HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep. 29, 2008
This Tuesday bidders worldwide will have an unprecedented opportunity to
obtain a piece of history previously held by only two owners: a U.S.
Army WWII veteran, and before him, Adolf Hitler.
Hitler’s personal cast-bronze desk set,
complete with the infamous dictator’s initials
and Nazi Eagle insignia in raised relief, will be sold by global online
auction at www.munipact.com
beginning at 7:00 AM CST on September 30, 2008. This date is significant
as it marks the 70th anniversary of the desk set’s
most momentous role in history.
On September 30, 1938, Adolf Hitler reached an agreement with key
European leaders that effectively handed control of Czechoslovakia over
to Germany. This dubious “Munich Pact”
included no Czech representative. It was signed by prime ministers
Neville Chamberlain of England, Edouard Daladier of France, Benito
Mussolini of Italy and Adolf Hitler. The pact gave Hitler the first
stepping-stone toward his eventual European invasion and occupation,
with no bullets fired — only the stroke of a
pen. The desk set being auctioned was used in the signing, providing the
platform on which these fateful signatures were scrawled. World War II
soon followed.
Jump ahead seven years. As the liberation armies swept through Europe at
war’s end, First Lieutenant Jack McConn in the
U.S. Army 179th Infantry discovered the desk
set in the basement of the Führerbau, Hitler’s
Munich headquarters where the pact was signed. McConn kept the set as a
war souvenir. This was August of 1945, and McConn has been in possession
of the set ever since. In addition to Hitler’s
initials and insignia, the inkwells replicate the monuments honoring the
victims of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch — Hitler’s
first attempt at seizing power in Germany, which resulted in his
imprisonment and the setting for his writing of Mein Kampf.
The desk set has been authenticated by an independent authority. Full
provenance records can be found at www.munipact.com.
Photos of the desk set, video interviews with McConn, as well as actual
footage from the Munich Pact signing showing the desk set can also be
found on the website.
© Copyright 2008. All images and content
copyright Burke McConn Idea. All rights reserved.
CONTACT: McConn Group, Houston
Burke McConn
713-385-6368
[email protected]
This Tuesday bidders worldwide will have an unprecedented opportunity to
obtain a piece of history previously held by only two owners: a U.S.
Army WWII veteran, and before him, Adolf Hitler.
Hitler’s personal cast-bronze desk set,
complete with the infamous dictator’s initials
and Nazi Eagle insignia in raised relief, will be sold by global online
auction at www.munipact.com
beginning at 7:00 AM CST on September 30, 2008. This date is significant
as it marks the 70th anniversary of the desk set’s
most momentous role in history.
On September 30, 1938, Adolf Hitler reached an agreement with key
European leaders that effectively handed control of Czechoslovakia over
to Germany. This dubious “Munich Pact”
included no Czech representative. It was signed by prime ministers
Neville Chamberlain of England, Edouard Daladier of France, Benito
Mussolini of Italy and Adolf Hitler. The pact gave Hitler the first
stepping-stone toward his eventual European invasion and occupation,
with no bullets fired — only the stroke of a
pen. The desk set being auctioned was used in the signing, providing the
platform on which these fateful signatures were scrawled. World War II
soon followed.
Jump ahead seven years. As the liberation armies swept through Europe at
war’s end, First Lieutenant Jack McConn in the
U.S. Army 179th Infantry discovered the desk
set in the basement of the Führerbau, Hitler’s
Munich headquarters where the pact was signed. McConn kept the set as a
war souvenir. This was August of 1945, and McConn has been in possession
of the set ever since. In addition to Hitler’s
initials and insignia, the inkwells replicate the monuments honoring the
victims of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch — Hitler’s
first attempt at seizing power in Germany, which resulted in his
imprisonment and the setting for his writing of Mein Kampf.
The desk set has been authenticated by an independent authority. Full
provenance records can be found at www.munipact.com.
Photos of the desk set, video interviews with McConn, as well as actual
footage from the Munich Pact signing showing the desk set can also be
found on the website.
© Copyright 2008. All images and content
copyright Burke McConn Idea. All rights reserved.
CONTACT: McConn Group, Houston
Burke McConn
713-385-6368
[email protected]