Hitler's watch auctioned for $1.1 million

The wristwatch believed to belong to Adolf Hitler - Photo: SKYNEWS

The Andreas Huber brand watch, featuring the Nazi swastika and eagle, with the initials AH, was bought by an anonymous bidder.

According to information from the auction house, the watch was given to Adolf Hitler on his birthday in 1933, the year Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany.

The watch was seized as a “war trophy” when about 30 French soldiers stormed Hitler’s Berghof estate in the Bavarian mountains. It was later resold and passed down through the generations.

Although it sold for $1 million, the watch was originally valued at $2 to $4 million.

The watch features a Nazi swastika and eagle, with the abbreviation AH - Photo: SKYNEWS

Thirty-four Jewish leaders sent a signed open letter to Maryland-based auction house Alexander Historical Auctions, calling for the watch not to be sold.

"This auction, whether unintentionally or not, does two things: first, it empowers those who idealize what the Nazis stood for; second, it provides an opportunity to purchase an item that belonged to the Holocaust and his supporters," Rabbi Menachem Margolin, president of the Brussels-based European Jewish Association (EJA), wrote in an open letter.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin also said that instead of belonging to a museum, the item was sold to the highest bidder, causing the memories and pain of many people to be overshadowed by financial gain.

Alexander Historical Auctions told German media that the aim of the watch auction was to preserve history. The auction house also said that most of their collectors kept the artifacts in private collections or later donated them to Holocaust museums around the world.

"History, good or bad, must be preserved," auction house Alexander Historical Auctions told reporters.

Other auction items include Wehrmacht toilet paper, cutlery and champagne glasses belonging to senior Nazi figures, and items belonging to Hitler's wife Eva Braun.

According to Tuoi Tre