Gold bookmark that once belonged to Adolph Hitler recovered by ICE

A Romanian national who attempted to sell an 18-carat gold bookmark that reportedly belonged to Adolf Hitler, will make his initial appearance in federal court at 1:30 this afternoon charged with sale or receipt of stolen goods.

Christian Popescu, 37, of Kenmore, Wash., was arrested by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) outside a Bellevue, Wash., Starbucks Coffee yesterday, after setting up a clandestine meeting to negotiate the sale of the stolen bookmark, which allegedly had been given to Hitler as a gift by his longtime mistress, Eva Braun, in 1943.

Considered an historical artifact, the bookmark was set to be auctioned in October 2002, by a Madrid, Spain auction house when it was stolen by three eastern European thieves, along with several pieces of jewelry. The bookmark is believed to have previously belonged to the family of Wilhelm Keitel, an armed forces chief under Hitler, who was executed following the Nuremberg trials.

+ U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 30th, 2008 and is filed under History, Search News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.