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.
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First Steps |
The 
The 1911 Census must remain closed as a whole document until 2012, to
protect personally sensitive information. However the Information
Commissioner's decision means that 
