Gerd Heidemann collection, 1900-2000s

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Summary

Creators:
Heidemann, Gerd, 1931-
Abstract:
The Gerd Heidemann collection documents major world events, war, and dictatorship in the 20th century through the eyes of German investigative reporter and photojournalist Gerd Heidemann. Compiled research materials and collected records focus on the history of Germany, the Third Reich and the Nazi Party, while Heidemann's own body of writings, photographic materials, and recorded interviews document his career with the German current-affairs magazine Stern, including his reportage of thirteen conflicts across Africa and the Middle East throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The collection includes Heidemann's recorded interviews with former Nazi Party officials and their associates conducted both in Germany and South America during the 1970s and 1980s, as well as extensive documentation of the "Hitler Diaries" scandal of the 1980s through Heidemann's personal documents, recordings of phone conversations with Konrad Kujau, and a complete set of copies of the forged diaries.
Extent:
1100 boxes (1087 Linear Feet) and 407 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box currently available for research (163.8 Linear Feet)
Language:
Majority of materials are in German, with some English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Gerd Heidemann collection, [Reference ID/Binder ID], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of compiled documents, personal papers, photographic materials, printed materials, and sound recordings documenting major world events, war, and dictatorship in the 20th century, with a focus on World War II and Nazi Germany. The collection comprises two unique categories of materials combined by Heidemann to form one extensive set of reference materials; it documents Heidemann as a creator, an award-winning photojournalist and investigative reporter for the German current-affairs magazine Stern, while simultaneously documenting Heidemann as a collector with a primary interest the Nazi Party and the perpetration of the Holocaust. Based in Hamburg, Germany, Heidemann first began compiling research materials and creating subject files on persons and events in the 1950s to support his journalistic work. Over the subsequent 60 years, Heidemann created an archive housed in over 7,300 binders meticulously labeled and arranged on shelving by date, often even creating one binder for one day in history. Approximately 6,000 binders present a chronology of world history from 310,000 B.C. to 1983, with a predominant focus on the 1920s through the 1940s and the history of the Nazi Party in Germany. Approximately 1,000 binders present a set of "subject files," largely pertaining to World War II and the Nazi Party, including extensive biographical dossiers on SS-Officers.

From the 1950s through the 1970s, Heidemann reported on thirteen international conflicts and traveled to Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. His travels and reportage are documented through his notes, photographic negatives, slides, and prints, and include coverage of the African countries of Angola, Biafra, Burundi, Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Namibia, and Uganda; the Asian countries of Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand; the Latin American countries of Mexico and Peru; and the Middle Eastern countries of Lebanon (Beirut), Iraq, Iran, Jordan (including coverage of "Black September" in 1970), and Syria.

Heidemann's assignments for Stern also found him covering local West Germany stories such as the Lockheed bribery scandals (1950s-1970s), and the Shah of Iran's visit to West Berlin in 1967. He was assigned to stories regarding Nazi war criminals as the German public's palate for examining "the recent past" expanded. Heidemann eventually became a collector of Nazi-related private papers and primary source documents. The materials collected by Heidemann include the personal papers of Eugen Dollmann (Chief of the NSDAP Press office in Italy and Hitler's Italian interpreter), Friedrich Gundlfinger (the pilot of Hitler's plane that crashed in April 1945 during Operation Seraglio), Otto Günsche (Hitler's personal adjutant), Emil Maurice (Hitler's first personal chauffeur; copies only), Julius Schaub (Hitler's personal aide and adjutant), and Karl Wolff (Himmler's adjutant). In 1982, Heidemann acquired the "estate" of Heinrich Hoffmann directly from Hoffmann's son, consisting of approximately 20,000 photographic prints and over 200 glass plate negatives produced by Hoffmann as Hitler's official photographer. Heidemann also acquired an extensive set of photographic reproductions of documents from the NSDAP Main Archive (NSDAP Hauptarchiv) in the 1970s, with the reproductions having been produced by the Hauptarchiv itself and stamped. They were also distributed across Heidemann's chronology as relevant to persons or events. The Hoover Institution Library & Archives notably separately holds microfilmed copies of a component of NSDAP Hauptarchiv; a full analysis is required to compare the contents of the two collections.

