A copy of “Mein Kampf” signed by Adolf Hitler, linen napkins embroidered with the Nazi swastika and oil paintings created by Hitler himself are the sorts of items in billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow’s treasure trove of Nazi memorabilia.
Now, new questions are being raised surrounding Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ friendship with the Dallas real estate tycoon after a story by The Washingtonian It highlighted several accounts from people who visited Crow’s home. “You just sort of gasp when you walk into the room,” said one guest who attended an event at Crow’s home a few years ago.
“Generations later, for people to purchase these things and spend thousands and thousands of dollars, one has to wonder about their motivation,” Gavriel Rosenfled, the president of the Center for Jewish History, tells Inside Edition.
Crow stated in the past, that the collection is not sinister and that he loathes communism or fascism.
The news of the lavish gifts Thomas allegedly received from Crow, which included vacations to Indonesia on a superyacht, regular flights by private jet and annual retreats to his private lakeside resort Camp Topridge in upstate New York’s Adirondacks region, was reported last week by ProPublica.
“Harlan and Kathy Crow are among our dearest friends, and we have been friends for over twenty-five years,” Thomas said in a statement. We have been privileged to join them on many family vacations over the past quarter-century that we’ve known them. Thomas stated that he didn’t believe that the gifts should be reported.
In response to the ProPublica report, Crow denied having ever lobbied Thomas during their trips together, and said he and his wife, “never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue.”