“ Subsequently, in their Summary of Case, the Defendants revised their case to allege that Irving broke an agreement he had made with the Moscow archive by (without permission) removing from the archive glass plates on which the diaries were recorded; having copies made of those plates and transporting two plates to London, where they were subjected to forensic tests. The Defendants allege that Irving’s conduct gave rise to a significant risk that the plates might have been damaged, rendering them of limited use to subsequent researchers. ”

“ They were in bad condition. Material from the archive was being sold by the Russians. Irving’s major concern was to gain access to the diaries before the Germans. If the Germans were to gain access first, Irving was concerned that the diaries would vanish for a considerable period.
12.16 Irving stressed (and Millar) confirmed that there was no agreement with the Russians. On 9 June 1992 Millar spoke to Tarasov, who telephoned the curator of the archive, Bondarev and told him to permit Irving to have access to the plates and to work on them. ”