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Houston, TX - Hitler Artifact Sparks Debate |
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Houston, TX - It's a artifact which represents one of the worst, most brutal eras ever. Something that belonged to Adolf Hitler, and it's now in the hands of a Houston World War II veteran.
it was the summer of 1945 and U.S. troops had just taken over Munich, Germany.
"I was 20 years old and we had just been through a heck of a war," said Jack McConn, brother of former Houston mayor Jim McConn, who was one of the first U.S. soldiers to step foot into the war-torn country
"My C.O. said, 'I want you to take your platoon and guard the feuerbau, Hitler's headquarters'," McConn recalled.
McConn remembers bunking 2 doors down from Hitler's second-floor office. But it was the basement that held the treasures. "When I found the desk set with the AH on it, I figured it was Hitler's," McConn said.
A solid bronze desk set, with Hitler's initials, and an eagle perched on a swastika.
"I took the desk set and built a wooden box and mailed it to my dad in Houston," McConn said. "I wasn't really thinking about the historical significance as much as I was thinking it was a good souvenir of the war."
After years of showing off the set to friends and family, McConn says he finally learned its true historical significance. "I was watching a news reel that I saw the four of them signing that pact, and they were using that desk set," he said.
"It's priceless, I think," McConn said. And for the first time, McConn wants to put it on the world market to find out how much money its really worth.
But representatives of the Houston Jewish community are not in favor of the desk set ending up in the hands of a private collector. They would rather it be donated to a museum.
"We hope that kind of item won't be used to glorify hate but will be used to help remind people of the hate and anti-Semitism of that period," said Martin Cominsky, regional director of the ADL.
McConn hasn't had any big offers yet, and he won't say what he's hoping to sell it for. In the end, though, he hopes for a big pay day and that the desk set is sold to someone who'll keep its history alive.
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Read Comments (5) — Post Yours »
1
May 22, 2008 at 02:34 PM Biggest Bluffer Says:
The adl shouldn't tell him what to do, they should buy it off him & donate it to a jewish museum that is if they would want such a klolo in their possesions.
2
May 22, 2008 at 10:48 PM matzahlocal101 Says:
Ebay!
1)Selling things of value is called commerce.
2)Selling things that are illegal to sell is called black marketeering.
3)Telling people not to sell items that are legal to buy and sell is called interference with free trade.
The ADL prefers to make another anti-semite by telling the man he can't sell his own property.
More power to you Mr. McConn. You earned it the good old fashioned way.
3
May 23, 2008 at 02:07 AM Nigritude Ultramarine Says:
Let the guy have his payday. He's earned it!
4
May 23, 2008 at 02:08 AM Nigritude Ultramarine Says:
I'm with you matzahlocal101!
5
May 23, 2008 at 08:28 AM Anonymous Says:
I agree as well with the above comments. The ADL are major kotzim.