Adolf Hitler's wristwatch is an ambiguous subject. Together with the historical and collectible value, on the eve of the auction, he caused condemnation from Jewish leaders.
A Huber watch with a swastika and the initials AH was supposedly a birthday present for Hitler in 1933, when he had already taken the office of German chancellor. This information was provided in the description of the lot offered at Alexander Historical Auctions in Maryland.
According to the auction house, the watch was taken as a souvenir by French soldiers during the assault on the Berghof Alpine refuge. Between 1928 and 1945 it was the residence of Adolf Hitler, located in the Berchtesgaden valley in the Bavarian Alps.
The watch was repeatedly resold and kept by several generations of the previous owner's family. As for the buyer, having paid $1.1 million for them, he wished to remain anonymous. However, the auctioneers expected that they would receive from 2 to 4 million dollars per lot, but such generous rates were not voiced.
On the eve of the auction, the auction house received an open letter from Jewish leaders, in which they called the auction "disgusting" and called for Nazi items to be removed from the auction. Indeed, in addition to the watch, Eva Braun's dress, autographed photographs of Nazi officials were exhibited. And also a yellow fabric star with the word Jude, which the Nazis required Jews to sew on clothes for identification and stigmatization.
The chairman of the European Jewish Association, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, said the deal helps those who idealize everything that the Nazi party stood for. Such artifacts should be stored in museums or scientific institutions.
In turn, representatives of Alexander Historical Auctions replied that most of these lots are kept in private collections or donated to Holocaust museums. Auction house vice president Mindy Greenstein added that history, good or bad, must be preserved. Otherwise, there will be no evidence that she was.
The items that people wore on themselves can tell a lot about their owners. This also applies to watches from the section "Chorology (collecting watches)".
