Selling Hitler - читать бесплатно онлайн полную версию книги автора Robert Harris (Picture Section) #9

Picture Section

^{1 A large Junkers 352 transport aircraft of the type which crashed in April 1945 ferrying some of Hitler’s property to safety. ‘In that plane,’ exclaimed Hitler, when told of its disappearance, ‘were all my private archives, that I had intended as a testament to posterity. It is a catastrophe.’ (DPA)}

^{2 In November 1980, Stern’s ‘Bloodhound’, reporter Gerd Heidemann, discovered the village in East Germany where the Junkers 352 had crashed. He posed for a photograph by the graves of the victims. (DPA)}

^{3 Konrad Kujau, alias Konrad Fischer, universally known as ‘Conny’, graduated from forging luncheon vouchers to copying out sixty volumes of Hitler’s diaries – the most well-publicized and costly fraud in publishing history. (DPA)}

^{4 A page from one of the forged diaries. The books were written in an antiquated German script which made them difficult to read. This extract – supposedly Hitler’s draft for the announcement of Rudolf Hess’s flight to Britain in 1941 – fooled three handwriting experts and convinced Stern that the diaries were genuine.}

^{5 In addition to the diaries, Kujau also forged more than 300 Hitler paintings and drawings. This sketch was supposedly designs by Hitler for early Nazi party posters.}

^{6 In addition to the diaries, Kujau also forged more than 300 Hitler paintings and drawings. This sketch was supposedly designs by Hitler for early Nazi party posters.}

^{7 In addition to the diaries, Kujau also forged more than 300 Hitler paintings and drawings. This sketch was supposedly designs by Hitler for early Nazi party posters.}

^{8 The key figure in the diaries affair: Fritz Stiefel, a collector of Nazi memorabilia, received the first Hitler diary in 1978}

^{9 The key figure in the diaries affair: August Priesack, ex-Nazi and self-styled ‘Hitler expert’ was shown the diary by Stiefel and was convinced it was genuine}

^{10 The key figure in the diaries affair: SS General Karl Wolff was a witness at the Heidemanns’ wedding and accompanied them on their honeymoon to South America to look for old Nazis. He encouraged Heidemann’s obsession with the Third Reich. (DPA)}

^{11 The launching of a book of Hitler’s paintings, by the Texan millionaire Billy F. Price, brought together four people with a passion for the Führer’s art: Heidemann and Price, together with Christa Schroeder and Gerda Christian, two of Hitler’s devoted private secretaries. (Price)}

^{12 Gina Heidemann. (DPA)}

^{13 Edith Lieblang, Kujau’s common-law wife. (DPA)}

^{14 Manfred Fischer, the businessman who ferried the Hitler diaries from Hamburg to a Swiss bank. (DPA)}

^{15 Gerd Schulte-Hillen, who personally authorized payments for the diaries of more than 7 million marks – £2 million. (DPA)}

^{16 Henri Nannen, founder and publisher of Stern. (DPA)}

^{17 Dr Thomas Walde, the head of Stern’s history department. (DPA)}

^{18 Peter Koch, chief editor of Stern. (DPA)}

^{19 Eberhard Jaeckel, Professor of History at the University of Stuttgart, the first academic to be taken in by Kujau’s forgeries. (DPA)}

^{20 Hugh Trevor-Roper (Lord Dacre), former Regius Professor of History at Oxford, who authenticated the diaries for Times Newspapers. (DPA)}

^{21 Gerhard Weinberg, Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, who inspected the diaries for Newsweek. (DPA)}

^{22 ‘Torpedo running’: the right-wing British historian David Irving caused uproar at the Stern press conference which launched the diaries, when he produced sheets of Hitler diaries which he claimed were forged. (Stern)}

^{23 End of an obsession: Gerd Heidemann, with prison beard, stands trial with Kujau, accused of fraud. He stole Stern’s money but was convinced to the end that the diaries were genuine. (DPA)}