Konrad Kujau
Encyclopedia
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
and forger
Forgery
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
who became famous in 1983 as the creator of the so-called Hitler Diaries
Hitler Diaries
In April 1983, the West German news magazine Stern published excerpts from what purported to be the diaries of Adolf Hitler, known as the Hitler Diaries , which were subsequently revealed to be forgeries...
, for which he received DM
German mark
The Deutsche Mark |mark]], abbreviated "DM") was the official currency of West Germany and Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002. It is commonly called the "Deutschmark" in English but not in German. Germans often say "Mark" or "D-Mark"...
2.5 million from a person who in turn sold it for DM 9.3 million to the magazine Stern
Stern (magazine)
Stern is a weekly news magazine published in Germany. It was founded in 1948 by Henri Nannen, and is currently published by Gruner + Jahr, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann. In the first quarter of 2006, its print run was 1.019 million copies and it reached 7.84 million readers according to...
.
Early life
"Konny" Kujau was one of five children of Richard Kujau, a cobbler, who died in 1944. Kujau's early life was of unremitting poverty and his mother was obliged to send her children into orphanages for periods of time. Konrad did well at school, but was obliged to leave at 16 and was apprenticed to a locksmith. After a year he quit and took a succession of casual jobs. In 1957, a warrant was issued for his arrest over the theft of a microphone from the Löbau Youth Club, where he was then working. Kujau left East GermanyGerman Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
and fled to West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
to stay with his uncle.
Kujau eventually settled in Stuttgart where he drifted into a life of casual work and petty crime. In 1961, after several arrests and two short jail terms for theft, Kujau met and settled down with Edith Lieblang. They opened a bar, but the next year he was arrested for forging luncheon vouchers
Luncheon Voucher
A Luncheon Voucher is a paper ticket used by some employees in the United Kingdom to pay for meals in private restaurants. It allows companies to subsidise mid-day meals for their employees without having to run their own canteens.The scheme dates back to 1946, when food rationing was still in...
under the name "Peter Fischer" and spent five days in prison. Kujau and Leibling then started an office cleaning business which eventually prospered. Incidentally, a "Dr. Fischer" was originally named as the source of the Hitler Diaries.
In the early 1970s, Kujau began to illegally import Nazi militaria
Militaria
Militaria are artifacts or replicas of military, police, etc., collected for their historical significance. Such antiques include firearms, swords, knives, and other weapons such as; uniforms, helmets, other military headgear, and armour; military orders and decorations; challenge coins and...
from East Germany. In order to increase their value, Kujau began to forge documents to give them false provenance
Provenance
Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from", refers to the chronology of the ownership or location of an historical object. The term was originally mostly used for works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including science and computing...
. He also began to forge paintings—something that had been a mere hobby until then—signing them "Adolf Hitler". Kujau became more ambitious as he realised the potential market for Nazi memorabilia
Nazi memorabilia
Nazi memorabilia are items of Nazi origin that are collected by museums and private individuals. Much of it comes from soldiers who collected small items as trophies during the Second World War....
. He copied out Hitler's published Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf is a book written by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. It combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's political ideology. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926...
and sold it as "the original manuscript". To an old pistol he attached a label claiming that it was the gun with which Hitler committed suicide. He was aided by the fact that most "collectors" of Nazi items were highly secretive, since possession of these items is illegal under German law.
Hitler diaries
In 1978, Kujau sold his first "Hitler Diary" to a collector. In 1980, he was contacted by the journalist Gerd HeidemannGerd Heidemann
Gerd Heidemann is a German journalist best known for his role in the publication of purported Hitler Diaries that were subsequently proved to be forgeries....
who had learned of the diary. Kujau told Heidemann that the diaries were in the possession of his brother, who was a General in the East German army. Heidemann made a deal with Kujau for "the rest" of the diaries.
Over the next two years Kujau faked a further 61 volumes and sold them to Heidemann for DM 2.5 million. Heidemann in turn received DM 9 million from his employers at Stern
Stern (magazine)
Stern is a weekly news magazine published in Germany. It was founded in 1948 by Henri Nannen, and is currently published by Gruner + Jahr, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann. In the first quarter of 2006, its print run was 1.019 million copies and it reached 7.84 million readers according to...
.
However, on their publication in 1983 the diaries were soon proved to be fakes and Heidemann and Kujau were arrested. In August 1984 Kujau was sentenced to 4½ years for forgery and Lieblang one year as an accomplice. Heidemann was convicted of fraud and received a sentence of 4 years 8 months.
On his release from prison after three years Kujau became something of a minor celebrity appearing on TV as a "forgery expert", and set up a business selling "genuine Kujau fakes" in the style of various major artists. He stood for election as Mayor of Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
in 1996, receiving over 900 votes. Kujau died of cancer in 2000.
In 2006 his grandniece, Petra Kujau, was charged with selling "fake forgeries", cheap Asian-made copies of famous paintings with forged signatures of Konrad Kujau.
He was portrayed in the 1991 miniseries Selling Hitler
Selling Hitler
Selling Hitler is a 1991 ITV television drama-documentary mini-series about the Hitler Diaries hoax and was based on Robert Harris's 1986 book Selling Hitler: The Story of the Hitler Diaries.-Plot:...
by Liverpool born actor Alexei Sayle
Alexei Sayle
Alexei David Sayle is a British stand-up comedian, actor and author. He was a central part of the alternative comedy circuit in the early 1980s. He was voted the 18th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-ups in 2007...
. The series also featured Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
as Gerd Heidemann
Gerd Heidemann
Gerd Heidemann is a German journalist best known for his role in the publication of purported Hitler Diaries that were subsequently proved to be forgeries....
, and Tom Baker
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...
as Stern
Stern (magazine)
Stern is a weekly news magazine published in Germany. It was founded in 1948 by Henri Nannen, and is currently published by Gruner + Jahr, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann. In the first quarter of 2006, its print run was 1.019 million copies and it reached 7.84 million readers according to...
executive Manfred Fischer.
Sources
- Harris, RobertRobert Harris (novelist)Robert Dennis Harris is an English novelist. He is a former journalist and BBC television reporter.-Early life:Born in Nottingham, Harris spent his childhood in a small rented house on a Nottingham council estate. His ambition to become a writer arose at an early age, from visits to the local...
: Selling Hitler (Faber & Faber, 1986) ISBN 0-571-14726-7