Editing Hitler Diaries (section)

==Initial testing and verification; steps towards publication==
In April 1982 Walde and Heidemann contacted Josef Henke and Klaus Oldenhage of the {{lang|de|[[German Federal Archives|Bundesarchiv]]}} (German Federal Archives) and Max Frei-Sulzer, the former head of the forensic department of the Zürich police, for assistance in authenticating the diaries. They did not specifically mention the diaries, but referred generally to new material. They also did not give the forensic specialists an entire diary, but removed one page only. For comparison purposes they also provided the experts with other samples of Hitler's writing, a handwritten draft for a telegram: this was from Heidemann's own collection and had also been forged by Kujau. Within days Walde provided further documents for comparison—all Kujau forgeries.{{sfn|Harris|1991|pp=173–174, 178–179}} Walde then flew to the US and commissioned Ordway Hilton, another forensic expert.{{efn|Hilton, a former forensic worker at the [[New York City Police Department]], was a member of the [[American Board of Forensic Document Examiners]], the [[American Society of Questioned Document Examiners]] and the [[American Academy of Forensic Sciences]].{{sfn|Harris|1991|pp=180–181}}}} None of those involved were experts in examining Nazi documents, and Hilton could not read German. ''Stern''{{'}}s management were too bound up in a secretive approach to be open about their source, or to provide the experts with a complete diary, which would have led to a more thorough examination of wider material.{{sfn|Harris|1991|p=181}} From the samples provided, the experts concluded that the handwriting was genuine. Hilton subsequently reported that "there was just no question" that both documents he had were written by the same person, whom he assumed to be Hitler.<ref name="NW: Genuine?" />

The purchase of the diaries continued, and by June 1982 Gruner + Jahr possessed 35 volumes.{{sfn|Harris|1991|p=205}} In early 1983 the company took the decision to work towards a publication date for the diaries. To ensure wide readership and to maximise their returns, ''Stern'' issued a prospectus to potentially interested parties, ''Newsweek'', ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', ''[[Paris Match]]'' and a syndicate of papers owned by Murdoch.{{sfn|Hamilton|1991|p=48}} ''Stern'' rented a large vault in a Swiss bank. They filled the space with Nazi memorabilia and displayed various letters and manuscripts.{{sfn|Hamilton|1991|pp=52–53}}

The first historian to examine the diaries was Hugh Trevor-Roper, who was cautious, but impressed with the volume of documentation in front of him.{{sfn|Harris|1991|p=258}} As the background to the acquisition was explained to him he became less doubtful; he was falsely informed that the paper had been chemically tested and been shown to be pre-war, and he was told that ''Stern'' knew the identity of the {{lang|de|Wehrmacht}} officer who had rescued the documents from the plane and had stored them ever since.{{sfn|Harris|1991|pp=259–260}} By the end of the meeting he was convinced that the diaries were genuine, and later said "who, I asked myself, would forge sixty volumes when six would have served his purpose?"{{sfn|Williams|2015|p=24}} In an article in ''The Times'' on 23 April 1983 he wrote:

[[File:Gerhard Weinberg.jpg|upright|thumb|alt=A colour photograph of a balding and grey haired man facing the camera|[[Gerhard Weinberg]], who considered the diaries genuine when verifying them for ''Newsweek'', and then changed his mind]]

<blockquote>I am now satisfied that the documents are authentic; that the history of their wanderings since 1945 is true; and that the standard accounts of Hitler's writing habits, of his personality, and even, perhaps, of some public events may, in consequence, have to be revised.<ref name="Times: HT-R convinced" /></blockquote>

The day after Trevor-Roper gave his opinion of authenticity, Rupert Murdoch and his negotiation team arrived in Zürich. A deal was provisionally agreed for $2.5&nbsp;million for the US serialisation rights, with an additional $750,000 for British and Commonwealth rights. While the discussions between Murdoch and Sorge were taking place, the diaries were examined by Broyle and his ''Newsweek'' team. After lengthy negotiation Broyle was informed that the minimum price ''Stern'' would consider was $3&nbsp;million; the Americans returned home, informing Hensmann that they would contact him by phone in two days.{{sfn|Harris|1991|pp=265–266}} When Broyle contacted the Germans he offered the amount, subject to authentication by their chosen expert, [[Gerhard Weinberg]]. In 1952 Weinberg, a cautious and careful historian, had written the ''Guide to Captured German Documents'', for use by the US military; the work is described by Hamilton as definitive in its scope of the subject.{{sfn|Hamilton|1991|p=57}} Weinberg travelled to Zürich and, like Trevor-Roper, was impressed and reassured by the range of items on show; he was also partly persuaded by Trevor-Roper's endorsement of the diaries' authenticity.{{sfn|Harris|1991|pp=304–305}} Weinberg commented that "the notion of anyone forging hundreds, even thousands of pages of handwriting was hard to credit".{{sfn|Hamilton|1991|p=57}} He had some reservations over the material and said he "would feel more comfortable if a German expert on the Third Reich who has already made his reputation had been brought in to look at the material".<ref name="Weinberg" /> He also stated that "There is still room—however unlikely—for suspecting that the whole thing is a hoax. An obvious motive would be money. Another would be an attempt to rehabilitate Hitler".<ref name="Weinberg" />

''Newsweek'' verbally accepted Hensmann's offer and he in turn informed Murdoch, giving him the option to raise his bid. Murdoch was furious, having considered the handshake agreement in Zürich final.{{sfn|Harris|1991|p=269}} On 15 April 1983 Murdoch, with Mark Edmiston, the president of ''Newsweek'', met Schulte-Hillen, who, unexpectedly and without explanation, went back on all the previous verbal—and therefore, to his mind, non-binding—agreements and told them the price was now $4.25&nbsp;million. Murdoch and Edmiston refused to accede to the new price and both left. The managers of ''Stern'', with no publishing partners, backtracked on their statements and came to a second deal with Murdoch, who drove the price down, paying $800,000 for the US rights, and $400,000 for the British and Australian rights. Further deals were done in France with ''Paris Match'' for $400,000; in Spain with ''Grupo Zeta'' for $150,000; in the Netherlands for $125,000; in Norway for $50,000; and in Italy with ''[[Panorama (magazine)|Panorama]]'' for $50,000. ''Newsweek'' did not enter into a deal and instead based their subsequent stories on the copies of the diaries they had seen during the negotiation period.{{sfn|Hamilton|1991|p=58}}