A watch that once adorned the wrist of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler has sold for $1.1m at an auction in the US. The Huber timepiece which has a swastika and the initials AH engraved on it, was sold to an anonymous bidder.
Taking offence, leaders of the Jewish community condemned the sale. However, Alexander Historical Auctions in Maryland, the auction house – which has sold Nazi memorabilia in the past – informed German media that its aim was to preserve history.
Adolf Hitler ruled Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945. He organised the systematic killings of as many as 11 million people – six million of whom were Jewish.
The watch was possibly given as a birthday present to the fascist leader in 1933, the year he became Chancellor of Germany, according to the product catalogue.
An assessment by the auction house reads that the watch was taken as a souvenir when some 30 French soldiers stormed the Berghof, Hitler’s mountain retreat in May, 1945. It is then thought the timepiece was resold and passed down through several generations until now, reported the BBC.
A dress belonging to Hitler’s wife Eva Braun, autographed photos of Nazi officials a yellow cloth Star of David imprinted with the word “Jude”, which is German for Jew were the other items being auctioned.
An open letter carrying the signatures of 34 Jewish leaders labelled the auction “abhorrent” and requested that the Nazi items be removed from the auction.
Chairman of the European Jewish Association, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, said the auction gave “succour to those who idealise what the Nazi party stood for”.
“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,” he wrote.
Talking to German press before the sale, Alexander Historical Auctions said that its aim was to preserve history, and that most sold items are kept in private collections or donated to Holocaust museums.
“Whether good or bad history, it must be preserved,” Senior Vice President Mindy Greenstein told Deutsche Welle. “If you destroy history, there is no proof that it happened”.
