Bloomfield Auctions, an auction house in Northern Ireland, it is from Belfast, UK, listed on its website some 30 Nazi memorabilia items, including items that personally belonged to Adolf Hitler, to be auctioned off next month.
Many of Hitler’s other personal items, including a pencil he received as a gift from Eva Braun on his 52nd birthday, are also being auctioned off. Hitler’s personal lead crystal champagne glasses are also being auctioned off. The estimation of the item is £7,000-£9,000, although there is currently only a single bid of £1.
Additionally, Adolf Hitler’s personal silverware is being auctioned off with the expected auctioneer's estimation of £8000-£10,000 (36,870.81- 46,088.51 NIS). This item, which is monogrammed with a swastika and Hitler’s initials, has a single bid of £1 with 18 people watching the item for potential future bids.
The majority of the items have a current bid of £1 (4.61 NIS). Adolf Hitler’s fork has 2 bids with the highest being £6. Hitler’s pencil, with an estimation of £50,000-£80,000, has 4 bids, with the highest being £100. Finally, the item with the highest bid of £130, is a signed photo of Hitler.
Ireland has no laws against the use of the swastika, according to Irish Central. However, the police have used the Inciting Hatred Act (1989) to prohibit its display in the past.
What other Nazi memorabilia is being auctioned off?
A ‘Deutsche Reichsbahn Adler 27’ is being auctioned off on the site with an auctioneer’s estimated value of £5,000 GBP - £7,000 (23,038.03- 32,253.24 NIS). The item currently has a single bid at £1, with 11 people ‘watching’ the item for potential future bids.
The item list also includes the personal effects of other Nazi figures. Hermann Goring’s dining items are being auctioned off as well, although many have not received bids.
Past auctions of Nazi memorabilia
The current bids for the memorabilia are lower than both the auctioneer's expectations and that of previous memorabilia sold.
Most recently, British auction house Christie's caused a stir by auctioning off jewelry with Nazi ties for a whopping $202 million, making it the largest jewelry sale in history. The pieces sold by Christie's belonged to Heidi Horten, an Austrian art collector whose husband, Helmut Horten, was a Nazi Party member.
Some Jewish groups had urged Christie’s to halt the sale, citing Helmut Horten’s record during the Nazi era, when he amassed a fortune after buying businesses whose Jewish owners sold them under duress.
In a 2019 auction in Germany, Hitler's hat sold for $55,000. The telegram that drove Hitler to suicide also sold for $55,000 in 2015.