A watch worn by German dictator Adolf Hitler was sold at an auction in Maryland, US for Rs. 8.69 crore has been sold. There is a swastika symbol on the clock. AH is also written for Adolf Hitler. The bidder has not disclosed his identity.
Auction house Alexander Historical Auctions auctioned the watch. It was estimated that 2-4 million US dollars can be obtained for this. It was described as a World War II historical item. According to the auction house, the watch was captured by a French soldier.
Apart from the watch, other belongings belonging to Hitler were also sold at the auction. These include the dress of Hitler’s wife Eva Braun, autographed photographs of Nazi officials and a star of David with the word “Jude” on the yellow cloth. During the Holocaust Jewish people were forced to wear yellow armbands or badges by the Nazis in order to isolate and harass them.
With its help, Jewish people could be easily identified. Jewish leaders condemned the auction, saying it had no historical value. 34 Jewish leaders called the auction an “abomination”. He also demanded that other Nazi items be removed from the auction.
Rabbi Menachem Margolin, president of the European Jewish Union, said the lessons of history needed to be learned. There are legitimate Nazi artifacts in museums or places of higher education. The items you are selling have no historical value.
However, auction house president Bill Panagopoulos defended the auction, saying the buyer was a European Jew. Senior Vice President Mindy Greenstein pointed out that history, good or bad, must be preserved. If you destroy history, there will be no evidence of what happened.