The golden gun ceremoniously handed over by high-ranking Nazi Hermann Goering when he surrendered to a soldier at the end of the Second World War has been revealed in public for the first time.
The famous gun has come to light 67 years after the SS officer gave it to Lieutenant Jerome Shapiro in a symbolic gesture as he fled from Germany in the final days of the Third Reich.
The American serviceman apprehended Hitler’s henchman as he escaped from the crumbling Fascist regime in his bullet-proof Mercedes car with bags of luggage strapped to the roof.
The gold-plated pistol Nazi Hermann Goering handed over to the allies when he surrendered at the end of the Second World War has been revealed in public for the first time
Lt Shapiro held onto the weapon until his death in the 1970s.
His widow then gave it to an army friend of her late husband who kept it for a further 20 years before selling it to a private collector. Goering was not alone in opting for the PPK (Police Pistol Kurz or Short Police Pistol) as one of his weapons of choice.
The semi-automatic gun was originally built in 1931 by the Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen company in Gemany and it became popular both with European police and civilians thanks to its compact size which made it easy to hide.
These attributes have helped to maintain its place as the gun favoured by both real and fictional spies with James Bond regularly choosing the pistol to carry out missions for her Majesty's Secret Service and MI5 still using it as a persuasive tool today.
After the Second World War production of PPKs moved to France through the Manurhin company and famous US supplier Smith a Wesson now make the guns at a plant in Virginia.
After being held at gunpoint, Goering pictured left next to Hitler, presented Lt Shapiro with the gold-plated Walther PPK pistol along with a ceremonial dagger
On hearing of his fate Goering drove through Austria towards enemy lines in a bid to surrender to the Americans as opposed to the Russians.
Auctioneer James Julia, of Maine, U.S., said the gun was a highly important item of military memorabilia.
He said the pistol was gold-plated and festooned with oak leaves, which were seen as symbols of strength by the Nazis.
Lt Shapiro and a private were sent out in a jeep to find Goering which they did at Radstadt in Austria.
Goering also had on him an unloaded Smith and Wesson revolver which he is said to have asked to keep so he could present it in a formal surrender to General Eisenhower.
However, both the pistol and the ivory-handled dagger were handed over to Lt Shapiro as part of the surrender procedure in Austria.
Mr Julia said: 'Lt Shapiro managed to keep hold of the gun until the end of the war and returned home with it.
'He used to visit local schools with the pistol to show off and use to give talks about the war.
'After Lt Shapiro’s death, the pistol ended up in the ownership of an army Major who lived near him in Delaware and the two became good friends.
'Lt Shapiro’s widow gave the Major the pistol and dagger after her husband’s death. He kept it for something like 20 years and sold it to a collector 10 years ago.'
The auction takes place in the U.S. on October 1 and 2.
Hermann Goering stands in the prisoners' dock at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial in Germany on November 21, 1945
Goering, pictured right, had been fleeing from Hitler after the dictator had ordered SS soldiers to shoot him for wanting to take control of the failing regime
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2192511/The-gold-plated-revolver-used-Hermann-Goering-surrender-allies-resurfaces-sale-30-000.html#ixzz24PeCwZPK
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