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The World’s Most Famous Bookmark
by
Lauren Roberts
Click to enlarge
It was only one sentence long but it caused me to spill the full cup of water I had been sipping all over my sweater and pants. Hitler’s bookmark had been found! Normally I ignore the little news blurbs Yahoo puts on its e-mail page, but a corner of my eye had caught the word “bookmark.” A quick glance added the word “Hitler” and I knew instantly what it meant.
My co-writer Laine Farley had written about the lost bookmark earlier this year. At that time it had been missing for six years after being stolen from a Spanish auction house in 2002. Had it been sold on the black market? Did the thieves not realize the historical significance of what they had and melted it down? Had it been tossed? I often wondered about this and mourned that I would probably never know the answers.
Then last Wednesday late morning the answer I never expected to see appeared in that one line, and it thrilled me as if it was my own property being returned to me. What an extraordinary thing—to have a bookmark with such a notorious history go from Germany to Spain to (presumably) Romania and end up in the state of Washington where it might, if not for the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency which somehow, brilliantly, discovered the trail and intercepted this most famous of bookmarks—have disappeared entirely from history.
Given the bookmark’s historical value, it will be forever more public property to be kept out of the hands of private collectors. And rightfully so. It is a memorable and irreplaceable piece of history, however terrible its pedigree. It is about six inches in length and one inch wide at the top, tapering down to a rounded bottom where a four-leaf clover is engraved. Hitler’s profile is at the top in an simple oval frame. Above the profile is an exquisite eagle clutching the swastika. Below are words of belief and comfort from a woman who cared very much about the pain Hitler was feeling over his army’s terrible loss at Stalingrad. Whether she believed the words she had engraved or simply needed to let him know she believed them is unknown. But the concern is very much alive in those words.
I tried to obtain an interview with someone from ICE to no avail due to the holiday weekend. So I have no more I can add other than from the official press release:
SEATTLE - 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.
While most of the other items stolen in the robbery have been recovered, this is the first time in six years that the bookmark has surfaced. It is believed Braun gave Hitler the bookmark as consolation for his army's defeat in the battle of Stalingrad, as it is inscribed in part with the following words from Braun: “My Adolf, don’t worry…(the defeat)… was only an inconvenience that will not break your certainty of victory.”
According to the criminal complaint filed in connection with the case, ICE agents received a tip this past summer that someone was interested in selling the bookmark. During his attempt to sell the item, Popescu acknowledged that the bookmark was stolen in Spain and agreed to a $100,000 price.
“Artifacts of historical significance are not souvenirs for illegal sale to the highest bidder,” said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge for ICE’s Office of Investigations in Seattle. “As always, ICE along with our domestic and international law enforcement partners will continue its aggressive enforcement of this type of criminal activity. This case highlights the diversity of laws enforced by ICE.”
A conviction for sale or receipt of stolen goods is punishable by up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine. ICE was joined in this investigation by the Spanish National Police, INTERPOL, Seattle Police Department, the Port of Seattle Police Department, the Bellevue Police Department and the ICE attaché in Madrid. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Woods and Richard Cohen.
Bookmark specifications: Hitler/Braun bookmark
Dimensions: 6” x 1”
Material: 18-karat gold
Manufacturer: Unknown
Date: 1943
Acquired: Currently in the hands of ICE
Almost since her childhood days of Mother Goose, Lauren has been giving her opinion on books to anyone who will listen. That “talent” eventually took her out of magazine writing and into book reviewing in 2000 for an online review site where she cut her teeth (as well as a few authors). Stints as book editor for her local newspaper and contributing editor to Booklist and Bookmarks magazines has reinforced her belief that she has interesting things to say about books. Lauren shares her home with several significant others including three cats, nearly 1,300 bookmarks and approximately 1,200 books that, whether previously read or not, constitute her to-be-read stack. She is a member of the National Books Critics Circle (NBCC) as well as a longtime book design judge for Publishers Marketing Association’s Benjamin Franklin Awards. Contact Lauren.
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