At an auction in Maryland, in the United States, a watch that belonged to Adolf Hitler sold for more than a million dollars.

It is a gold watch, with a reversible case, engraved eagle and swastika, which was allegedly given to him by the Nazi party in 1933, the year of his rise to power in Germany. Recovered in May 1945 by a French soldier in Hitler's former alpine residence in Berchtesgaden, just four days after the dictator's suicide , it would remain in the possession of the soldier's family for decades.

Several Jewish associations have protested against Alexander Historical Auctions for the decision to put such an heirloom up for sale.

But the auction house - which has sold other Nazi items in the past - explained to the German media that its goal was to preserve history . Most of the items sold, it has been added, are kept in private collections or donated to Holocaust museums.

(Unioneonline / D)

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