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The collection of post-1919 historical
artefacts at Munich's Hermann Historica auctioneers has
attracted attention because of the presence of large amounts of
memorabilia linked to the Nazi leader, responsible for some of
the worst crimes in history.
Apart from the notes to several speeches by the man who
unleashed World War Two and the genocide of 6 million European
Jews, the connection contains initialled pots from his personal
tea service and presentation copies of his books.
But Bernhard Pacher, manager of the auctioneers, denied that the
objects would end up in the hands of neo-Nazis or sympathisers,
saying that only well-heeled museums and "private collectors"
could afford them.
"Almost none of the buyers are right-wing extremist neo-Nazis
because they don't need that stuff. They are happy with copies,
cheap copies," he said. "No one would spend that kind of money
to create a private altar with Hitler memorabilia."
But sale prices clearly showed more interest in relics closely
associated with the wartime leader's crimes.
The set of cue cards bearing the phrase "Jewish problem", for a
1939 speech to graduating army officers, sold for 34,000 euros,
while the notes for a 1935 speech to a winter aid charity with
phrases like "collections are annoying" went for just 12,500
euros.
Other objects in the sale include an example of the German
Enigma cipher machine which was famously cracked by Polish and
British cryptographers early in World War Two, expected to fetch
up to 70,000 euros, and uniforms, military decorations and pins.
"Since the Wehrmacht had more than 6 million soldiers there
isn't really a supply problem," said Pacher.
(Reporting by Reuters TV, writing by Thomas Escritt, editing by
Giles Elgood)
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