Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Comedy
    Comedy Drama TV Shows - 1990s 3 Mins Read

    Selling Hitler

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    1 9 9 1 (UK)
    5 x 60 minute episodes

    In 1981, Gerd Heidemann (Jonathan Pryce), a senior reporter for the West German weekly magazine Stern, believes he has stumbled onto the greatest literary find of the century: the personal diaries of Adolf Hitler.

    sellinghitler

    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.

    The action begins as Heidemann buys Hermann Göring’s yacht, the Carin II, after being assigned to write a story about it. During the course of its restoration, he has a brief affair with Göring’s daughter Edda (Alison Steadman) who introduces him to a number of ex-Nazis.

    Through various contacts, Heidemann encounters one of the biggest suppliers of fake Third Reich memorabilia, Conny Fischer (Alexei Sayle) who convinces him that one of Hitler’s transport planes crashed at Boernsedort, spilling out paintings, letters, an Opera, and, of course, the diaries.

    Heidemann, in turn, convinces Stern to pay for the diaries, while Fischer ‘creates’ the valuable items, laughing all the way to the Deutsche Bank.

    Proving once again that truth is certainly stranger than fiction, this hilarious and bizarre five-part series 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 also 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 Göring
    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

    Related Posts

    • Ladies’ Man
      Ladies’ Man
      1 9 8 0 - 1 9 8 1 (USA) 16…
    • Howard Stern Show, The
      Howard Stern Show, The
      1 9 9 0 - 1 9 9 2 (USA) 1…
    • Lieutenant, The
      Lieutenant, The
      1 9 6 3 - 1 9 6 4 (USA) 29…
    • Dick Turpin
      Dick Turpin
      1 9 7 9 - 1 9 8 2 (UK) 31…
    • Expert, The
      Expert, The
      1 9 6 8 - 1 9 7 1 (UK) 1…
    • Confession
      Confession
      1 9 7 0 (UK) 11 x 60 minute episodes Debuting…
    • Holocaust
      Holocaust
      1 9 7 8 (USA) 1 x 180 minute episode 2…
    • Not With A Bang
      Not With A Bang
      1 9 9 0 (UK) 7 x 30 minute episodes This…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleAll in Good Faith
    Next Article Nat King Cole Show, The

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Montefuscos, The
      1 9 7 5 (USA) 8 (13) x 30 minute episodes This short-lived NBC […]
    • 40 Things That Only Happen in Movies
      01. It is always possible to find a parking spot directly […]
    • Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? (1968)
      Doris Day and Patrick O’Neal are husband and wife in this […]
    • Jewel in the Crown, The
      1 9 8 4 (UK) 1 x 120 minute episode 13 x 60 minute episodes The […]
    • Morris Marina
      As the swinging sixties segued into the glam seventies, down the […]
    • Talking Heads
      David Byrne and fellow Rhode Island School of Design students […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.