Friday , June 20, 2008 A Mercedes purportedly gifted by Adolf Hitler to ousted King Gyanendra's grandfather is not in Narayanhiti place as claimed by Nepal officials but was taken to India in 1943, a former Rana Prime Minister's daughter has claimed, sparking a fresh controversy over royal assets.

The German dictator had donated olive-green Daimler-Benz not to King Tribhuvan, the titular head, but to Rana dynasty Prime Minister Juddha Shumsher Rana in 1939 to win the Gorkha soldiers to his side during the World War II, according to Juddha Shumsher's only surviving daughter Janak Rajya Laxmi Shah, 92.

Officials deputed by the government to acquire the royal assets in the palace, which was declared a museum following the ouster of Gyanendra, had earlier claimed that they had found the car gifted by Hitler to Tribhuvan, Gyanendra's grandfather, and it will be put on display.

Shah said that her father Juddha Shsumsher, who was the seventh Rana Prime Minister, left to settle in Dehradun, India after ruling for 13 years in 1945 and took the car with him.

"He (Juddha) took the Daimler-Benz along with him," Shah told the Kathmandu Post daily, adding she inherited the car after the death of her father and mother in 1952-1954.

Hitler had probably donated the car to Nepal thinking that it would not take side of Britain and France that waged war against Germany during the World War II after it invaded Poland, according to the daily.

Nepal's history has been marred by a power struggle between the kings of Shah dynasty and its Rana prime ministers who ruled through generations. Tribhuvan had to flee to India with his son Mahendra and grandson Birendra in November 1950 following a power struggle with the then Prime Minister Mohan Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana.

Shah claimed she is still owner of the car as she has not transferred the ownership to anybody else.

"When I decided to return to Nepal in 1966 I left the car to my brother Sashi Shumsher Rana," said Shah, a DAV College law graduate.

She said she used the car while studying and living in Dehradun for 17 years. She claims that it was the first car to enter Nepal as there was no motor able road at that time. The car was brought to Kathmandu via India on the back of porters, she said.

Gyanedra, who dethroned in May this year, and was forced to vacate the palace, is at the centre of another controversy over cars with the government asking him and his son Paras to return eight vehicles.

Gyanendra has four extra vehicles besides one car and one jeep that the government has provided to him while moving out of the Narayanhiti Palace.

Similarly, his son Paras has allegedly taken possession of four government cars and a few lap tops brought from the Nepal Trust for Nature Conservation, of which he was the president in the past.

Pictures ??

Yeah pictures???

I remeber reading some story about a wax statue of Hitler in some museum made with some human hair and the hair contiously started to grow (as they found it each morning). This of course freaked out alot of people. Imagine a life size wax statue that looks identical to Hitler do weird stuff in the middle of the night. Now thats creepy.

I have heard about this few months ago that Hitler gifted a car to Nepali royals. Now monarchy has been disbanded and Nepal has become a republic, all of the king's possessions are government property.

I don't know if this is the same car or a different one.

Nepalese mechanics inspect a 1939 Daimler-Benz at the Thapathali Technical Campus as they get it ready for future restoration in Kathmandu May 2. The car, which is thought to be the first to ever enter Nepal was presented to the grandfather of the present king Tribhuvan in 1940 by the then German leader Adolf Hitler. (Reuters)

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=5177490