Rudolph Hess' top-secret wartime archives are to lead a sale of wartime memorabilia with an estimate of $750,00 at Alexander Historical Auctions later today (September 10).
Described by the auction house as "the most important wartime archive to ever be offered for private sale", the file details his ill-fated attempt to broker peace with the UK on May 10, 1941.
Hess was appointed deputy fuhrer in 1933, and was responsible for the passing of the anti-Semitic Nuremburg laws. In 1941 he made the unilateral decision to fly from Berlin to Scotland in an attempt to meet with members of the British parliament that he believed were in opposition to the UK government. En-route his plane crash-landed and he was captured.
 The file has a $750,000 estimate |
Hitler had been unaware of Hess' intention to open negotiations with Britain and described his departure as a personal betrayal.
The file contains what is believed to be the handwritten proposal of terms that Hess offered British foreign secretary, Lord Simon, during their meeting.
Alexander Historical Auctions told the Local, a German newspaper, that it had undertaken forensic tests on the document and that "the results showed that the document is an original document and not spurious."
The auction house added: "This archive for the first time brings to light Hess' own thoughts on his failed 'peace mission', written in his own hand at the time the events occurred. Virtually none of the content of this file has been written by others: it is a first-person history of the great historic importance."
A box of Herman Goering's cigars sold for £1,300 ($2,035) in August of this year.
The auction will also see the sale of Hitler's lost ring. For more news from the world of militaria and collectibles please sign up to our free weekly newsletter.
