The "hitler diaries" hoax

in 1983 the german magazine der stern announced that reporter gerd heidermann had made an incredible discovery :diaries written by adolf hitler
the magazine explained that the diaries had been found by farmers after a nazi plane crashed in a field in april 1945, der stern paid almost 10 million marks to a Dr. fisher, who claimed to have retrieved them.
the discovery caused a lot of excitement. magazines and newspapers in london and new york rushed to print excerpts from the diaries,and scholars and researchers couldn´t wait to get their hands on the material to learn more about the century´s most infamous dictator.
but some skeptics argued that the story couldn´t be true, it was well known that hitler didn´t like to take notes. nonetheless,der stern insisted that the authenticity of the diaries was unquestionable.
however when experts began to examine them, it became clear that the diaries were fake, it turnedout that "dr fischer" was actually konrad kujau,an art forger who had written the diaries himself,imitating hitler´s own handwritting.
and both, he and heidemann had been putting the money from der stern into their own bank accounts. both were sent to prison for fraud.
interestingly,kujau made a living selling copies of paintings by the world´s greatest artists after he was released from prison.