Hitler Diaries
91171
225211372
2008-07-12T14:08:09Z
220.25.192.21
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[[Image:sterncover.jpg|right|thumbnail|250px|"Hitler's Diaries Discovered" (Stern)]]
In April [[1983]], the [[Germany|German]] news [[magazine]] ''[[Stern (magazine)|Stern]]'' published extracts from what purported to be the [[diary|diaries]] of [[Adolf Hitler]], known as the '''Hitler Diaries''', which were subsequently exposed as forgeries. The magazine had paid 10 million [[German mark]]s for the sixty small books as well as two "special issues" about [[Rudolf Hess]]'s flight to the [[United Kingdom]], covering the period from [[1932]] to [[1945]].
Journalist [[Gerd Heidemann]] claimed to have discovered them, and submitted them to be reviewed by a number of experts in [[World War II]] history, notably the historians [[Hugh Trevor-Roper]], [[Eberhard Jäckel]] and [[Gerhard Weinberg]]. At a press conference on [[April 25]], [[1983]], the diaries were declared by these experts to be authentic. Even though they had not yet been properly examined by scientists, Trevor-Roper endorsed the diaries thus:
:''"I am now satisfied that the documents are authentic; that the history of their wanderings since 1945 is true; and that the standard accounts of Hitler's writing habits, of his personality and, even, perhaps, of some public events, may in consequence have to be revised."''
Trevor-Roper was at that time a director of [[News International#Times Newspapers|Times Newspapers]], and although he denied acting dishonestly, there was a clear conflict of interests, because ''[[The Sunday Times (UK)|The Sunday Times]]'' had already paid a substantial sum for the rights to serialise the diaries in the UK.
Heidemann claimed to have received the diaries from [[East Germany]], smuggled out by a "[[Konrad Kujau|Dr. Fischer]]." The diaries were claimed to be part of a consignment of documents recovered from an aircraft crash in Börnersdorf near [[Dresden]] in April [[1945]].
However within two weeks the Hitler Diaries were revealed by Dr [[Julius Grant]] as being "grotesquely superficial fakes" made on modern paper using modern ink and full of historical inaccuracies. Some point out that the most obvious fakery was the monogram on the title page reading 'FH' instead of 'AH' (for Adolf Hitler) - even though in the old German typeface those letters looked strikingly similar. However, 'FH' could conceivably stand for "Führerhauptquartier" ("''Führer'' Headquarters"). Content had been largely copied from a book of Hitler's speeches with additional 'personal' comments.
As a reaction, ''Stern'' editors Peter Koch and Felix Schmidt resigned from the magazine. The episode was much ridiculed in the UK media (particularly by the ''Sunday Times''' rival newspapers), and historian [[Hugh Trevor-Roper]]'s reputation was seriously damaged.
The diaries were actually written by [[Konrad Kujau]], a notorious [[Stuttgart]] forger. Both he and Heidemann went to trial in [[1985]] and were each sentenced to 42 months in prison.
==Reception in popular culture==
{{Trivia|date=April 2008}}
* In [[1991]], ''Selling Hitler'', a television mini-series based on the book of the same name by [[Robert Harris (novelist)|Robert Harris]], was produced for the British television channel [[ITV]]. It was directed by [[Alastair Reid (director)|Alastair Reid]] and starred [[Jonathan Pryce]] as Heidemann, [[Alexei Sayle]] as Kujau, [[Tom Baker]] as ''Stern'' editor Manfred Fischer, [[Alan Bennett]] as Trevor-Roper, [[Roger Lloyd Pack]] as [[David Irving]], [[Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)|Richard Wilson]] as [[Henri Nannen]] and [[Barry Humphries]] as [[Rupert Murdoch]].
* A [[1992]] [[film]] by German director [[Helmut Dietl]] called ''[[Schtonk!]]'', featuring fictional characterizations, mirrored many of the events.
* In ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode, "[[Lisa the Iconoclast]]," a museum curator calls the town founder's confessions to be "just as fake as the [[Melvin Dummar|Howard Hughes will]], the Hitler Diaries, or the [[Emancipation Proclamation|Emancipation Retraction]]." (The third hoax being a joke.)
* [[Berke Breathed]]'s comic strip ''[[Bloom County]]'' satirized the incident by having [[Opus the Penguin|Opus]] create ''The Elvis Diaries'', the supposed lost diaries of the late [[Elvis Presley]], after being pressured by [[Milo Bloom]] in order to gain funds for the Bloom County political party. A panel of fellow comic strip characters (including [[Dagwood Bumstead]]) declared them authentic, shouting in unison: "It's the [[The Real McCoy|real McCoy]]!". The diaries were eventually declared fraudulent after experts discovered they were written on "official [[Dukes of Hazzard]] stationary."
* In the novel ''[[Good Omens]]'', [[Neil Gaiman]] and [[Terry Pratchett]] describe the fictional prophecy book around which the novel's story revolves, "The Nice and Accurate Prophecies made the Hitler Diaries look, well, like a bunch of forgeries."
* In the novel ''[[The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole]]'', Adrian becomes ecstatic at the news of the "find" (ironically reported in a newspaper page that was going to be used to clean up his dog's excrement) and ends up betting with Pandora that the diaries are genuine. Naturally he loses, claims he will save the newspaper for the original purpose and is saddened by not getting the chance to find out "what maniacs eat for breakfast and how they behave in private".
* In the [[video game]] [[Castle Wolfenstein]] the Hitler Diaries are among the objects the player can find hidden in boxes. The player is immediately informed that the diaries are forgeries and they are automatically discarded.
==See also==
*[[Mussolini diaries]]
==External links==
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,923630,00.html Hitler's Diaries: Real or Fake?] Time Magazine, May 9, 1983.
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,925946,00.html Hitler's Forged Diaries.] Time Magazine, May 16, 1983.
* {{imdb title|id=0124256|title=Selling Hitler}}
* {{imdb title|id=0105328|title=Schtonk!}}
[[Category:Diaries]]
[[Category:Political forgery]]
[[Category:Adolf Hitler]]
[[Category:Literary hoaxes]]
[[Category:Literary forgeries]]
[[Category:Fraud]]
[[Category:Journalistic hoaxes]]
[[de:Hitler-Tagebücher]]
[[es:Diarios de Hitler]]
[[fr:Carnets d'Hitler]]
[[it:Diari di Hitler]]
[[he:יומני היטלר]]
[[ja:ヒトラーの日記]]
[[nl:Dagboek van Hitler]]
[[pl:Dzienniki Hitlera]]
[[fi:Hitlerin päiväkirjat]]
[[sv:Hitlers dagböcker]]