be controlled."
![:-\](https://www.treasurenet.com/smilies/undecided.gif "Undecided :-\")
