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Hitler's bunker phone to be sold at auction

Started by RotarDad, February 02, 2017, 02:31:58 AM

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RotarDad

I just saw this on CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/01/europe/hitler-phone-auction/index.html

It does have the look of a phone Satan himself might have used with the worn red paint......certainly a museum piece.
Paul

TelePlay

For the record, the back side of the phone is attached as well as a pdf printout of the article with its claims of authenticity and expected selling price range.

Jack Ryan

Quote from: RotarDad on February 02, 2017, 02:31:58 AM
I just saw this on CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/01/europe/hitler-phone-auction/index.html

It does have the look of a phone Satan himself might have used with the worn red paint......certainly a museum piece.

I'm sure Hitler would have bought the handset off eBay in the UK too.

Jack

LarryInMichigan

One might think that a reputable auction house would notice the GPO handset, though I suppose that a British handset on this phone is not much stranger than the appearance of the two phones in this picture.

Larry

Jack Ryan

Quote from: LarryInMichigan on February 02, 2017, 06:44:58 AM
One might think that a reputable auction house would notice the GPO handset, though I suppose that a British handset on this phone is not much stranger than the appearance of the two phones in this picture.

Larry

I think the bunker phone is stranger by far as the two sides were at war. At that time the other two were allies. Even just after that, I don't think relations were so bad as to preclude some trade.

Jack

AL_as_needed

I really doubt that the phone would have marked with "adolf hitler" on its shell. German manufacturing loves to serializes all parts six ways to Sunday, but was not big on personal touches.

Quote from: Jack Ryan on February 02, 2017, 07:12:08 AM
I think the bunker phone is stranger by far as the two sides were at war. At that time the other two were allies. Even just after that, I don't think relations were so bad as to preclude some trade.

Jack

You'd be pretty surprised to see how much trading took place between the various factions in WWII. While still done through diplomatic back channels, trading of war time goods like rubber, optics, leather and other "hard to find items" was quite frequent between England and Germany. After all, business is business.
TWinbrook7

Slal

Quote from: Jack Ryan on February 02, 2017, 03:04:21 AM
I'm sure Hitler would have bought the handset off eBay in the UK too.

Jack

Perhaps that explains Rudolph Hess flying to England on a secret mission.  Herr Hitler needed a handset! (Mr. Hess got a lovely phone inside a jail cell.)  ; D

On a more serious note, wouldn't the red army have 'liberated' the phone when they took Berlin & the bunker?   Seems like it would've been the property of some Russian soldier or officer.  Given the post-war tensions and then the cold war...

How did it get from east to west?  After the wall came down & USSR one for the history books?  Details mention anything about its previous owners?  From what little I know from the art world, auction houses & galleries usually have a chronology who who owned that priceless Rembrandt or whatever.

Just an observation.

--Bruce


Jack Ryan

#8
I found this on a German list:


Ich habe mal ein Buch von Rochus Misch, dem Telefoner der Reichskanzlei, gelesen. Er sagte aus, dass er im Bunker einen Handvermittlungsschrank bediente. Es ist zwar möglich, dass es sich um einen ZB- Glühlampenschrank handelte und dass dieser Wählfernsprecher daran betrieben wurde, nur halte ich OB- Betrieb wahrscheinlicher, da bei den Filmaufnahmen, die bei der Bunkeröffnung in den 80ern (?) gemacht wurden, im Zimmer des Selbstmordes Hitlers ein W/OB 35 ohne NrS stand.


Courtesy of Google Translate (unconfirmed translation):  "I once read a book by Rochus Misch, the telephone of the Reichskanzlei. He said he served a hand-held cabinet in the bunker. It is possible that it was a ZB-incandescent lamp box and that this selector was operated on it, only I think OB operation more likely, as in the film recordings, which were made at the bunker opening in the 80's (?) In the room Of the suicide of Hitler a W / OB 35 without NrS stood."

So the real Bunker phone might have been magneto.

And shortly afterwards, this was posted by Geoff Mawdsley:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2617784/Inside-Hitlers-bunker-Photographs-reveal-blood-stained-furniture-debris-inside-hideaway-Adolf-Eva-Braun-died-fall-Berlin.html

Is shows a magneto phone.

This video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUoynfNkArM

contains a lot of speculation. Looped cord ends = plug-in - rubbish. Mobile phone for use in command vehicle - rubbish. Special handset design  prevents it from jumping off - rubbish.

The Wehrmacht insignia may be real - I have seen telephone parts marked with it. Later on there was an ink stamp on the base. The Name "Adolf Hitler" is not engraved evenly - I don't think I would have liked to hand the man something less than perfect. My health may have suffered.

After much consideration, I don't think I shall bid.

Regards
Jack




LarryInMichigan

This phone is highly suspicious.  Even if it were unquestionably genuine, and I could afford to buy it, I wouldn't want anything touched by that murderous monster anywhere near me.

Larry

Pourme

Did you see the booze on the table in the video?.....

That may help explain the old fellow's story.....just sayin
Benny

Panasonic 308/616 Magicjack service

wds

$243,000 sales price.  Seems pretty crazy.  There was an article earlier in the week refuting that this phone could have been Hitler's.  Wish I could find the article now.
Dave

RotarDad

#12
Here's a link to an article from CNN discussing the sale:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/20/europe/hitler-phone-sold/index.html

Some text from the article:

"The phone was recovered from the Fuhrerbunker in 1945 and has been kept in a box in an English country house ever since.
Made by Siemens as a black Bakelite phone, it was later painted red and engraved with Hitler's name and a swastika, the catalog says."

If we assume this was "the" bunker phone, perhaps the Russians had no interest in such items.  Does anyone know when the Allies would have had access to the bunker for a British soldier to find it, (perhaps add the Hitler name), and carry it back to England?  (Update - From what I found online, looks like the western allies had access a couple weeks afterward, and there are some good photos on the internet.  A phone could certainly have survived.)   We certainly know lots of small items came home with returning soldiers.  It seems more likely that a soldier found a black phone with the Wehrmacht stamping, and brought it home to Engalnd as a small trophy of a hard-won war.  Maybe the personalization, British handset, coat of red paint, etc were added much later....  If true, this phone deserves top billing in the "Notable Refurb" category, based on selling price alone..... ;)
Paul

Phonesrfun

Maybe they can find some old Hitler ear wax stuck in the receiver cap holes and test them for Der Führer's DNA.   :P



-Bill G

AE_Collector

I don't know about phones in the Fuhrerbunker but according to Hogan's Hero's, Stalag 13 had at least one AE34 in use! It only appears once in awhile on Klink's secretary's desk Frauline Hilga and later Frauline Helga.

Now I would pay a few hundred $ for a red 34!

Terry