Peter Koch (journalist)

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Peter Koch (* 1938 in Halle ; † May 12, 1989 , Florida , USA ) was a German journalist who, as the editor-in-chief of the Illustrierte Stern, was significantly involved in the press scandal surrounding the publication of Adolf Hitler's falsified diaries in 1983. After the Gruner und Jahr Verlag published parts of the alleged diaries, it became clear through an expert report by the Federal Criminal Police Office that they were forgeries. Koch then had to resign from his post. Later he was co-developer of the Auto Bild magazine at Axel Springer Verlag .

Life

Peter Koch, Dirk Koch and Einar Koch - also journalists - are brothers.

Career

Peter Koch began his journalistic career as a trainee at the Frankfurter Rundschau . Later he was a correspondent for the Süddeutsche Zeitung , the Spiegel and the Stern in Bonn . He then became head of the politics department at Stern and in 1977/78 he headed the special subjects department of the magazines. After publishing various books on political topics, Koch was appointed editor-in-chief in 1981, together with Felix Schmidt and Rolf Gillhausen, by Stern publisher Henri Nannen .

Fake Hitler diaries

Koch refused several articles proposed by the star - editor Gerd Heidemann , the future acquirer of the forged Hitler diaries, on topics about the time of National Socialism from. Even during his time as head of department, he demonstrably urged Heidemann to “keep his hands off the Nazi shit” in editorial conferences. Finally, Heidemann terminated his employment contract because of these differences of opinion, which, however, ran for twelve months after the termination.

After he came across the alleged diaries, Heidemann passed over the editor-in-chief to Peter Koch and turned directly to the board of directors of Gruner und Jahr Verlag, which was a massive violation of editorial practices. For months the chief editors knew nothing about the purchase of the diaries, for which several million DM had already been spent. When Peter Koch found out about this, he threatened to resign, but did not implement it.

In the end, Koch also took the view that the diaries were genuine and represented a sensational find, although the Stern had not carried out any scientifically viable examination of the material. The star began publishing the diaries on April 28, 1983 and attempted to market them worldwide. In the editorial of the new Stern series with the title "Hitler's diaries discovered", Koch himself coined the quote later maliciously quoted:

"The history of the Third Reich has to be partially rewritten."

- Peter Koch : In the editorial of the series "Hitler's diaries discovered" in the Stern edition of April 28, 1983.

Even after various doubts about the authenticity of the diaries, Koch defended the publication and attacked scientists in a comment as "archive ayatollahs".

After parts of the diaries were published in two editions of Stern - a third had already been produced - the fraud was uncovered by a clear report by the Federal Criminal Police Office, which identified materials in the diaries, in particular so-called whiteners , which were only invented after the death of Adolf Hitler. The scandal surrounding the forged diaries was one of the biggest press scandals in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Peter Koch took responsibility for his uncritical actions and, like the co-editor-in-chief Felix Schmidt, resigned from his post, but received a severance payment of 3 million DM. In the court proceedings that led to the conviction of Stern editor Heidemann and the forger's Kujau ended, Koch appeared as an important witness.

Springer publishing house

After the scandal, Koch first wrote biographies about Willy Brandt and Konrad Adenauer and then worked for the Axel Springer Verlag , where he played a key role in the development of the Auto Bild and Ja magazines . While Auto Bild was very successful at times, the magazine Ja , which was quickly discontinued, caused millions in losses. In 1989 Koch died of cancer.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Peter Koch , obituary in: Der Spiegel. Edition 20/1989.
  2. ↑ From sensation to nightmare in: Die Zeit of July 8, 2010.
  3. ↑ Peter Koch , The Scandal about the Hitler Diaries. (Part 7), Hamburger Abendblatt, August 10, 2008.
  4. ↑ Helene Heise: The scandal surrounding Hitler's "diaries" . In: Ndr.de . Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  5. ↑ 25 years of Hitler diaries , on einestages.spiegel.de
  6. ↑ Blind with euphoria in: Die Welt, April 5, 2013.
  7. ↑ Yes to the flop in: Der Spiegel issue 14/1987.
personal data
SURNAME Cook, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German journalist
DATE OF BIRTH 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Halle (Saale)
DATE OF DEATH May 12, 1989
Place of death Florida (USA)