In 1981, Gerd Heidemann, a senior reporter for the German magazine Stern, believes he has stumbled onto the greatest literary find of the century: the personal diaries of Adolf Hitler.
Shrouded in secrecy, Heidemann (dubbed ‘the bloodhound’ for his ability to sniff out a story) and the men of Stern attempt to pull off the greatest scoop in publishing history, blinded by their greed to the fact that the diaries are, in fact, crude forgeries.
Selling Hitler was based on a true story.
In a hothouse of secrecy, Stern paid 9.34 million marks for 50 fake diaries – along with a mooted second volume of Mein Kampf and even an imaginary Hitler Opera – but decided against any early forensic tests, fearing their scoop would be leaked to its rivals.
Only handwriting tests were commissioned, and three separate experts all agreed the diaries were genuine.
With that, Stern rushed into print, convinced that forensic scientists at the Federal Archives would also find them genuine.
Instead, the diaries were declared a “crude forgery”, written in post-war ink; the brown stains that realistically spotted the pages came from the teapot of forger Konrad Kujau, and Hitler’s gold initials on the covers were in fact made of plastic. (The initials were actually “F.H” as Kujau had run out of the letter “A” and stuck on the Gothic letter “F” instead).
By the time the forgery had been exposed, the “diaries” had been sold to several supposedly astute big name publishers for more than $2 million; some of the most distinguished historians of the Hitler period and some of the world’s leading graphologists had been duped; various careers had been ruined; and Gerd Heidemann was a social leper, languishing in jail.
Gerd Heidemann
Jonathan Pryce Konrad Kujau (Conny Fischer)
Alexei Sayle Manfred Fischer
Tom Baker Hugh Trevor-Roper (Lord Dacre)
Alan Bennett David Irving
Roger Lloyd-Pack Gina Heidemann
Alison Doody Edith Lieblang
Julie T. Wallace Thomas Walde
Peter Capaldi Gerd Schulte-Hillen
John Shrapnel Henri Nannen
Richard Wilson Edda Goering
Alison Steadman Rupert Murdoch
Barry Humphries Peter Koch
Olivier Pierre Wilfried Sorge
Philip Bowen Maria Modritsch
Elaine Collins Jan Hensmann
Thomas Wheatley Leo Pesch
Philip Fox
