A rare silver cigar case bearing the signature of Nazi commander Hermann Göring is expected to fetch from £3,000- £5,000 at auction with Bishop & Miller Auctioneers, Suffolk, as part of its specialist Military Auction on Saturday 6th October.
The German Third Reich presentation cigar box holds the inscription: “Generaloberst Milch, Zum 30.3.1939, in Kameradschaftlicher Verbundheit” and includes the signature of Hermann Göring.
Hermann Göring was Adolf Hitler’s second-in-command and in charge of German air force the Lufftwaffe, having founded the Nazi secret police force the Gestapo in 1933. Erhard Milch was a WW1 veteran who joined the Luftwaffe after the war, during WW2 he was responsible for aircraft production and he was convicted of war crimes by a U.S. military court in 1947 and sentenced to life imprisonment. After being released in 1954, he died in 1972.
The box itself is made of silver and lined with cedar wood, and the lid is slightly domed and has a gold Luftwaffe eagle (including Nazi swastika) fixed to the top.
Oliver Miller says: “This rare German WW2 piece is a real find and has already attracted a lot of attention from private collectors. WWII memorabilia is growing in popularity and we’re finding more items coming to us to be sold – although items with such significance and provenance as this silver presentation box are not acquired everyday!”
Also included with the Military Auction are two Third Reich National Hunting Association miniature presentation daggers, one of which bears Hermann Göring’s signature. Göring was the head of the National Hunting Association. The cigar case and daggers are being sold as part of a specialist Military Sale on Saturday 6th October 2018, from 10am at Bishop & Miller’s Suffolk Salesrooms.