A wristwatch allegedly owned by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler sold for a whopping $1.1 million at an auction in the United States.
The Huber timepiece is said to have belonged to Adolf Hitler. It features a swastika, a Nazi eagle, as well as the initials AH. The watch was bought by an anonymous bidder.
Thirty-four Jewish leaders had signed an open letter, urging the auction house, Alexander Historical Auctions not to sell the wristwatch.
However, the Maryland-based auction house told German media it wants to preserve history. As per the catalog description, the Nazi leader got the watch as a birthday present in 1933.
Notably, Hitler was named chancellor of Germany in the same year. Further, it claims that the watch was acquired as “spoils of war” when nearly thirty French soldiers forcefully entered Hitler’s Berghof retreat in the mountains of Bavaria.
Watch Owned By Adolf Hitler Sells For $1.1M At An Auction
As per a report by MM News, the watch was then resold and passed on to later generations. The watch was expected to fetch between $2 million – $4 million. However, it sold for over $1 million.
A myriad of other items including Wehrmacht toilet paper was auctioned. Likewise, cutlery, champagne glasses of senior Nazi figures, as well as items belonging to Hitler’s partner, Eva Braun were auctioned.
According to the 34 Jewish leaders, the sale was “abhorrent.” Chair of the Brussels-based European Jewish Association Rabbi Menachem Margolin said: “This auction, whether unwittingly or not, is doing two things: one, giving succor to those who idealize what the Nazi party stood for.
“Two: Offering buyers the chance to titillate a guest or loved one with an item belonging to a genocidal murderer and his supporters.”
“Whilst it is obvious that the lessons of history need to be learned – and legitimate Nazi artifacts do belong in museums or places of higher learning – the items that you are selling clearly do not.
“That they are sold to the highest bidder, on the open market is an indictment to our society, one in which the memory, suffering and pain of others is overridden for financial gain.”
However, Alexander Historical Auctions told the German press that most of their collectors keep the items in private collections. Alternatively, some of their collectors donate them to Holocaust museums around the world.
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