Himmler's Nazi hunting knife to go under the hammer

London, Oct 27 : A Nazi hunting knife once owned by the head of Adolf Hitler's SS and Gestapo, Heinrich Himmler, will soon be going under the hammer at an auction.

The horn-handled knife is expected to fetch between 1,000 to 2,000 pounds, when it is auctioned on November 6 by of Mullocks auctioneers. One side of the 4in blade of the knife is engraved with the signature of Himmler, and an engraved 'SS' device on the other.

Himmler was one of the most dangerous men in Nazi Germany.

The knife, which first belonged to Himmler was then given away to his friend Herman Barth, who was responsible for the SS Education School in Berlin during the Second World War.

"There are many fake items of Third Reich memorabilia which appear on the market but this one is accompanied by a typed letter on the stationery of the Deutsche Arbeitsfront in Baden, addressed to SS Standartenfuhrer Barth in Berlin," the Telegraph quoted Richard Westwood Brookes, of Mullocks auctioneers, as saying.

He added: "Hermann Barth was a close friend of both Himmler and Goering. He seems to have survived the war and died in 2005.

"We have seen references to other high status Nazis items coming from his personal possessions. Himmler was responsible for millions of deaths of men, women and children as overseer of concentration camps.

"He was the embodiment of evil, he was a horrible little man who even crossed Hitler in the end to save his own skin.

"He was the architect of the holocaust and he was a thoroughly despicable man. But this serves as an artefact of historical importance as a significant reminder of the evil of the Nazis."

ANI