Adolf Hitler’s red telephone realises $243,000
Adolf Hitler’s red telephone realised $243,000 at Alexander Historical Auctions yesterday.

The extraordinary piece was manufactured by Siemens in 1940 and features his name on the reverse.

Hitler carried it everywhere with him, using it as his main communication device during the second world war.

Hitler telephone

Hitler's telephone features his name and a swastika on the back

It was used to give the orders that would alter the course of the war, right through to his final command to burn his Berlin bunker after his suicide.

Auctioneer Bill Panagopulos explained the importance of the telephone: "This was Hitler's mobile device of destruction, used in vehicles, trains, his field headquarters, at the Wolf's Lair, and in the last desperate days deep beneath Berlin.

"It is arguably the most destructive weapon of all time, used to send millions to their deaths around the world."

The phone was liberated from Hitler's bunker in Berlin by British officer Sir Ralph Rayner in 1945.

Rayner was one of the first non-Soviets to enter the defeated city and was given the telephone as a gift by Russian soldiers.

His son Ranulph said: “It is a very sinister piece of equipment, when you think about what it was used for.

"The orders Hitler shouted down the phone's mouthpiece, many of which are recorded in history, are a lesson we should never forget."

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