Rocks from Hitlers tombstone (allegedly)

Our family has had these two rocks since my Uncle brought them back from WW2. The plate on one reads "This rock was taken from a grave in Berlin where Adolf Hitler was buried". The other reads the same, but names Eva Braun. At this point I am convinced they are nothing more then souvenirs sold by someone looking to make a quick buck, but I could be wrong. Beyond the story (which I am sure is true) that they came back from the war, I know nothing about their origin. If anyone has information about them or similar items I would very much appreciate it.

Photo of the rock:
http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/Justasock/media/IMAG0933_zps81608e0a.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

 

Something like this makes me skeptical. Because Hitler and Eva were both burned and reduced to ashes. Where would they be buried if they were reduced to ashes? Always be skeptical of things such as this because like you said it could be just a souvenir that is sold by someone who just wants to make a buck. I will look up this though, but I still remain skeptical

 

Adolph and Eva reside in a cabinet in Moscow. The charred bones that are (presumably) theirs were excavated by the Soviets, buried under a gas station for a while then re-exhumed and sent to Moscow.

Somebody might have picked up some debris from the pit in the chancellery where the bodies were burned, but even that is doubtful because the Soviets kept a tight clamp on that just because they didn't want any memorabilia of Hitler floating around.

 

I forgot about those bones and how they might be Hitler's and Eva's. Still a little skeptical about the stone though.

 

With A-Dolf and Eva, all you need is a bit of rock from Blondi's grave to complete the set........

 

If it *is* authentic then it would have to be something related to the Chancellery. This is hard to believe though -- the Soviets were quite strict about "visitors" and "souvenirs".

I'd guess some enterprising GI's just picked up some rocks and stuck the name plates on them.

Interesting piece none-the-less. I distinguish between "war era" fakes (ie: a fake made in 1945 or 46) and the "modern" fakes out there now. Don't get me wrong -- they're certainly not worth what authentic pieces are, but they're interesting pieces of history.

 

If anything it's an interesting story. Worth keeping it just for the aura of mystery.

 

True.

 

I note that you give no detail of your Uncle's involvement in WW2, and whether he himself was ever in Germany, let alone Berlin, and, if so, when.

Be that as it may, it was the Soviet Army that "liberated" the Chancellery, including the bunker where Hitler spent his last days before killing Eva Braun and then himself. The account is well documented that the Soviet troops, arriving a few days later, found the bodies burned in a fire created by petrol poured over them, and then buried in a shallow grave. There had been no attempt to create any kind of gravestone, but because it was only a shallow grave roughly covered with bare soil, the grave was not difficult to find. Moreover, there was only one grave, with no attempt to create two.

For obvious reasons the Soviets were extremely protective of the site, and it was only by special arrangement that authorised representatives of the other Allies were allowed access, let alone ordinary non-Soviet military personnel. It is therefore extremely doubtful whether the rocks are even from the rubble of the Chancellery.

The suggestion of an "artful dodger" making a "quick buck" is possible, but I doubt that that would actually account for the plates now attached, because possibilities of creating those in the immediate aftermath of the war would have been so limited as to be non-existent. My guess is that the plates were commissioned by your Uncle much later, based upon what he was told at the time he acquired them.

 

Just like those one-of-a-kind vases...that litter the floor out the back...

 

Or pieces of the 'true' cross and saints relics. Those medieval monks knew how to make a buck!

 

ha, very good

 

I ask my Mother, who owns the rocks, and found out more. My Uncle was actually an actor sent to entertain the troops, not a solider. She also said the plates had been on the rocks when purchase.

 

Most members of ENSA, the Entertainments National Service Association, the organisation set up to provide entertainment for armed forces personnel, were seconded from the armed forces themselves. One notable exception was Paul Eddington (Yes, Prime Minister), who was a conscientious objector, but he pointed out in his autobiography that he came across no other ENSA member who was a CO.

If your mother is correct about the rocks being purchased with the plates attached, this points to their having been purchased some time after 1945 rather than in the immediate aftermath of the end of the war.