Lampshade a WWII mystery
Diane Saltzman, director of the collections division of the
Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., is highly skeptical that
the shade is human skin. Despite the reports, not one has been found.
"None of the lampshades that have surfaced over the past 50 years
have ever turned out to be real," Saltzman said. "There is no proof
that this practice has ever occurred."
"From time to time, maybe twice a year, we hear stories like this
about artifacts, not necessarily lampshades, but items that people
claim are from victims of the Holocaust," Saltzman said.
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Lampshade a WWII mystery
By Claudia Pinto / Daily Progress staff writer
July 28, 2004
Amid the silver and the crocks and the freezer and the pocketknives
advertised for auction in the tiny newspaper type was this unusual
item: "1930's C. Iron/Floor Lamps (One with WWII human skin
shade)."
The brown, textured lampshade has been the talk of this small hamlet in
Nelson County, and most people seem to think it genuine - a true
reminder of the Nazi horrors of the second world war. "I tell you,
it's like nothing I've ever seen," said one believer, Shirley
Allen.
Tales of such ghastly shades have circulated for decades. They stemmed,
in part, from considerable newspaper coverage after WWII about human
lampshades made at Buchenwald concentration camp.
But Diane Saltzman, director of the collections division of the
Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., is highly skeptical that
the shade is human skin. Despite the reports, not one has been found.
"None of the lampshades that have surfaced over the past 50 years
have ever turned out to be real," Saltzman said. "There is no proof
that this practice has ever occurred."
The lampshade that was up for auction belongs to Donald Avery, a
77-year-old retired antiques collector who sports a gold earring in his
left ear. Doris Jones, of Albemarle Auction & Antiques, said the item
was one of "thousands" of Avery's belongings to be sold at four
auctions, the last of which was held Saturday.
Among the items were Avery's dilapidated house, built in the
mid-1800s, and 75 or 80 paintings, including a Joseph Wolin oil
painting that Jones said was valued between $10,000 and $13,000. She
said she had hoped the lampshade would fetch $1,500.
"He was a very eclectic collector. He likes unusual things," said
Jones, who's been in the auction business for 40 years. "He's
very into snakes. He had snake rings, snake candlesticks."
"I think it's real just because of what it looks like. It really
looks like skin," she said. "He collected a lot of World War II
things."
Avery, however, said he never meant for the lampshade to be auctioned.
He said it was collected by accident, with other items, as he
consolidated his belongings into a smaller home.
"I never wanted to sell it," Avery said loudly, growing agitated,
"because it came from my dear Mary."
While the origin of the lampshade is a mystery, so is how Avery
obtained it. He has trouble with his memory these days, struggling at
one point to remember his phone number. But the way he recalls it, the
lamp was a gift from a sweetheart many years ago.
.
