A second world war-era phone book containing the names of several high ranking Nazis has auctioned for £33,000 ($44,500).
The leather-bound book was discovered by British officer Captain John Hodge in what remained of Berlin's Reich Chancellery at the end of the war.
The book contains the names of several war criminals
Included within are the numbers for the likes of Hermann Goering, Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich. Notable by his absence is an entry for Hitler himself, leading some to speculate that this was the Fuhrer's personal book.
That speculation was enough for the item to demolish its £20,000 estimate at the September 23 Henry Aldridge sale.
Andrew Aldridge, owner of the auction house, told Fox News prior to the sale: “This is a unique piece of history that offers both historians and collectors access to a previously unseen amount of information relating to the highest echelons of one of the most evil regimes in modern history.”
Hodge was among the first British soldiers to reach Berlin. Among the debris of the Reich Chancellery he also unearthed a German Iron Cross medal. It sold for £500 ($676) on the weekend.
While many militaria collectors shy away from owning Nazi memorabilia, there is a sizable community of buyers. Items relating to Hitler in particular can be extremely valuable.
A red portable telephone Hitler used during the second world war auctioned for $243,000 earlier this year, while earlier this month, a pair of Hitler's boxer shorts that he left behind in an Austrian hotel room made $5,500.
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