Copy of Hitler's “Mein Kampf” auctioned for $20,655March 19, 2016 - 17:34 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A copy of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" owned by the Nazi leader and found in his Munich apartment sold for $20,655 in the United States on Friday, March 18 an auction house said, according to AFP. The book, which is bound in red leather, was discovered by U.S. soldiers who liberated Munich at the end of World War II, said Alexander Historical Auctions. It was likely kept by Hitler for his own use or as a potential gift for an admirer, the auction house said. The flyleaf is signed by 11 officers from a U.S. field artillery battalion of the 45th Infantry Division, the first soldiers to liberate Munich. "From Adolph Hitlers apartment in Munich on May 2 1945," wrote one officer followed by his signature and that of 10 others. An August 20, 2015 letter from the daughter of Captain Daniel Allen of the 45th Infantry Division says that her father, who belonged to a field artillery unit, brought the book home with him at the end of the war. There were more than 10 bidders, on phone and online, and the book sold to an American buyer, the auction house in Chesapeake City, Maryland told AFP. It had been valued pre-sale at $12,000 to 15,000. Hitler wrote the book, whose title means "My Struggle," in 1924 while jailed for treason after his failed takeover of the Bavarian state government. The inflammatory tract sets out the political doctrine he enacted as Fuehrer: annexing neighboring countries to gain "Lebensraum" or "living space" for Germans, and his hatred of Jews, which led to the Holocaust. The limited edition sold Friday is a 354-page volume II of the manifesto, printed by the Nazi Party's publishers Verlag Franz Eher in Munich, 1927. Millions of copies of the book were published in Germany after Hitler seized power in 1933 until his fall in 1945. From 1936, the Nazi state gave a copy to all newlyweds as a gift. New copies of the book were printed in Germany in January for the first time since World War II, unsettling some Jewish community leaders, after its copyright expired. For 70 years, Bavarian authorities refused to allow it to be republished out of respect for victims of the Nazis and to prevent incitement of hatred. In February 2014, two rare copies of "Mein Kampf" signed by a young Hitler sold at auction in Los Angeles for $64,850. Photo: Jim Watson / AFP Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | Turkey extends military presence in Azerbaijan The Turkish parliament has adopted a bill submitted by Recep Tayyip Erdogan to extend the mandate of Turkish troops. Russia to begin assessing migrant workers' speaking skills Rosobrnadzor is planning to change the Russian language exam for migrant workers and include an assessment of speaking skills Armenian, Saudi Foreign Minister meet in Riyadh The two commended the positive dynamics of the development of political dialogue between Armenia and Saudi Arabia Pashinyan: Azerbaijan’s proximity shouldn’t worry border residents At the same time, he said that he “does not guarantee [the security of villagers] one hundred percent”. |