Undoubtedly one of the most famous swindles in history, the Hitler Diaries were greeted with excitement around the world.
The con began in April, when a reporter for Germany's Stern magazine, Gerd Heidemann, claimed he had his hands on 62 handwritten volumes by the Nazi Fuhrer.
The diaries supposedly covered a 13-year-period, from the beginnings of the Nazi regime until the last days of the Holocaust. They were said to have been found in a hayloft in East Germany after being rescued from a plane wreckage.
Stern began publishing the diaries on April 25. In Britain, the Sunday Times moved to publish them, dispatching historian and Hitler expert Hugh Trevor Roper to authenticate them.
