A RANGE of items once belonging to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler will go under the hammer in Belfast this month.
Bloomfield Auctions has listed a white metal pencil inscribed with the letters AH, which is believed to have been a 52nd birthday present to Hitler from his partner Eva Braun.
The item, which is expected to sell for between £50,000 and £80,000, will be up for sale in the Belfast auction house’s Militaria, Police and Important Irish Historical Items sale on June 6.
Bids are already being made for the lot, with the current bid £1,700.
Other lots include a “personally autographed” photograph of Hitler, which is described as “rare and dated in the late 1920s”.
Adolf Hitler's pencil given to him by partner Eva Braun is up for sale in the auctionThat item is expected to fetch between £8,000 and £10,000 with the current bid at £500.
Elsewhere serving trays, a fork, wine glass and a champagne glass, all believed to have been used by Hitler, will also feature in the auction.
There has been criticism of the intended sale by Jewish leaders, who claim it is indecent to “make money out of this trade”.
Oliver Sears, the founder of Holocaust Awareness Ireland, stated: “There must be a line somewhere where a moral sense of decency simply precludes an individual from wanting to make money out of this trade.”
The European Jewish Association have branded the sale “a disgusting auction of Nazi memorabilia masquerading as historical items”.
They added: “We won’t let up until laws are in place to stop this.”
Responding to the claims, Bloomfield Auctions’ managing director Karl Bennett has said the items “are a part of history”.
“We shouldn’t be writing history out of books or society,” he added.
“We do not seek to cause hurt or distress to any one or any part of society,” he explained.
“All items have a story and tell of a particular time in history.”
