Adolf Hitler’s pencil could fetch up to $100,000 at auction
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An interesting piece of Nazi memorabilia is going to go up for auction on June 6, 2023.
It’s a pencil purportedly owned and used by the former Nazi dictator and German chancellor Adolf Hitler. Bloomfield Auctions, an auctioneering entity in Belfast, says on its website that with a current bid of $807, it’s estimated that the silver pencil might sell for anywhere between $62,000 and $100,000.
But would anyone buy a relic with such tainted history?
Hitler's Nazi regime targeted and murdered millions based on their ethnicity, religion, political beliefs and sexual orientation. Now known as the Holocaust, this brutal period of WWII included the genocidal deaths of approximately 6 million Jews at the hands of the Nazis.
The Guardian spoke to the managing director of the auction house, Karl Bennett, who admitted that people might have inhibitions about bidding on the item, “This love token of a personalized pencil from Eva on his birthday helps reveal the deception behind Hitler’s public facade.”
“The importance of Hitler’s engraved personal pencil lies in the fact that it helps to unravel a hidden piece of history, giving a unique insight into Hitler’s personal relationships, which he scrupulously kept hidden from the public eye,” he added.
The pencil was given to the Nazi dictator on his 52nd birthday by his longtime partner Eva Braun, whom he later married. The couple died by suicide shortly after their wedding ceremony on April 30, 1945.
The inscription on the pencil reads ‘Zum April 10, 1941, her zlichst Eva,’ which roughly translates to ‘To April 10, 1941, most sincerely Eva.’ At the top, it is inscribed ‘AH,’ which one can assume stands for Adolf Hitler.
“Much of Hitler’s appeal during his dictatorship derived from his carefully constructed identity as the father of the German nation, who rejected personal connection in favor of loyalty to his country.”
The auction, titled ‘Militaria, Police & Important Irish Historical Items,’ also includes collectibles and old military memorabilia like medals belonging to World War 1 and other relics from World War 2, an original signed photograph of Hitler, and a hand-written pardon by Queen Victoria for Irish rebels convicted of treason dating back to 1869.
The question remains, would it be antisemitic to buy the tainted pencil?
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