Swedish bailiffs are planning to sell seven paintings thought to have been painted by Adolf Hitler, triggering cries of outrage amongst members of the Jewish community in Sweden.
According to the newspaper Local, the money earned from the sale of the paintings will be used to cover debts of a local family, who have not been named.
"If the paintings are originals, we estimate that they will sell at 100,000 kronor (some $15,000) each", stated Christer Davidsson, representing the Swedish Enforcement Authority.
The Stockholm Jewish community has spoken out against plans to sell the paintings at an auction, stating that "it is highly inappropriate that anyone should be able to earn money by selling such objects". Meanwhile, the Swedish authorities have commented that they "cannot deal with ethical issues" in the process of regulating disputes connected to large debts.
Hitler failed to be accepted by the Vienna Academy of Art. The future German leader later earned money by drawing advertisements and postcards.
This isn't the first time that Hitler's art has been sold. In April 2011 British auctioneers at the prestigious Mullocks Auction House sold 13 art pieces worth over 95,000 pounds. The most expensive, sold for 10,000 pounds, was a supposed self-portrait. The small watercolor, dated 1910, portrays a brown-clad man sitting on a stone bridge. It lacks facial features such as the eyes, nose and mouth, but according to experts, the prominent hairstyle and small initials "A.H." leave us in no doubt as to whom the figure represents.
