Bidding surge expected for 'Hitler's gun'
A rare German gun that may have belonged to Adolf Hitler is commanding $13,000 (€10,800) at an online auction today, but the price could at least treble before bidding closes on Thursday, experts predict.
The Krieghoff Drilling shotgun/rifle engraved with the initials “A.H.” had netted only eight bids after a week on the US auction block, but the listing on www.gunbroker.com also has drawn nearly 4,000 viewers.
“If these are serious bidders, there’s going to be some action,” said David Steiner, president of AuctionBytes, which publishes free electronic newsletters for online auction users.
No one knows for sure whether Hitler owned the gun, worth about £4,000 (€5,800), without a connection to the Nazi dictator, says Wes Lane, owner of Midwest Exchange, a Bloomington, Illinois, pawn shop hosting the auction.
Lane said the possible link to Hitler could drive the winning bid up to £28,000 (€40,800) or more.
The gun’s owners, who have not been identified, say the gun was taken as a souvenir when US forces seized a Hitler hideaway in May 1945, Lane says. It was later sold to an army lieutenant who was unaware of its connection to Hitler.
He settled in Illinois and took the gun out only occasionally to hunt, Lane said. He died more than a decade ago and his family no longer wanted the gun.
Randall Gibson, author of The Krieghoff Parabellum, a reference book on the gunmaker, has said the gun is probably authentic. He said the company gave engraved guns to Hitler and other high-ranking German officials as it sought military contracts before the war.
The owners say they will donate a portion of auction proceeds to the Anti-Defamation League, a group that combats anti-Semitism and bigotry. League officials have said they would prefer the gun to be donated to a museum where it could be safeguarded and not potentially wind up in the hands of Hitler admirers.
