The Devil's Diary: Alfred Rosenberg and the Stolen Secrets of the Third Reich

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.

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 Alfred Rosenberg, Adolf Hitler’s “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 inner circle from the start, Alfred Rosenberg made his name by spreading toxic ideas about the Jews throughout Germany. As the Third Reich dawned, his masterwork of racist philosophy became a national bestseller and a touchstone of Nazi thought.

Rosenberg’s diary—five hundred pages offering a harrowing glimpse into the mind of the “intellectual high priest of the ‘master race’”—was discovered in a Bavarian castle at war’s end. 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 as a private consultant specialized in recovering artifacts of historical significance, first learned of the diary in 2001, when the chief archivist for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum contacted him to say that someone was trying to sell it for more than a million dollars. The phone call set off a decadelong 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 provides vital insight of unprecedented scope and intimacy into the innermost workings of the Nazi regime—and the psyche of the man whose radical vision gave rise to the Final Solution.

Advance Praise for The Devil’s Diary

“A fascinating scholarly detective story centering on the often overlooked ideological architect of the Third Reich.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Alfred Rosenberg was one of the most unfathomable of the Third Reich’s leaders, but he arises in horrific clarity in Wittman and Kinney’s engrossing book. Rosenberg’s personal writings, which were nearly lost to history, receive a dramatic interpretation in The Devil’s Diary. It’s an intriguing

read for anyone fascinated by the personalities of Nazi Germany.”—Jack El-Hai, author of The Nazi and the Psychiatrist

“Both an incisive biography and a Monuments Men–like detective story, The Devil’s Diary is a very rewarding read. While exposing in fresh, stunning detail the role Alfred Rosenberg played in the Holocaust, Kinney and Wittman also reveal the oft-tangled but fascinating world where history is recorded and written. Well done!”—Neal Bascomb, national bestselling author of Hunting Eichmann and The Winter Fortress

“The Devil’s Diary has all the elements of a great book: a hugely influential but forgotten confidant of Adolf Hitler, a long-lost Nazi journal, and a crusading Jewish lawyer who spent his life at war with the leading men of the Third Reich.”—Joaquin “Jack” Garcia, New York Times bestselling author of Making Jack Falcone

“A rollicking memoir... investigative details dazzle... Priceless can read at times, not unpleasantly, as if an art history textbook got mixed up at the printer with a screenplay for The Wire.” - New York Times on Priceless

“Almost every case he recounts has enough intrigue and suspense for a Hollywood screenplay.” - Washington Post on Priceless

“Genius…riveting…should be a TV series.” - Los Angeles Times on Priceless

“The Devil’s Diary is the story of the diary, its eventual recovery, and its harrowing content, providing an intense look at one of the major architects of the Holocaust.” - Barnes and Noble Reads

“The efforts to recover [the diary] make up the most interesting part of art-crime expert Wittman and Pulitzer-winning Kinney’s frequently riveting, serpentine account featuring a Nuremberg prosecutor, a museum archivist, and an FBI agent...The authors have provided an engrossing tale of a detective-style search.” - Booklist

“Those with an interest in German history will find this narrative engaging.” - Library Journal

“The Devil’s Diary has all the elements of a great book: a hugely influential but forgotten confidant of Adolf Hitler, a long-lost Nazi journal, and a crusading Jewish lawyer who spent his life at war with the leading men of the Third Reich.” - Joaquin "Jack" Garcia, New York Times bestselling author of Making Jack Falcone

“A fascinating scholarly detective story centering on the often overlooked ideological architect of the Third Reich...The authors do an excellent job of teasing out the fine details and placing them in the larger context...A footnote to a much larger story but a welcome one.” - Kirkus Reviews

“Mesmerizing.” - Daily Beast

“The Devil’s Diary is lively and well written. Part detective story, part history book, it restores Rosenberg to his rightful place in the narrative, a man...who was profoundly influential, not least in providing what meagre intellectual underpinning Nazism could muster...a fascinating read.” - Roger Moorehouse, author of Killing Hitler, Berlin at War, and The Devil's Alliance

“This volume cannot be recommended too highly. It is another smoking gun with which to condemn the Third Reich and further serves to reinforce what has become a 70-year mantra: We should never forget nor, more importantly, repeat man’s worst inhumanity to man.” - New York Journal of Books

“Alfred Rosenberg...arises in horrific clarity in Wittman and Kinney’s engrossing book. Rosenberg’s personal writings, which were nearly lost to history, receive a dramatic interpretation in The Devil’s Diary. It’s an intriguing read for anyone fascinated by the personalities of Nazi Germany.” - Jack El-Hai, author of The Nazi and the Psychiatrist

“The Devil’s Diary is a very rewarding read. While exposing in fresh, stunning detail the role Alfred Rosenberg played in the Holocaust, Kinney and Wittman also reveal the oft-tangled but fascinating world where history is recorded and written. Well done!” - Neal Bascomb, national bestselling author of Hunting Eichmann and The Winter Fortress