WORLD
The controversial sale was protested by Jewish leaders, who objected saying that the watch had little to no historical value.
Despite calls from the Jewish community against the sale, an auction house in the US sold a wristwatch belonging to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler for the insane price of $1.1 million (over Rs 8.71 crore).
The auction was conducted by Alexander Historical Auctions in Maryland’s Chesapeake City. Describing the watch as a "World War II relic of historic proportions", the auctioneers had estimated its value in the range of $2-4 million.
The controversial sale was protested by Jewish leaders, who objected to the auctioning of the watch, engraved with Hitler’s initials AH, stating that the item had little to no historical value.
The auction house and its president Bill Panagopulos defended the sale. The buyer of Hitler’s watch was a European Jew, he said.
Apart from Hitler’s initials, the watch features a Nazi swastika. The watch was seized by a french soldier in May 1945 as spoils of war.
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(WIth inputs from agencies)