# Alexander Autographs > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alexander_Autographs > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alexander_Autographs.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Autographs > Source revision: 1357092946 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Alexander Autographs** is an auctioneer of historic militaria, autographs, manuscripts, relics, and other collectibles. Based in [Chesapeake City, Maryland](/source/Chesapeake_City,_Maryland), the auction house first opened to bidders in 1993 and has since garnered controversy for the sale of items like [Nazi memorabilia](/source/Nazi_memorabilia). ## Overview Alexander's typically holds three to four auctions per year, and concentrates on the following categories: Militaria of all types, Colonial and Revolutionary War; the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War); Americana; Presidents and Vice Presidents; Supreme Court, Cabinet Members & Politicians; Royalty and Heads of State; Military Leaders; Scientists and Inventors; Aviators, Explorers, Astronauts; Business Leaders; Authors and Writers; Artists, Illustrators and Animation Art; Composers and Musicians; Entertainers; Rock and Roll; Notables and the Notorious; and Sports.[citation needed] ## Notable and controversial sales ### October 2005 Alexander Autographs auctioned off a gold Rolex wristwatch inscribed with a message from [Marilyn Monroe](/source/Marilyn_Monroe) to President [John F. Kennedy](/source/John_F._Kennedy). The message reads: JACK, With love as always, from MARILYN May 29, 1962, only ten days after her famous "Happy Birthday" performance at Madison Square Garden. Included in the watch case is a poem from Monroe to Kennedy ending with a passionate plea: "Let me love or let me die!" The watch and accompanying items sold for $120,000 to an anonymous East Coast collector.[1] ### February 2006 Alexander Autographs was forced to withdraw a letter it was auctioning, purporting to be from [Ronald Reagan](/source/Ronald_Reagan) and written during the President's later years while he suffered with Alzheimer's. The letter's content—hand-written annotations and references to the disease, was reported upon by CBS News, U.S. News & World Report, and other media. Bill Panagopulos, company president, withdrew the item when it was discovered to have been forged and advised the press that he had been "duped" by a forger.[2] ### August 2008 Alexander Autographs found itself embroiled in a row with [eBay](/source/EBay), the online auction house, when eBay refused to run Alexander's [Nazi](/source/Nazi) and other German World War II items on its website. Alexander's complied, but issued a statement on its own website adding that, "Though these items are indeed controversial, we maintain that they are of vital historic importance and cannot and must not be ignored."[3] ### November 2008 Alexander Autographs received news coverage when the company announced plans to auction two particular items in the November 6–7 auction: the flight suit of [Paul Tibbets](/source/Paul_Tibbets)[4] and secret audio tapes from Jack Ruby's legal defense team.[5] Tibbets, a colonel during World War II, flew the [Hiroshima](/source/Hiroshima) bombing mission—the auction house offered the very suit he wore on that mission[6] and the Distinguished Service Cross Tibbets earned for his actions.[7] Additionally, Alexander's uncovered taped conversations between Ruby's defense team, including attorney Melvin Belli, that called into question Ruby's contention that Oswald's murder was an unintentional act. ### February 2010 Alexander Autographs sold a 180-page volume of notorious [German](/source/Nazi_Germany) [Nazi doctor](/source/List_of_Nazi_doctors) [Josef Mengele](/source/Josef_Mengele)'s diary at auction for an undisclosed sum to the grandson of a Holocaust survivor. The unidentified previous owner, who acquired the journals in Brazil, was reported to be close to the Mengele family. A [Holocaust](/source/The_Holocaust) survivors' organization described the sale as "a cynical act of exploitation aimed at profiting from the writings of one of the most heinous Nazi criminals."[8] ### July 2011 A further 31 volumes of Josef Mengele's diaries were sold—again amidst protests—by Alexander Autographs to an undisclosed collector of World War II memorabilia, described as an [ultra-orthodox Jew](/source/Haredi_Judaism), for $245,000. The journals cover a period from 1960 to 1975 when Mengele was living in [South America](/source/South_America).[9] ### July 2022 In 2022, Alexander Historical Auctions, a company headed by the same president as Alexander Autographs, auctioned off Nazi memorabilia including a gold watch presented to Hitler valued at $2 million. A number of prominent Jewish leaders across Europe signed a letter urging the company to cancel the auction.[10] ## References 1. Cosgrove, Bootie (2005-10-18). ["JFK's Watch Fetches $120,000"](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jfks-watch-fetches-120000/). CBS News. Retrieved 2015-09-26. 1. ["Fake Reagan Letter Is Taken Off Market"](https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/15/nyregion/15forgery.html). *The New York Times*. Associated Press. 15 February 2006. 1. [\[1\]](http://auctions.alexautographs.com/asp/searchresults.asp?pg=41&ps=25)[dead link] 1. ["For Sale: Flight Suit of Hiroshima Bomber"](https://web.archive.org/web/20081203222418/http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2008/10/9/for-sale-flight-suit-of-hiroshima-bomber.html). US News. Archived from [the original](https://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2008/10/9/for-sale-flight-suit-of-hiroshima-bomber.html) on 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2015-09-26. 1. ["New Shocker in the JFK-Lee Harvey Oswald Story"](https://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2008/10/25/new-shocker-in-the-jfk-lee-harvey-oswald-story.html?s_cid=rss:washington-whispers:new-shocker-in-the-jfk-lee-harvey-oswald-story). US News. 2008-10-25. Retrieved 2015-09-26. 1. ["For Sale: Flight Suit Of Hiroshima Bomber"](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/for-sale-flight-suit-of-hiroshima-bomber/). CBS News. 2008-10-14. Retrieved 2015-09-26. 1. [\[2\]](http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=27974) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20110717180614/http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=27974) July 17, 2011 at the Wayback Machine 1. Oster, Marcy (3 February 2010). ["Survivor's grandson buys Mengele diary"](https://www.jta.org/2010/02/03/news-opinion/united-states/survivors-grandson-buys-mengele-diary). Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 8 February 2016. 1. Aderet, Ofer (22 July 2011). ["Ultra-Orthodox man buys diaries of Nazi doctor Mengele for $245,000"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110723013525/http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/ultra-orthodox-man-buys-diaries-of-nazi-doctor-mengele-for-245-000-1.374642). *[Haaretz](/source/Haaretz)*. Archived from [the original](https://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/ultra-orthodox-man-buys-diaries-of-nazi-doctor-mengele-for-245-000-1.374642) on July 23, 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2016. 1. ["Rabbis call on Maryland Auction House to cancel sale of Nazi memorabilia"](https://m.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-713399/amp). *[The Jerusalem Post](/source/The_Jerusalem_Post)*. Retrieved Aug 8, 2022. ## External links - [Official website](http://www.alexautographs.com) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alexander Autographs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Autographs) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Autographs?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.