Adolf Hitler’s personal copy of Mein Kampf has been auctioned online.
Mein Kampf, which translates to “My Struggle,” was written by Hitler while he spent time in prison in 1923 and was later published in 1925.
The book, written eight years before Hitler took power of Germany, was basically a blueprint for his plans for Germany and exterminating the Jews and others that didn’t measure up to his ideal German. This particular copy was taken from Hitler’s Munich apartment by US Army 1st LT Joseph Ben Lieber in 1945.
The auction was held by recurring Pawn Stars expert Craig Gottlieb and took place on Historyhunter.com. The auction ran from October 18 until November 1. “Mein Kampf is one of the most printed titles in the world,” Gottlieb explained in a news release. “There was a joke that everyone in Germany had a copy, but nobody read it because it was so badly written.”
Hitler's personal copy of Mein Kampf sells for almost £19k at auction http://t.co/trl8HpZqBH pic.twitter.com/rPpK9gnnre
— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) November 2, 2014
“This is not your run-of-the-mill copy of Mein Kampf,” he continued. “Obviously Hitler must have had multiple editions of his own book, but this one was in his Munich apartment and Hitler’s eyes almost certainly scanned its pages at some point.”
“The chain of custody of the book is unbroken since 1945,” Gottlieb added. “This particular artifact is one of the most profound in the group, which makes the provenance that supports the artifact so crucial to its value.”
In March, a signed copy of the book sold for $65,000, and a copy sold in England last year for $70,000. While Gottlieb had hoped that the book would bring in over $100,000, unfortunately it only sold for $28,400.