This Tuesday bidders worldwide will have an unprecedented opportunity to obtain a piece of history previously held by only two owners: a U.S. Army WWII veteran, and before him, Adolf Hitler.
Hitler´s personal cast–bronze desk set, complete with the infamous dictator´s initials and Nazi Eagle insignia in raised relief, will be sold by global online auction at www.munipact.com beginning at 7:00 AM CST on September 30, 2008. This date is significant as it marks the 70th anniversary of the desk set´s most momentous role in history.
On September 30, 1938, Adolf Hitler reached an agreement with key European leaders that effectively handed control of Czechoslovakia over to Germany. This dubious "Munich Pact" included no Czech representative. It was signed by prime ministers Neville Chamberlain of England, Edouard Daladier of France, Benito Mussolini of Italy and Adolf Hitler. The pact gave Hitler the first stepping–stone toward his eventual European invasion and occupation, with no bullets fired - only the stroke of a pen. The desk set being auctioned was used in the signing, providing the platform on which these fateful signatures were scrawled. World War II soon followed.
Jump ahead seven years. As the liberation armies swept through Europe at war´s end, First Lieutenant Jack McConn in the U.S. Army 179th Infantry discovered the desk set in the basement of the Führerbau, Hitler´s Munich headquarters where the pact was signed. McConn kept the set as a war souvenir. This was August of 1945, and McConn has been in possession of the set ever since. In addition to Hitler´s initials and insignia, the inkwells replicate the monuments honoring the victims of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch - Hitler´s first attempt at seizing power in Germany, which resulted in his imprisonment and the setting for his writing of Mein Kampf.
The desk set has been authenticated by an independent authority. Full provenance records can be found at www.munipact.com. Photos of the desk set, video interviews with McConn, as well as actual footage from the Munich Pact signing showing the desk set can also be found on the website.
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