MUNICH (GERMANY) – Adolf Hitler’s speech notes comprising a sheaf of papers with writings on it such as “the Jewish problem”, “work, sacrifice”went under the hammer during an auction in Munich on Friday.
The collection of post-1919 artefacts at Munich’s Hermann Historica auctioneers attracted attention because of the presence of several items connected to Hitler.
Along with the notes are initialled pots from his personal tea set and copies of his books meant to be given as presents.
Bernhard Pacher, manager of the auctioneers, said that the items would not end up in the hands of neo-Nazis or Hitler sympathisers as 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.”
However, sale prices indicate more interest in the items connected with the leader’s crimes. For instance, the set of cue cards having the writing “Jewish problem”, referring to a 1939 speech to graduating army officers, went for 34,000 euros, while the notes for a 1935 speech to a winter aid charity with phrases like “collections are annoying” fetched just 12,500 euros.
Some of the other objects that went under the hammer included a German Enigma cipher machine which was cracked by Polish and British cryptographers during the early days of the Second World War and it is expected to fetch up to 70,000 euros. Then there are uniforms and military decorations and ornamental pins. “Since the Wehrmacht had more than 6 million soldiers there isn’t really a supply problem,” said Pacher.