Eva Braun's purported panties for sale at Ohio antique store

ELMORE, Ohio, June 2 (UPI) -- A pair of French silk panties being listed for $7,500 at an Ohio antique store purportedly once belonged to Eva Braun, Adolf Hitler's wife.

The high-waisted undergarments, which bear the monogrammed initials "E.B." and come with a certificate of authenticity, were spotted by a Twitter user for sale at a store called Mantiques in Elmore.

Ernie Scarango, owner of the antiques shop, said he bought Mrs. Furher's underwear from retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Charles Snyder, 84, who in turn said they were part of a $3 million trove of Nazi memorabilia he bought in the 1990s from a man who claimed to have been present at the 1945 liberation of Hitler's Berchtesgaden facility in the Alps.

"I thought it'd be a good conversation piece to have Eva Braun's underwear and make the store a destination of sorts," Scarango told The Daily Beast.

He said Braun had impeccable taste in underthings.

"They're first rate: the fabric, embroidery and monogramming, the sewing of the button," he said.

Snyder identified the man who originally sold him the panties as 1st Lt. D.C. Watts, but he said he never learned the man's full name. He said Watts, who died 15 years ago, sold him numerous items, including 20 to 30 pairs of Braun's underwear.

Snyder, who sells numerous other Hitler and Braun-related items in an online store called Snyder's Treasures, said he never sought outside authentication for the items Watts sold to him.

"I'm an expert, I don't need to," he said. "I write up a certificate of authenticity which satisfies the buyer."

Bill Panagopulos of Maryland auction house Alexander Historical Auctions said he could not speak to the authenticity of the panties in Scarango's possession, but rumors about Braun's underwear have been circulating for some time.

"The Eva Braun underwear story has been going around for years and it's kind of a running joke," he said. "When you talk about personality items -- things belonging to Hitler and Eva or Goering -- you have to be very careful ... What's to stop anybody from getting a box of 1940 clothing and saying, 'OK, we can tie this to this soldier who was actually there and say I got this from him.'"