
Selling Hitler
1993 • Comedy, Drama, TV Movie
In 1981, Gerd Heidemann, a war correspondent and reporter with the German magazine Stern, makes what he believes is the literary and historical scoop of the century: the personal diaries of Adolf Hitler. Over the next two years, Heidemann and the senior management figures at Stern secretly pay 10 million German marks to a mysterious 'Dr Fischer' for the sixty volumes of 'Hitler's diaries'. However, to the dismay of all, it is discovered after the publication of first extract that the diaries are crude forgeries, faked by Stuttgart criminal Konrad Kujau.
Runtime: 4h 16m
Why you should read the novel
Dive into the gripping narrative of Selling Hitler: The Story of the Hitler Diaries by Robert Harris, where truth is stranger than fiction. The book meticulously unravels the elaborate hoax that shook the world, drawing on actual events and extensive research. By reading the book, you’ll access deeper insights and behind-the-scenes details that simply cannot be captured fully in a movie. Harris’s vivid storytelling and journalistic flair make every page compelling, uncovering the human motivations, greed, and gullibility at the heart of the scandal. Experience the psychological complexities of the characters and the full scope of the media frenzy that surrounded the forged diaries—a perspective that the film condenses for time. Choosing the book means gaining a richer, more nuanced understanding of one of history’s greatest publishing frauds.
Adaptation differences
One of the main differences between the Selling Hitler movie adaptation and Robert Harris’s original book lies in tone and detail. While the film adopts a satirical and comedic style to highlight the absurdity of the hoax, the book delivers a meticulously researched, journalistic account with a more serious underpinning, providing comprehensive context and motivations behind the scandal. The film necessarily condenses and dramatizes events for the sake of entertainment, sometimes exaggerating personalities or events for comic effect, whereas the book provides nuanced portraits of the real-life figures involved. Important background information and the complexities of the forger Konrad Kujau’s and journalist Gerd Heidemann’s schemes are explored in much greater detail in the source novel. Readers of the book will also benefit from Harris’s careful documentation of the investigative process, illustrating the broader implications for journalism and historical scholarship—elements that are sometimes merely touched upon or omitted in the screen adaptation.
Selling Hitler inspired from
Selling Hitler: The Story of the Hitler Diaries
by Robert Harris