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Press, 26 April 1983, Page 8

By MICHAEL BINYON, of “The Times.” Bonn German historians and newspapers have greeted with much scepticism the announcement that Hitler’s diaries have been discovered, echoing the view in Britain that this is either the forgery of the century or necessitates the rewriting of the history of the Nazi period. Professor Karl-Dieter Bracher, of Bonn University, one of the most respected historians of the period, expressed “great scepticism” and said that a proper evaluation of the find and its contents was only possible after a careful scientific examination. The director of the Munich Institute for Contemporary History, Professor Martin Broszat, also cast doubt on the documents’ authenticity.

But he said that Lord Dacre, who expressed conviction in “The Times” on Saturday that the diaries were genuine, was a “very careful man who took great care with his sources.” “Stem’s” announcement on Friday has provoked astonishment and enormous interest in West Germany. The magazine has brought forward the publication of the issue revealing the diaries, and printed a record edition over the weekend of more than two million copies.