Hitler’s socks, Goering’s underpants on auction in Germany

An auction of Nazi memorabilia in Munich includes underpants worn by Hermann Goering and socks worn by Adolf Hitler.

The auction scheduled for this weekend at the Herman Historica International auction house in Munich also includes dresses that belonged to Hitler’s lover Eva Braun and the case that held the cyanide capsule that Goering, second in command to Hitler, used to take his life the night before he was scheduled to be hanged in 1946 following his conviction on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg trials.

Jewish groups have condemned the auction, and the mayor of Munich has asked the auction house to cancel it, fearing the objects will be glorified by neo-Nazis, the Telegraph reports.

Hermann Goering speaking with a foreign journalist in his private garden in Augsburg, Germany, May 13, 1945. (Getty Images via JTA)

The memorabilia is part of a collection owned by John Kingsley Lattimer, an American doctor who served as a medical officer during the War Crimes Trials in Nuremberg, where he cared for the prisoners as well as members of the Allied forces staff. He collected many of the artifacts during his time at the trials, according to the auction catalog.

Goering’s underpants, silk with a blue monogram reading “HG,” will be offered at a starting price of $700. Bidding on his brass cyanide capsule case will start at about $3,500.

— JTA