Is it OK to collect Nazi memorabilia?

Nazi memorabilia". But is it unacceptable to collect material from the Third Reich?

There's been a rise in interest in Nazi memorabilia

Marc Garlasco is not the first person to get into trouble for an interest in an aspect of the Third Reich.

Two years ago Bryan Ferry was pilloried for expressing admiration for the films of Leni Riefenstahl and the buildings of Albert Speer and other aspects of iconography. And in 1999, then GQ editor James Brown had to resign after Rommel and the Nazis were referred to in a list of the century's 200 most stylish men.

Thousands of military history buffs collect war paraphernalia because we want to learn from the past  Marc Garlasco

But on both sides of the Atlantic there is a burgeoning market in Third Reich-era memorabilia. Mr Garlasco is one of thousands of collectors who are seeking rare items from the period.

His hobby has outraged bloggers, who also accuse him of anti-Israel bias, and he has defended himself in a piece on the Huffington Post blog by saying that suggestions he has Nazi sympathies are "defamatory nonsense". Instead, he says he has a long-standing interest in World War II memorabilia from both the German and Allied sides.

"I've never hidden my hobby, because there's nothing shameful in it, however weird it might seem to those who aren't fascinated by military history," he wrote.

The rarest memorabilia can be incredibly valuable

"Thousands of military history -READ MORE-http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8261002.stm