ZGRAM - 8/5/2002 - "'Hitler diaries' man was a spy"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

August 5, 2002

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Ever more deception is being revealed!  I found the following posted 
on David Irving's website:

[START]

'Hitler diaries' man was a spy

John Hooper
in Berlin

THE journalist jailed for his part in one of the 20th century's great 
hoaxes - the publication of the 'Hitler diaries' - was an agent of 
East Germany's intelligence service, the Stasi, according to new 
evidence published yesterday.

Gerd Heidemann, who acted as the intermediary between the forger of 
the diaries and his employers at Stern magazine, was quoted as saying 
he had, in fact, been a double agent.

The news weekly Der Spiegel, which published an extract from Mr 
Heidemann's Stasi file, said he claimed to have handed over his 
payments from the East Germans to West Germany's counter-intelligence 
service.

The revelation of his links to the Stasi will breathe new life into 
the theory that the 1983 Hitler diaries affair was not just a vintage 
bungle but a communist plot.

Its unmasking did lasting damage not only to Stern but also to Rupert 
Murdoch's media empire and the reputation of a leading conservative 
historian.

The Sunday Times was about to begin serialising the diaries and the 
Times had already carried an article by Lord Dacre (formerly 
Professor Hugh Trevor-Roper) endorsing their authenticity.

Supposedly covering the entire history of the Third Reich, from 1933 
to 1945, they were in fact the invention of a Stuttgart forger, 
Konrad Kujau.

Heidemann claimed to have been duped by him. But the forger insisted 
that he had told Heidemann they were fakes.

The document says that Heidemann was recruited by the East German 
intelligence service in 1953 when he was a young photo-journalist. He 
was given the code-name Gerhard.

His mission was to provide information mainly on "military targets 
and secret service premises, in particular those of the English [sic] 
secret service".

Der Spiegel said other documents in his file showed that he 
photographed secret sites in several parts of Germany.

He was well paid but constantly demanded more. On one occasion his 
case officer noted dryly that "the money issue for him always plays 
the leading role".

Der Spiegel said Heidemann wrote to the Stasi in 1955, withdrawing 
his services.

But the files also revealed that in 1978, agent Gerhad was handed 
over by the department that had recruited him to the Stasi's foreign 
espionage department under Markus Wolf.

His file was archived - a sign that he was no longer considered 
useful - in 1986.

[END]

( Source:  http://www.fpp.co.uk/Hitler/Kujau/Guardian030802.html )