A watch said to have been given to Adolf Hitler in 1933 sold alongside other Nazi artifacts, triggering criticism from the Jewish community.
this week at a Maryland auction house for $1.1 million — well below the $2 million to $4 million price range the auctioneers had projected, and despite the objections of the Jewish community.The sale of the Huber watch was listed as being completed Thursday at Alexander Historical Auctions in Chesapeake City, Md. The auction house says the watch was probably
given to the Nazi leader on his birthday in 1933, then seized by a French soldier in 1945 from Hitler’s vacation home in the Bavarian Alps. Alexander Historical Auctions hasThe watch was auctioned as part of a catalogue including a blue dress that belonged to Hitler’s wife, Eva Braun; signed pictures and correspondence of Nazi officials; and other items belonging to the Nazi leader.
“Many people donate [Nazi artifacts] to museums and institutions, as we have done,” he said in a separate emailed statement. “Others need the money, or simply choose to sell. That is not our decision.” The sale has led to death threats sent to him and his family, Panagopulos said. The Maryland auction house has sold other Nazi memorabilia in the past, including a Hitler Youth dagger that fetched $120 in 2016 and a Nazi flag that sold for $260 three years earlier.