Writer Gerd Heidemann meets in secret with the directors of German publishing conglomerate Gruner + Jahr. He tells the executives that he has received Adolph Hitler's diaries from a confidential source. Gruner + Jahr agree to pay approximately $2 million for the volumes. Two years later, the diaries would be revealed as a fraud that fooled not only publishers around the world, but also some of the leading handwriting authentication experts.
The first experts that Gruner + Jahr selected to authenticate the diaries operated under a severe disadvantage. The samples of handwriting that they were comparing to the diaries were themselves forgeries. Thus, it was no surprise when these experts declared that Heidemann's diaries were genuine.
Gruner + Jahr filled bags full of cash for Heidemann to deliver to his source. Amazingly, the executives failed to notice that Heidemann himself began to acquire expensive cars and homes at the same time. Apparently, they were too busy selling the international rights to the Hitler diaries. Rupert Murdoch bought the rights for $3.75 million in April 1983. Murdoch hired Hugh Trevor-Roper, the world's foremost Hitler historian, to examine the diaries.
Despite some misgivings, Trevor-Roper prepared an article for Murdoch's newspapers declaring the authenticity of the Hitler diaries. However, the West German police were conducting their own independent investigation at the same time. They were focusing on the paper and ink rather than the handwriting and their conclusions revealed the hoax.
On May 6, 1983, just two weeks after Trevor-Roper's article, scientists revealed that the diaries were obvious forgeries. The paper included a whitening agent, blankophor, which had not been used until after World War II. Threads attached to the fake seals were made from polyester, also not used before Hitler's death. Finally, ink tests demonstrated that the writing was less than a few years old.
Heidemann, who hadn't passed on all the money to his confidential source, now betrayed him again by identifying the forger as Konrad Kujau, a lifelong petty criminal. In 1985, Heidemann and Kujau both received four-year sentences for their role in defrauding the publishing company.
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