26 September 2006
Watercolors and sketches attributed to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler are to be put up for sale by a small auction house in southwest England. The sellers have installed a number telephone lines to accommodate an expected crush of bidders from Canada to New Zealand. The 21 watercolors and two sketches were found in a farmhouse in Belgium, not far from where Hitler was stationed as a private during the World War One. The anonymous owners of the works, mostly landscapes, had the paper tested to determine its age, confirmed the signature and matched landmarks in the paintings to sites where Hitler was posted, said Chris Walton, a spokesman for Jefferys Auctioneers in the English county of Cornwall. “Some people would consider the sale somewhat controversial, but the pieces were executed so long ago, nearly 100 years ago, that they now just represent something of the past,” Walton said. “The paintings are of historical interest rather than artistic merit.” Hitler is thought to have painted hundreds of pieces before becoming leader of the German Nazi party. In many European countries, including Germany, it is illegal to buy, own or sell Nazi memorabilia. A German auction house in 2001 withdrew a Hitler painting after public protests. The Center of Military History in Washington has hundreds of Nazi-related pieces, including four Hitler paintings, but they are not on display.