Teleprinter Used by Hitler Purchased on eBay by U.K. Museum

A teleprinter that Adolf Hitler, ym”s, used to send messages to Nazi officers was purchased by a U.K. museum for just a few British pounds on eBay.

ABC News reports that when a volunteer from the National Museum of Computing happened upon an eBay ad for the device, he recognized the instrument as a rare Lorenz teleprinter. This teleprinter had been used to transmit coded messages.

There were no other bidders on the item, and the museum was able to purchase it for just 10 British pounds (around $14.60). John Whetter, of the museum, told ABC News that when museum volunteers went to pick up the teleprinter in Essex, England, they found it in a garden shed that was filled with old items.

Whetter said that the teleprinter had belonged to an old man who had recently died; neighbors who were helping clear his home had put the item up for sale on eBay.

“When we brought it back to the museum and cleaned it up, we could tell that it was a relatively rare item,” said Whetter.

The teleprinter will be shown as part of an exhibit of British World War II coding devices. The exhibit will display devices used by British code-breakers during World War II to penetrate the secret communications of the Axis powers.