Just two months before he launched Operation Barbarossa, Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union, Adolf Hitler received a pencil as a gift from his long-term partner Eva Braun on his 52nd birthday (April 20, 1941). Featuring an inscription of her name “Eva” on the side and the initials “AH” on the top, the pencil is now up for an auction and expected to fetch 80,000 GBP (around Rs 81,84,184). The bid, which has been organised by Bloomfield Auctions in Belfast, will take place on June 6. The pencil and its provenance The 8.5 cm pencil in white metal was reportedly...