Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ST. PAUL, Minn., Sep 18, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A Minnesota man is trying to sell what he says is the first Teletype message that Germany surrendered in World War II, but the date is 10 days too early.
Chuck Loesch, 58, a private investigator and bodyguard, and told the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press the message was left to him by his aunt, Harriet Hoyt, who worked at the Pentagon during the war.
During the weekend, his bid to sell it for $100,000 on eBay expired without any takers, as its authenticity is doubted by historians, and not only because of the April 28, 1945, date.
A news release about the eBay listing says the message is from "the American High Command in Europe informing military intelligence at the Pentagon that Germany had JUST unconditionally surrendered ..."
U.S. Defense Department historian Alfred Goldberg told the newspaper it had to be faked.
"There wasn't such a thing as the High Command. It was the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces, headed by Eisenhower," Goldberg said.
Undaunted, Loesch said he will post the old message on eBay again soon.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
