Hitler’s watch sold for $1.1mn in a US auction
The news has been spreading that a watch which has belonged to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler sold for $1.1 million at an auction in the US. According to the news, the auction house deals with historical stuff or things such as autographs, documents, and photographs, military from all conflicts, and important relics, they say the watch was given to Hitler around 20 April 1933, on his 44th birthday when he became the Chancellor of Germany.
The watch was made by the German watch firm Huber, which has a swastika and the initials AH engraved on it, and it was sold to an anonymous bidder at the Alexander Historical Auctions in Maryland.
The auctioneer said in its product catalogue that, some of the world’s most experienced and respected watchmakers and military historians have researched Hitler’s watch and its history and concluded that it is authentic and definitely belonged to Adolf Hitler.
Additionally, they also said, that this watch was taken as a war souvenir when a group of some 30 French soldiers stormed the Berghof, Hitler’s mountain retreat on May 4, 1945. According to the auction house, the member of the group was Sergeant Robert Mignot, who returned to France with the watch and resold the timepiece over to his cousin.
They further said that the watch remains in the special belongings of the Mignot family and has never been offered for the sale before.
Furthermore, an open letter signed by 34 Jewish leaders described the sale as “abhorrent” and called on the Nazi items to be pulled from the auction, which has also included a dress that belonged to Hitler’s wife Eva Braun, and autographed pictures of Nazi officials and a yellow cloth Star of David imprinted with the word “Jude”, which is German for Jew.
While speaking to German media before the sale, Alexander Historical Auctions, Senior Vice President Mindy Greenstein said that, their aim was to preserve history and that most sold items are kept in the private collections or donated to Holocaust museums.
The Chairman of the European Jewish Association, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, said the transaction gave succor to those who idealize what the Nazi party stood for.
History must be preserved, whether good or bad. If you destroy history then there will be no evidence of what happened. The BBC noted her as saying this to Deutsche Welle.
