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Historians seek public report on World War II forgeries
2008-05-07
British historians called Tuesday for a public report on the inquiry into 29 forged documents found at the National Archives that falsely accuse Winston Churchill's government of having a secret, cordial relationship with Nazi SS chief Henrich Himmler at the height of World War II. Eight leading historians signed an open letter urging police to take action against the suspect who faked the documents, which also allege that Churchill ordered the assassination of Himmler to keep the discussions secret. "That's a blood libel against Churchill and totally untrue," said historian Andrew Roberts, who signed the letter published in the Financial Times. Mainstream historians reject the assertion about Churchill because there is no evidence to support it, except the faked papers. Himmler was never assassinated; he committed suicide by poisoning himself with cyanide after he was captured by British forces in 1945. Roberts was joined in the letter by John Keegan, Antony Beevor, Niall Ferguson and other prominent historians, who hoped swift action by authorities would deter anyone else from tainting the trusted archives with more forgeries. "It's creating false memory syndromes about a very important part of our national story," Roberts said. "If the guy gets away with it, it will be a green light to manufacture evidence. It's been done in a criminal way, and yet the police don't seem very interested in dealing with it." Prosecutors, who did not release the name of the suspect, said they would not press charges because the person was in poor health. Since 2000, the documents had been placed surreptitiously in 12 separate files at the National Archives, which Roberts called "the bedrock" institution for historians studying British history. Archive directors learned of the suspicious documents in 2005 after receiving a tip from Ben Fenton, a British journalist, and the matter was turned over to Scotland Yard. A police investigation followed, and prosecutors concluded that there was sufficient evidence to press charges of forgery and criminal damage. But they decided it was "not in the public interest to do so" because of the suspect's health, the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement Tuesday. "The reviewing lawyer carefully considered medical reports and all relevant public interest factors before reaching this decision," the statement said. Much of the detective work in the case was that of Fenton, a journalist with a long-standing interest in the documents at the archives on the outskirts of London. He told The Associated Press he first became interested in the papers after a friend recommended he look into them because of the shocking allegation that Churchill ordered Himmler's death. His concerns about the authenticity of the documents were raised after he saw unexplained pencil marks beneath some of the signatures. He was also deeply suspicious about the use of some phrases, such as "devastating repercussions," that were not widely used in the 1940s. Fenton also found some titles were used incorrectly in the documents. He raised his concern with archive directors, who agreed to let forensics experts study the documents. Two experts agreed that the documents were bogus, and the matter was then turned over to police, who also concluded the papers were phony. Fenton said the archives probably contain other forged documents from the same source, but he does not believe there are large numbers of undiscovered fake papers. Embarrassed officials have posted 30 pages of forged documents, and some of the forensics investigations, on the National Archives Web site. They have also posted testimony given by directors about their inquiry. Fenton, now media correspondent with the Financial Times, also believes a prosecution is needed in the case. "My concern is the poisoning of the well," he said, referring to the credibility of the National Archives. "It's not just the Himmler thing. That's the headline grabbing thing, but there are other allegations made about Britain's conduct in the Second World War which are similarly based on forgeries and don't have any support elsewhere." He reported in the Financial Times magazine Saturday that the forged documents provide part of the basis for Martin Allen's 2005 book "Himmler's Secret War," which challenged whether Himmler committed suicide. The Associated Press left messages Tuesday with Allen's representatives. Sevarine Gould, a spokeswoman for the National Archives, said security procedures have been changed to prevent more fakes from being planted. She said she cannot speculate on who put the phony documents in place or their motive. "I don't think we can speculate on what the intention was," she said. "We've made all efforts to find out how it happened." ___ On the Web: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
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