A Maryland auction house has sold a wristwatch that once belonged to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler for $1.1 million. Alexander Historical Auctions in Chesapeake City had estimated the value between $2 million and $4 million, describing the watch as a "World War II relic of historic proportions".

Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who became the dictator of Germany in 1933 until he died in 1945.

Photo courtesy: www.alexautographs.com

The Huber timepiece features the initials AH and a swastika symbol and is a reversible watch. According to the auction house, it might have been given to Hitler most likely on April 20, 1933, when on his 44th birthday.

Newsoutlets reported that Jewish leaders and others objected to the sale this week, saying it had little to no historical value. The auction house's president, Bill Panagopulos, defended the auction and said the buyer was a European Jew.

The auction house said a French soldier who was in the first unit to close in on Hitler in May 1945 at his Berchtesgaden retreat seized it as spoils of war.

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(Edited by : Sangam Singh)

First Published:Aug 1, 2022 8:35 AM IST