The Hitler Diaries
The\xa0Hitler Diaries\xa0(German:\xa0Hitler-Tageb\xfccher) were a series of sixty volumes of journals purportedly written by\xa0Adolf Hitler, but forged by\xa0Konrad Kujau\xa0between 1981 and 1983. The diaries were purchased in 1983 for 9.3\xa0million\xa0Deutsche Marks\xa0(\xa32.33\xa0million or $3.7\xa0million) by the West German news magazine\xa0Stern, which sold serialisation rights to several news organisations. One of the publications involved was\xa0The Sunday Times, who asked their independent director, the historian\xa0Hugh Trevor-Roper, to authenticate the diaries; he did so, pronouncing them genuine. At the press conference to announce the publication, Trevor-Roper announced that on reflection he had changed his mind, and other historians also raised questions concerning their validity. Rigorous forensic analysis, which had not been performed previously, quickly confirmed that the diaries were fakes.