The “most valuable pistol on Earth” — a reputed $42 million Luger that belonged to Adolf Hitler — is at the center of a sensational court battle involving an appliance repair man and a cop in Argentina.
The weapon — described as the “Holy Grail of firearms’’ — was allegedly swiped during a SWAT-style raid by masked officers at repair man Juan Pablo Ruppel’s home in rural Buenos Aires province in 2016.
“It’s a one of a kind piece, and there is no question that it is the most valuable semiautomatic handgun in the world,’’ the 48-year-old dad of four told The Post in his first interview since a recent court ruling in the case.
Ruppel — who inherited the haunting historic “ghost of the Third Reich’’ from his German great-uncle and former Hitler bodyguard, Hans Ruppel — had been accused of stealing minor items such as plates, glasses and cutlery at the time of the raid, his suit says.
He was never charged over the allegations — but that didn’t stop a crooked cop from swiping the alleged legendary Luger from his home, according to the lawsuit.
The make of the gun, a Luger Parabellum .45 calibre No.5, is one of only five 1907 prototypes forged by the late famed Georg Luger — and already so legendary that it was mentioned by Michael Douglas’ character Gordon Gekko in the hit 1987 flick “Wall Street” as “the rarest pistol in the world.’’
But it’s the Hitler provenance that makes it an invaluable — even if chilling — piece of history, experts said.
“To understand the stakes here, you have to understand that this isn’t just a beautiful firearm; it is a ghost of the Third Reich, the most valuable pistol on Earth,” said British investigative journalist Laurence de Mello who is leading the family’s independent investigation into the missing gun as they continue to search for it.
The gun’s 1979 firearms owner license listed in Argentina’s national registry has a Buenos Aires address — where heinous Nazi “Angel of Death’’ Josef Mengele lived for more than two years before fleeing the Argentine capital.
The Luger No. 5 also is described in an Interpol notice as having the inscription “Adolf Hitler” on it.
