A watch believed to have belonged to Adolf Hitler has sold at auction for nearly £1 million.
But an open letter signed by 34 Jewish leaders described the sale of the watch as “abhorrent.”
They have appealed to Maryland-based auction house, Alexander Historical Auctions, not to sell the wristwatch.
Rabbi Menachem Margolin, president of the Brussels-based European Jewish Association, said: ‘This auction, unconsciously or not, does two things: first aid those who idealize what the Nazi party stood for.
“Two: Offering buyers the chance to tantalize a guest or loved one with an item from a genocide murderer and his supporters.”
He added: ‘While it is clear that the lessons of history must be learned – and legitimate Nazi artifacts belong in museums or places of higher education – the items you are selling clearly do not.
“Selling them to the highest bidder, on the open market, is an indictment of our society, one in which the memory, suffering and pain of others are cast aside for financial gain.”
But the auction house announced that it wanted to preserve its history.
“If you destroy history, there’s no proof it happened,” said Mindy Greenstein, senior vice president at Alexander Historical Auctions.
“Whether it’s a good or a bad history, it must be preserved.”
The watch has a swastika, Nazi eagle and the initials ‘AH’ written on it and was purchased by an anonymous bidder.
It was expected to raise over £3 million at auction but failed.
The watch’s catalog description says it was given to the Nazi leader as a birthday present in 1933, the year he became Chancellor of Germany.
The watch was later seized when about 30 French soldiers stormed Hitler’s Berghof retreat in the mountains of Bavaria.
It was resold and then passed down through the generations.
Other items sold at the auction included Wehrmacht toilet paper, cutlery and champagne glasses belonging to high-ranking Nazi figures, and items owned by Hitler’s partner, Eva Braun, including a collar for her terrier.
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