Now the fake Hitler diaries are being published

It has been 40 years since the forged Hitler diaries caused a scandal. The Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) is now publishing the full 60 parts of the forgery in a critical edition on the Internet.

The text also includes a scientific commentary by the Berlin historian Hajo Funke (78), the NDR announced in Hamburg on Thursday. For the first time, the intent of the forgery to reinterpret and downplay Nazi history becomes fully apparent.

In April 1983, the “Stern” published the alleged diaries of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) as an alleged sensation. A few days later they turned out to be fake. It was one of the biggest German press scandals.

“These diaries are an expression of Holocaust denial”

The books were created by the art forger Konrad Kujau (1938-2000), who, according to NDR research, would have been more deeply involved in a neo-Nazi environment than previously known. A “Stern” reporter bought the recordings on behalf of his publisher. They should be released gradually.

“These diaries are an expression of Holocaust denial,” Funke explains. “They wanted to exonerate Hitler from the Nazis’ worst crimes.” The central story of the fake diaries is that Hitler allegedly knew nothing about the Holocaust.

The historian Heike Gortemaker (59) explained that the “fictitious Hitler” in the diaries had nothing to do with the “National Socialist violent crimes”. «Kujau invents a positive Hitler figure here.”

In numerous places the forgery tells how an alleged Hitler campaigned for a benevolent solution for the Jews. At a time when the Holocaust had long erupted, the fictional Hitler wrote that the Jews must be persuaded to emigrate quickly—or they must find “safe territory in the occupied territories.”

Holocaust terms like “gas chamber” were completely absent

According to NDR information, the handwriting of the fake diaries could be made legible and researchable with the help of artificial intelligence. It turns out that none of the terms related to the Holocaust occur. Keywords such as “final solution” or “gas chamber” are completely absent.

According to NDR information, the original parts of the forged diaries are locked in a safe belonging to the Hamburg publisher Gruner + Jahr. The NDR project is based on copies of the diaries. A release of the originals to the Federal Archives promised by Stern in 2013 has not yet taken place. The diaries should be available on the NDR website from early Thursday evening. (AFP)

Source: Blick