Adolf Hitler’s wristwatch sells for $1.1million
A wristwatch once worn by Adolf Hitler was sold for USD 1.1 million at an auction in the US. The Huber timepiece, which bears a swastika symbol and has the initials ‘AH’ engraved on it, was sold to an anonymous bidder.
The auction house— Alexander Historical Auctions —that put the watch for bidding had estimated it to fetch anywhere between $2m and $4m, Deutsche Welle reported. It was described as a “World War II relic of historic proportions.”
According to the auction house, a French soldier had taken possession of the watch when his unit, comprising 30 French soldiers,
The timepiece was then reportedly resold and passed down through several generations until now, BBC quoted the assessment by the auction house.
Apart from the watch, there were other articles that once belonged to Hitler was sold in the auction. These include a dress that belonged to Hitler’s wife, Eva Braun, autographed pictures of Nazi officials and a yellow cloth Star of David imprinted with the word “Jude”, which is German for Jew.
During the holocaust, the Jewish people were forced by the Nazis to wear the yellow identifiers as armbands or badges, with the intention to isolate and harass them.
However, Jewish leaders condemned the auction that took place this week in Maryland saying that it had little to no historical value.
In an open letter signed by 34 Jewish leaders, the auction was termed “abhorrent”. They also demanded that other Nazi items to be taken down from the auction.
“Whilst it is obvious that the lessons of history need to be learned – and legitimate Nazi artefacts do belong in museums or places of higher learning – the items that you are selling clearly do not,” Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the European Jewish Association wrote, according to BBC.
However, auction house’s president Bill Panagopulos defended the auction saying that the buyer is a European Jew.
“Whether good or bad history, it must be preserved. If you destroy history, there is no proof that it happened,” Senior Vice President Mindy Greenstein told Deutsche Welle.
