Washington - A man was charged in the United States on
Wednesday with trying to sell a golden bookmark once given to Adolf
Hitler to cheer him up after losing the Battle of Stalingrad.
Christian Popescu, 37, of Kenmore, Washington, was arrested after
FBI agents posing as potential buyers set up a meeting to purchase
the 18-carat-gold artifact in a Starbucks parking lot, the US Justice
Department said.
Hitler's companion, Eva Braun, is believed to have given the
bookmark to the dictator after the Soviet Red Army defeated Nazi
German forces in the 1943 battle for Stalingrad, a key turning point
in the war on the Eastern Front.
'My Adolf, don't worry. The mischievous event with Paulus was only
an inconvenience that will not break your certainty of victory,' said
the bookmark's inscription in German, referring to the German Army
general who lost the battle. 'My love for you will be eternal, just
like our Reich.'
It features a side view of Hitler's face below an eagle clutching
a swastika.
Popescu was seeking 100,000 to 150,000 dollars for the bookmark.
Authorities in Spain, where it was stolen in 2002, estimated its
value at about 13,000 dollars.
In autumn 2002, thieves in a Madrid auction house stole the
bookmark and other items in a 'smash and grab' robbery just days
before they were to go under the gavel. Most of the items were later
recovered, but the Hitler bookmark had been missing until now.
The Justice Department said that federal agents in Seattle learned
that someone was trying sell a bookmark that allegedly belonged to
Hitler. Popescu faces 10 years in prison and up to 250,000 dollars in
fines if convicted.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story