91
See also: Elmyr de Hory 74–77 ■ Clifford Irving 88–89Authenticating
historic documentsEvery historical manuscript
is unique, whether a letter,
diary, or handwritten item.
To determine authenticity
and authorship of undated
historical documents, forensic
investigators conduct
historical, scientific, and
stylistic analysis. These
experts can examine the
method of printing, the
address, and the postmark to
determine the era in which it
was created.
Many forgeries are
uncovered by identifying the
presence of material that did
not exist at the time. Scientific
analysis of the paper used can
be especially revealing, and
investigators use a number of
tools at their disposal, from
magnification to molecular
spectroscopy, which highlights
how much of the ink has
decayed over time and
provides clues as to when
a document was written.
Examining the ink used to
write a historic document can
also determine what kind of
tool – typically a pen, a quill,
or a pencil – was used, which
may reveal more information
about the time period in which
it was written.written by Nazi dictator Adolf
Hitler. One of history’s most
infamous forgeries, they became
known as the Hitler Diaries.Forging a career
Raised in a poor family in Germany,
Kujau had long been fascinated
with the Nazi regime. He began his
career in forgery as a teenager,
selling fake autographs of East
German politicians.
In 1967, he opened a shop in
Stuttgart, forging and selling Nazi
paraphernalia. Kujau’s creations
included an introduction to a sequel
to Hitler’s autobiography Mein
Kampf, as well as the beginnings of
an opera and poems supposedly
written by him.
Kujau might have remained a
petty criminal and amateur forger
had it not been for a reporter from
the German investigative news
magazine Stern. Just as Gerd
Heidemann’s career reached an
impasse after more than 20 years
on the magazine, his interest inHitler and the Third Reich, which
included a collection of Nazi
memorabilia, led him to Kujau.Putting pen to paper
In 1978, after weeks spent
practising Hitler’s handwriting,
Kujau penned the first diary entry,
drawing on historical documents,
newspapers, medical records, and
books. He used cheap notebooks
purchased in Berlin and a mixture
of blue and black ink diluted with
water, so that it flowed easily from
his modern pen. Another major
error that no one noticed at the time
was made when Kujau attached
Hitler’s initials to the front of the
book. He accidentally used an “F”
instead of an “A” because both
letters looked very similar in
Gothic script.
That same year, Kujau sold the
first Hitler Diary entitled Political
and Private Notes from January
to June 1935 to a collector. He ❯❯CON ARTISTS
I regret that the normal
method of historical
verification has been sacrificed
to the perhaps necessary
requirements of a
journalistic scoop.
Hugh Trevor-RoperKonrad Kujau brandishes one of the
Hitler Diaries at the start of his trial in
Hamburg in 1984.090-093_Konrad_Kujau.indd 91 02/12/2016 14:42