MADRID, 30 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
A gold wristwatch that belonged to German dictator Adolf Hitler has been auctioned for almost 1 million pounds (1.07 million euros) despite criticism from Jewish leaders.
The clock, richly decorated with the swastika and eagle symbols of Nazi Germany, is also engraved with the initials A.H. corresponding to the dictator and has been acquired by a buyer whose identity has not transpired.
The American auction house Alexander Historical Auctions has defended the sale and the need to preserve history. According to the auction sheet itself, the watch was given to Hitler for his birthday in 1933, the year he was appointed German chancellor in the midst of a tumultuous political crisis.
The watch was taken as “war booty” when some thirty French soldiers took over Hitler’s retirement home at Berghof, in the mountains of Bavaria. It was later resold and was in the same family for several generations.
In the same lot, toilet paper from the Wehrmacht or German Army was sold, cutlery and champagne glasses belonging to Nazi leaders and objects from Hitler’s partner, Eva Braun, including a dog collar of his terrier richly decorated with swastikas.
A total of 34 Jewish leaders have signed a public letter criticizing the auction, which they have described as “abominable”.
“This auction unknowingly or unwittingly helps those who idealize what the Nazi party stood for and offers buyers the opportunity to treat a guest or loved one to an object that belonged to a genocidal murderer or his followers,” the president said. of the European Jewish Association, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, quoted by the Sky News network.
“It is clear that the lessons of history must be learned, but Nazi objects must be in a museum (…) and not be sold to the highest bidder using memories, suffering and pain to obtain benefits,” he added.
