U.S. customs agents have charged a Romanian national in Seattle with trying to sell a stolen gold bookmark that reportedly belonged to Adolf Hitler.
Christian Popescu was arrested yesterday outside a Bellevue Starbucks after trying to sell the 18-carat gold bookmark to an undercover agent for $100,000, according to papers filed in U.S. District Court. Four others were detained but not charged.
The bookmark, which was stolen from a Spanish auction house in 2002, is engraved with a portrait of Hitler, an imperial eagle and a swastika. The inscription indicates that his mistress, Eva Braun, gave it to Hitler to console him after German forces surrendered at Stalingrad.
"My Adolf, don't worry," it reads, adding that the loss was "only an inconvenience that will not break your certainty of victory. My love for you will be eternal, as our Reich will be eternal. Always yours, Eva. 3-2-43."
Authorities believe the bookmark had previously belonged to the family of Wilhelm Keitel, an armed forces chief under Hitler, who was executed following the Nuremberg trials.
The Seattle Times and Associated Press have more.
Here's the news release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Popescu will be back in federal court Monday for a detention hearing.