Not having kept a diary and barely having touched pen to paper in the later years of his life, it came as something of a shock to the world to discover in 1983 that Adolf Hitler had written more than 60 volumes of personal diaries.



The notebooks were bought by German magazine Stern and then syndicated around the world, at huge expense. There was one problem – they were terrible forgeries.



The experts who vouched for them were apparently convinced of their authenticity by their huge quantity and staggeringly mundane contents. However, when properly examined, it was discovered that they were made on modern paper, using modern ink and had plastic lettering attached to their covers.



Furthermore, they were not in Hitler’s handwriting and contained historical inaccuracies, repeating the mistakes made in one of the forger’s favorite sources. Too late, the forgery was discovered – and eventually, the man who made them and several others were imprisoned.