The Devil's Diary

The Devil's Diary is the true account of the disappearance of Alfred Rosenberg's journal of Nazi ideology that shaped the genesis of the Holocaust. An influential figure in Adolf Hitler's early inner circle, Alfred Rosenberg made his name spreading toxic ideas about the Jews throughout Germany, publishing a bestselling masterwork of Nazi thinking at the dawn of the Third Reich. His diary was discovered hidden in a Bavarian castle at war's end-five hundred pages providing a harrowing glimpse of the man whose ideas set the stage for the Holocaust. Prosecutors examined it during the Nuremberg war crimes trial, but after Rosenberg was convicted, sentenced, and executed, it mysteriously vanished. New York Times bestselling author Robert K. Wittman, who as an FBI agent and private consultant specialized in recovering artifacts of historic significance, learned of the diary when the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's chief archivist informed him that someone was trying to sell it for upwards of a million dollars. A decade-long hunt led them to many people who handled and hid the book. From the crusading Nuremberg prosecutor who smuggled the diary out of Germany to the man who finally turned it over, everyone had reasons for hiding the truth. Drawing on Rosenberg's entries about his role in the seizure of priceless artwork and the brutal occupation of the Soviet Union, his conversations with Hitler and his rivalries with Göring, Goebbels, and Himmler, Wittman and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Kinney's The Devil's Diary offers vital historical insight of unprecedented scope into the innermost workings of the Nazi regime-and into the psyche of the man whose radical vision mutated into the Final Solution.

Autorentext

Robert K. Wittman created the FBI's Art Crime Team and was the Bureau's national expert on cultural property crime. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Priceless. David Kinney is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of The Big One and The Dylanologists.

Klappentext

A groundbreaking World War II narrative wrapped in a riveting detective story, The Devil's Diary investigates the disappearance of a private diary penned by one of Adolf Hitler's top aides—Alfred Rosenberg, his "chief philosopher”—and mines its long-hidden pages to deliver a fresh, eye-opening account of the Nazi rise to power and the genesis of the Holocaust

An influential figure in Adolf Hitler's early inner circle from the start, Alfred Rosenberg made his name spreading toxic ideas about the Jews throughout Germany. By the dawn of the Third Reich, he had published a bestselling masterwork that was a touchstone of Nazi thinking.

His diary was discovered hidden in a Bavarian castle at war's end—five hundred pages providing a harrowing glimpse into the mind of a man whose ideas set the stage for the Holocaust. Prosecutors examined it during the Nuremberg war crimes trial, but after Rosenberg was convicted, sentenced, and executed, it mysteriously vanished.

New York Times bestselling author Robert K. Wittman, who as an FBI agent and then a private consultant specialized in recovering artifacts of historic significance, first learned of the diary in 2001, when the chief archivist for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum contacted him to say that someone was trying to sell it for upwards of a million dollars. The phone call sparked a decade-long hunt that took them on a twisting path involving a pair of octogenarian secretaries, an eccentric professor, and an opportunistic trash-picker. From the crusading Nuremberg prosecutor who smuggled the diary out of Germany to the man who finally turned it over, everyone had reasons for hiding the truth.

Drawing on Rosenberg's entries about his role in the seizure of priceless artwork and the brutal occupation of the Soviet Union, his conversations with Hitler and his endless rivalries with Göring, Goebbels, and Himmler, The Devil's Diary offers vital historical insight of unprecedented scope and intimacy into the innermost workings of the Nazi regime—and into the psyche of the man whose radical vision mutated into the Final Solution.

Zusammenfassung
A groundbreaking World War II narrative wrapped in a riveting detective story, The Devils Diary investigates the disappearance of a private diary penned by one of Adolf Hitlers top aidesAlfred Rosenberg, his chief philosopherand mines its long-hidden pages to deliver a fresh, eye-opening account of the Nazi rise to power and the genesis of the HolocaustAn influential figure in Adolf Hitlers early inner circle from the start, Alfred Rosenberg made his name spreading toxic ideas about the Jews throughout Germany. By the dawn of the Third Reich, he had published a bestselling masterwork that was a touchstone of Nazi thinking.His diary was discovered hidden in a Bavarian castle at wars endfive hundred pages providing a harrowing glimpse into the mind of a man whose ideas set the stage for the Holocaust. Prosecutors examined it during the Nuremberg war crimes trial, but after Rosenberg was convicted, sentenced, and executed, it mysteriously vanished.New York Times bestselling author Robert K. Wittman, who as an FBI agent and then a private consultant specialized in recovering artifacts of historic significance, first learned of the diary in 2001, when the chief archivist for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum contacted him to say that someone was trying to sell it for upwards of a million dollars. The phone call sparked a decade-long hunt that took them on a twisting path involving a pair of octogenarian secretaries, an eccentric professor, and an opportunistic trash-picker. From the crusading Nuremberg prosecutor who smuggled the diary out of Germany to the man who finally turned it over, everyone had reasons for hiding the truth.Drawing on Rosenbergs entries about his role in the seizure of priceless artwork and the brutal occupation of the Soviet Union, his conversations with Hitler and his endless rivalries with Gring, Goebbels, and Himmler, The Devils Diary offers vital historical insight of unprecedented scope and intimacy into the innermost workings of the Nazi regimeand into the psyche of the man whose radical vision mutated into the Final Solution.