Surgery kit said to belong to Nazi pulled from auction

LONDON?? A surgical kit advertised as belonging to a Nazi concentration camp commandant has been withdrawn from sale by an auction house in England.

Grace Cloke, a spokeswoman at Villa Hall Auctions, said Thursday it was withdrawn "on the recommendation of police" after the auction house received "nasty" phone calls.

The auctioneer said the box contains blades, scissors, a saw and straps apparently used for tourniquets ? and is printed with the name Anton Burger.

The auctioneer had identified it as belonging to Anton Burger, an SS commander of the Theresienstadt camp.

1. Only on msnbc.com

   1. Israel uses terror group to kill Iran nuke scientists
   2. PAC for Ron Paul is run by 9/11 'truther'
   3. What the mortgage settlement means to you
   4. House passes congressional insider trading ban
   5. Cambodia court to pursue more Khmer Rouge
   6. AP Gen Y remains upbeat, thanks to mom and dad
   7. Mars orbiter spies on probes of the past

However, the German newspaper Die Welt has questioned that, reporting it was manufactured by the Anton Buerger company in Dresden.

Cloke says she was unaware of the report, and didn't know who connected the box with the commander.

An earlier report in the Daily Telegraph said Cloke described information about the memorabilia as "scarce". It said the tools were being sold off by the unidentified widow of a Jewish man whose parents were Holocaust survivors.

A report published Thursday by Britain's Jewish Chronicle said the auction sale had been cancelled following protests.

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Israel uses terrorists to kill Iran nuke scientists
• Toilet paper taking out tiger, elephant habitat, WWF says
• In Greece, the crisis is making people ill (literally)
• British officials: We will not negotiate with Argentina over Falklands
• Reality TV producer Beresford-Redman extradited to Mexico in wife's death

The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

Advertise | AdChoices Advertise | AdChoices Advertise | AdChoices

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46327163/ns/world_news-europe/

nick diaz superbowl recipes sheryl sandberg super bowl kick off ufc results super bowl 2012 kickoff time diaz vs condit