Arthur Greene
A watch that was owned by Adolf Hitler is expected to sell for up to $4 million – R70-million when it goes on auction in the US.
Quite who would want to wear or even own a watch belonging to one of the most murderous dictators of the 20th century, nobody knows.
But it turns out that someone will probably pay millions for just that.
The gold timepiece in fact has quite the backstory. It was stolen from Hitler’s country retreat by a French soldier called Robert Mignot at the end of the Second World War.
Mignot and his company stormed the property just five days after the leader of the Nazi Party shot himself in a bunker in Berlin in 1945.
Hitler himself had received the watch as a gift from the Nazi Party shortly after becoming the chancellor of Germany in 1933.
Made by Swiss luxury watchmaker LeCoultre, its back features the infamous Nazi swastika above Hitler’s initials.
Hitler would go on to wage the deadliest war humanity has ever seen and to personally lead a regime which murdered over six million Jews.
After bringing the watch back to France, Mignot sold it to his cousin. The watch was then passed down through two generations before being put up for auction by his grandson.
Image source: @LFiganiak
