Viral Hitler's Fake Diary By Stern Magazine In History Today, April 25, 1983
JAKARTA - On April 22, 1983, the West German magazine Stern claims to have found 60 volumes of Adolf Hitler's handwritten diary. The article, which was previously unknown as to whose owner it was then published on April 25, 1983.
Citing the New York Times, Stern states the writing was written from 1932 to 1945. But it says, "the handwriting expert and historian of international renown'' has studied the diary and two other volumes of writing.
There are words related to the flight to England in 1941 from Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler's deputy. On the other hand, many experts doubt the authenticity of all these documents.
These experts have not seen the document. But they studied the field for years. Stern, the glossy, illustrated, and often sensational weekly magazine printed the first part of the diary.
It also said they would provide photos and documents. A historian from England, Lord Dacre, in an article in The Times of London said the diary is authentic.
At first, he was skeptical. But he no longer had any doubts. Lord Dacre, a world-class expert on Hitler, is the only historian who has carefully examined the diary.
"As I turned this page and studied the extraordinary story of their discovery, my doubts gradually disappeared", he said.
"I am now satisfied that the documents are authentic and that their history of wandering since 1945 is correct", said the historian.
Stern said he had agreed to turn over the diary to the West German federal archives, in Coblenz, after publishing most of its contents. An archivist said the magazine had presented about ten pages of what it said was Hitler's writing that appeared to be genuine.
The note is said to contain Hitler who allowed the British Army to escape from Dunkirk. It is hoped that this can solve the problem peacefully.
Press conference
The Stern press conference in Hamburg exploded in incredible sight when Lord Dacre, who authenticated the diary said he had changed his mind. At the press conference that day, the Stern journalist who discovered the diary, Gerd Heidemann, told his story.
He said he traced the diary to a thatched attic in East Germany, where it had been since an East German general kept it from a plane that crashed in 1945. Then Stern's side took the diary to show to other journalists.
Stern had paid nearly nine million marks for the diary. A further deal was struck with the Sunday Times newspaper, which paid $ 400,000 for the rights to English serialization.
To the horror of the Stern executives sitting beside Lord Dacre, Lord Dacre said in a press conference that he could not find an exact connection between the crashed plane and the diary. He said there was no final decision until the papers were properly investigated.
"I have to say I regret that the normal methods of historical verification have been sacrificed to journalistic requirements", said Lord Dacre.
Proved to be fake
Further forensic tests were ordered and on May 6, 1983. The results were revealed. The ink etched on the diary was modern, not wartime ink.
The measurement of how much chloride is in the ink that has evaporated proves that the tested volume was written in the previous two years. In 1985, journalist Stern Gerd Heidemann and Hitler's forger of autographs in the diary, Konrad Kujau, were sentenced to four years and eight months in prison.
When Kujau was released after three years, he became a celebrity. He opened a forgery gallery in Stuttgart.
When he moved to Majorca, German tourists would seek him out for demonstrations of the art of counterfeiting. He died in 2000, although the news of his death was accompanied by warnings that "he may still be somewhere, after taking his last big blow".
Meanwhile, Heidemann fared less well. In 2008, journalists found a 76-year-old self living alone in a cramped apartment in Hamburg. He was bitter about the way he was treated.
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