Word: heidemann
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...international furor arose over the authenticity of the diaries, Stern's editors would say only that their trusted correspondent Gerd Heidemann, 51, had acquired the priceless documents and that he would not disclose who gave them to him or who had hidden them...
...many years. They had been recovered, Heidemann claimed, from the crash of an airplane near Dresden on April 21, 1945. It was one of ten aircraft carrying Hitler's staff and priority cargo from the bunker in Berlin where he killed himself nine days later. The diaries, remarkably preserved, had been pulled from the wreckage, reported Heidemann, and concealed in a nearby hayloft...
Investigators with similar curiosity wondered about the role of Stern's secretive reporter Heidemann. Historian Maser told TIME that Heidemann...
Writer Gerd Heidemann, who spent three years tracking down the journals, was never questioned about his sources, even though he was known to have a near fanatical interest in the Nazi period. A decade ago, the journalist sold his home and bought former Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goring's boat, upon which he entertained former Nazi officials...
...Once Heidemann delivered the diaries to Stern--which paid $3.5 million for them to persons unknown--the magazine failed to conduct even rudimentary chemical tests, and instead relied solely upon the word of several historians. And even the historians performed poorly; the volumes contained numerous factual errors that should have been sufficient proof that the diaries were fakes...