In the early 1970s Heidemann purchased the Carin II, a 90-foot yacht that had belonged to Hermann Göring. After establishing a relationship with Göring's daughter, Edda, Heidemann and Edda began entertaining on the yacht, hosting former Nazi officials and their adversaries alike. At this time Heidemann developed a connection with SS-General Karl Wolff, and throughout the 1970s and 1980s Heidemann located and interviewed numerous former Nazi officials in both Germany and South America, with Wolff serving as his liaison. Heidemann's quest to interview "the perpetrators" resulted in the hundreds of recorded sound interviews in this collection, and include conversations with Karl Wolff, Klaus Barbie, Wilhelm Mohnke, Walther Rauff, and Bruno Streckenbach.

In January 1980, Heidemann was shown a purported copy of Adolf Hitler's diary by a Nazi memorabilia collector. It was a forgery, produced by German forger Konrad Kujau, but Heidemann pursued the source and sought to purchase a large cache of Hitler's personal papers and writings that supposedly included 27 volumes of diaries. Heidemann's ultimate acquisition of the diaries, his contractual deal to have them published by Stern, and the subsequent scandal that followed once they were determined to be forgeries has been well documented in the media. Heidemann was charged with theft resulting from his alleged attempt to defraud Stern during the purchase of the diaries and served two years in prison from 1985-1987. What has become known as the "Hiter Diaries scandal" is documented in this collection through Heidemann's personal records, extensive recorded phone conversations with Kujau, and Heidemann's interviews with subject experts, historians, and journalists regarding the diaries, as well as a complete set of copies of the forged diaries.

Biographical / historical:

Gerd Heidemann (1931 December 4-2024 December 9). German investigative reporter and photojournalist for the German current-affairs magazine Stern.

Processing information:

The collection is currently being minimally processed for access. This finding aid will be continually updated as new materials are made available; this finding aid was last updated on May 27, 2025.

The collection was originally housed in over 7,300 binders. Each binder has been assigned a Reference ID or "Binder ID" (e.g. 67_02_03) for item-level tracking and for use in citations. Each audio recording has been assigned a Reference ID (e.g. Tape 41) for item-level tracking and for use in citations.

Arrangement:

Gerd Heidemann built and maintained his collection over the course of more than 60 years, compiling materials in over 7,300 binders meticulously labeled and arranged on shelving by date in the basement of a building in Hamburg, Germany. The original order of Heidemann's materials has been maintained while being intellectually arranged into six overarching series.

Series I. Subject files comprises three sub-series. The Carin II sub-series consists of compiled history of the Carin II yacht's commission and build for Hermann Göring, as well as documentation of Heidemann's time as its owner, including photographs of social gatherings and transcripts of interviews Heidemann conducted with his visitors on board. The Nazi Party and SS-Officers sub-series consists of detailed dossiers on Nazi Party activities and Nazi SS-Officers and their associates. The South America ("The Perpetrators") sub-series documents Heidemann's travels to South America in the 1970s in which he located and interviewed former Nazi officials who had escaped Europe post-war via the infamous "ratlines."

Series II. Sound recordings includes sound recordings produced by Heidemann pertaining to his journalistic work, his interviews conducted on the Carin II yacht, his interviews with "The Perpetrators" and their associates conducted in South America in 1979, and recorded conversations between Heidemann and Konrad Kujau in relation to the "Hitler Diaries scandal."

Series III. Chronological archive is currently partially closed while these materials undergo processing. It includes over 6,000 binders presenting a chronology of world history from 310,000 B.C. to 1983, with a predominant focus on Germany in the 1920s through the 1940s and the Nazi Party.

Series IV. Hitler Diaries is currently closed while these materials undergo processing. It includes a complete set of copies of the forged diaries.

Series V. Heinrich Hoffmann photographic materials is currently closed while these materials undergo processing. It includes glass plate negatives, film negatives, and photographic prints from the estate of Heinrich Hoffmann, Hitler's official photographer. Many of the photographic prints are included in Series I. Subject files, arranged by Heidemann with their relevant persons or subjects.

Series VI. Printed materials is currently closed while these materials undergo processing. It includes published books, predominantly rare publications produced by, or pertaining to, the Nazi Party and their propaganda.

Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Box 311 may not be used without permission of the Archivist. The remaining listed boxes are open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before access can be provided.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Gerd Heidemann collection, [Reference ID/Binder ID], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
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