An unusual relic from World War II, Adolf Hitler’s toilet seat, is up for auction and is expected to fetch around $15,000, with a starting bid of $5,000. The toilet seat is said to have been looted by a US soldier from Hitler’s private bathroom in his holiday home in the Bavarian Alps near Berchtesgaden. It will be auctioned by Alexander Historical Auctions LLC in Chesapeake City, Maryland, on February 8. According to the auction company, the family of the “enterprising” soldier has now decided to cash in on the two-piece wooden toilet seat with its lid removed.
“One can scarcely imagine the plotting the tyrant undertook while contemplating the world from atop this perch!” the description on the website liveauctioneers reads.
The toilet seat measures 19 inches from front to back and 16 inches wide and has two chromed steel fittings joining the two pieces. It is set in an old shadow box along with two photographs of the soldier, Ragnvald Borch, and his immediate superior officer at the 'Eagles Nest' at Berchtesgaden. The relic also has a satirical anti-Hitler newspaper clipping. The auction company says that the items have remained untouched in the basement of the family’s home.
Borch was one of the first American soldiers on the scene when they were allied with French troops to reach Hitler’s home. The company, quoting a detailed letter from Borch’s son, said that the soldier was told by senior officers to ‘get what you want’ from the Berghof, the name of Hitler’s residence, which was badly damaged in the bombing by allied forces.
When Borch was asked by another soldier why he was carrying a toilet seat, he replied, “Where do you think Hitler put his a**?” The incident is reportedly mentioned in the book ‘Hitler's Mountain’, a copy of which is being auctioned along with the seat. The soldier was easily able to ship his “souvenirs” for the home to his future wife. The company’s website says that “one of the most eye-catching items” was from Hitler's personal bathroom, “from as close to a 'throne' as the dictator would ever get.”
