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While Hitler was partial to military gear, it made sense for him to invest in dress clothes. His Third Reich was intended to last 1,000 years.

Marowitz, always the company clown, rushed out of Hitler's bedroom with the cap on his head, imitating Charlie Chaplin in a scene from The Great Dictator. Then, the great hat was tossed from man to man like a Frisbee.

The irony didn't escape his buddies. "Hitler must have committed suicide after he found a skinny Jewish kid from Brooklyn stomped on his top hat," one said.

Piece of Hitler in the Basement

With the war over, Marowitz donned the cap one last time, in a photo for the Rainbow Division's yearbook, holding a black plastic comb under his nose to approximate Hitler's signature mustache.

Then, Marowitz stuffed the hat into a duffle bag, took it home, and stuck it a magician's trunk in his the basement, where it stayed for nearly 50 years.

Settling in Albany, N.Y., Marowitz and his wife Ruth raised three children. He went into his family's business, manufacturing women's coats and, in his spare time, performed magic at parties — but with another top hat.

Marowitz was vaguely aware that collecting Nazi memorabilia had become a significant hobby, and that his war souvenir could fetch big bucks. But after he retired, he began bringing the hat to Army reunions. "Everyone took a turn wearing the hat," he said. "It's like it took on a new significance."

Now, Marowitz devotes a lot of time to teaching youngsters about World War II, and the hat is the centerpiece of his talks. It's also the subject of a documentary by Jeff Krulik, the documentary filmmaker of the underground classic "Heavy Metal Parking Lot."

With Hitler's Hat now entering the film festival circuit, Marowitz keeps his famed souvenir in a safety deposit box, occasionally lending it out to museums. A World War II memorabilia expert believes Hitler's hat is worth at least $35,000, but Marowitz says it will be up to his children to decide what to do with it. He's going to hold on to it until he dies.

Perhaps another young Army scout will pick up bin Laden's turban and carry on the Marowitz tradition. Will it quickly be auctioned on eBay? Will it lay in obscurity for decades?

"I only hope the kid who finds it is from Brooklyn," Marowitz says.