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The Hitler Diaries Hoax
In 1983, Stern announced it had found Hitler’s secret diaries. How a forger fooled editors and a famous historian, and how the fakes were exposed in days.
Key takeaways
- The “diaries” were forged by Konrad Kujau and sold to Stern through its journalist Gerd Heidemann.
- Stern paid millions of marks, and a leading historian initially vouched for them.
- Forensic tests quickly showed postwar materials; both men were later convicted.
On this page
On April 25, 1983, the West German news magazine Stern held a press conference in Hamburg to announce one of the biggest scoops of the century: Adolf Hitler’s secret diaries, dozens of handwritten volumes that would rewrite the history of the Third Reich. Less than two weeks later, the German government declared them crude forgeries.
Where the diaries came from
The story began with Gerd Heidemann, a Stern reporter fascinated by Nazi memorabilia. He was told the diaries had been recovered from a plane crash near Dresden in April 1945. That crash was real: a transport plane carrying material from Hitler’s bunker did go down. It gave the story a thread of plausibility.
The diaries’ true source was Konrad Kujau, a dealer in Nazi memorabilia and a skilled forger, who had been faking documents and artworks for years. Over about two years, he supplied 60 volumes to Heidemann, who passed them to Stern. The magazine paid about 9 million marks.
How experts were fooled
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1981–1983 | Heidemann buys volumes from Kujau for Stern |
| April 1983 | Historian Hugh Trevor-Roper examines the diaries and backs their authenticity |
| April 1983 | The Sunday Times agrees to publish extracts in Britain |
| April 25, 1983 | Stern unveils the diaries; Trevor-Roper voices doubts at the press conference |
| May 6, 1983 | West German authorities announce the diaries are forgeries |
| 1985 | Kujau and Heidemann are convicted of fraud |
Secrecy was part of the problem. Stern kept the find tightly guarded, so few experts saw the diaries before publication. Handwriting comparisons were made against documents that, it later emerged, had also come from Kujau’s circle, so the fakes appeared to match.
How they were exposed
Forensic tests by the West German Federal Archives and federal materials experts found that the paper contained a whitening agent, and the bindings and glue included materials not produced until after the war. The content was riddled with errors and had been largely copied from published sources, including a well-known collection of Hitler’s speeches. According to widely reported accounts, a metal monogram on one cover read “FH” rather than “AH.”
The fallout
Kujau was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and Heidemann to nearly five; much of the money was never recovered. Senior Stern editors resigned, and the affair badly damaged the reputations of the magazine, The Sunday Times and Trevor-Roper, who had endorsed the diaries before changing his mind. Kujau later became a minor celebrity, selling “genuine Kujau fakes.”
Why it matters
The Hitler diaries became a lesson in how the rush for a scoop, secrecy and the desire to believe can override basic checks. It echoes earlier frauds such as the Piltdown Man, where experts saw what they hoped to see, and the far older Cardiff Giant.
Frequently asked questions
How much did Stern pay for the diaries?
About 9 million Deutsche Marks, a huge sum at the time. Much of it is believed to have been kept by Heidemann rather than passed to Kujau.
Did anyone believe the diaries were real?
Yes: senior editors at Stern and, initially, historian Hugh Trevor-Roper. Other historians were skeptical from the start.
Are the diaries still around?
Yes. The forged volumes still exist and have been handed to Germany’s Federal Archives as a historical record of the fraud.
Sources
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