THE EDITORS of the German newsmagazine Stern thought they had the journalistic scoop of the century. But the diaries of Adolf Hitler "discovered" by the magazine turned out to be the hoax of the century--blatant forgeries. After Stern reluctantly handed over several of the 64 volumes to the West German government for study, it took specialists in Bonn only a few days to discover that materials contained in the paper and bindings hadn't even existed in 1945, the last year Hitler allegedly wrote in the diaries. Upon further analysis, it became clear that large segments of the journals had been copied verbatim from a book on Hitler published twenty years ago.

Fingers of blame quickly began to point at the senior editors of Stern, two of whom resigned. Clearly, the journalists displayed a distressing lack of caution right from the start in handling the "diary" story. But more disturbing than their carelessness is the willingness it shows--even now--to rewrite history.

Writer Gerd Heidemann, who spent three years tracking down the journals, was never questioned about his sources, even though he was known to have a near fanatical interest in the Nazi period. A decade ago, the journalist sold his home and bought former Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goring's boat, upon which he entertained former Nazi officials.

Once Heidemann delivered the diaries to Stern--which paid $3.5 million for them to persons unknown--the magazine failed to conduct even rudimentary chemical tests, and instead relied solely upon the word of several historians. And even the historians performed poorly; the volumes contained numerous factual errors that should have been sufficient proof that the diaries were fakes.

But the shortcomings of Stern and a few historians are not the most disturbing aspects of this fiasco. The diaries were clearly an attempt to show Hitler in a different, more positive light. Excerpts released before the hoax was discovered maintained that Hitler was reluctant prior to the war to persecute Jews and had attempted several times during the conflict to make peace with the allies. Every historical account to date on the Third Reich flatly contradicts these theses. But given Hitler's stamp of legitimacy, a new version of the Nazi era could conceivably have emerged and been accepted by future generations.

Many people will laugh off the diary hoax as an isolated incident prompted by a few sick minds. But recent years have seen too many similar "isolated incidents" for us not to take heed. In Western Europe and the United States, books have been published attempting to prove the Holocaust is a myth. In Edmonton, Canada last week, a school teacher was dismissed for telling his young, impressionable students that the gas chambers never existed. Crazy, demented people, we think, who will never be listened to. But as time passes, and those who survived the Holocaust are no longer around to serve as living reminders of the horror, what was once clear will become murky, what was once obvious a question. Had the diaries been taken at face value and their authenticity never questioned, there would no doubt have come a time when Hitler would appeared to have been "not such a bad guy after all."

No one will ever satisfactorily explain the Holocaust, though debate on the subject will continue into the foreseeable future. Yet some characteristics of the Nazi era are already crystal clear. That the death camps existed and were the greatest evil yet known to man is beyond debate. The creeping attempts at revisionism on this matter will only serve to revive the crime against humanity that we thought had died with Hitler.