Fake Holocaust Memoir Trend - Is History Compromised?

Aug 19, 2010
Jennifer Ciotta

Fake Holocaust Memoirs - Courtesy of Amazon.com

Learn about the recent fake Holocaust memoirs and how they affect World War II history and historical reading in schools.

The early part of the 21st century seems to be the period of fake Holocaust memoirs. Those who write these memoirs seem to have little conscience, but are lured by the money and the fame. At least, the money seems to be a huge factor. Some people may find this comical, but to World War II academics and history buffs, it's no laughing matter.

Fictionalizing Concentration Camp History and the Nazi Regime

The most infamous fake Holocaust memoir of recent times is Angel at the Fence by Herman Rosenblat. It centers around young Herman, who as a child lived in a concentration camp. A little girl would come to the fence and throw apples over to Herman. 12 years later, the two met on Coney Island, became engaged and married.

The story captivated many, including literary titan Oprah Winfrey. But it also fooled many people as well. Americans fell in love with the romance and survival nature of this story. That is until academics and World War II experts began to question its legitimacy. They said there was no way Rosenblat's future wife could have thrown him apples without the guards seeing all of this happening. They were right.

In 2008, Rosenblat confessed that it was all a lie. The memoir was canceled to the humiliation of Berkley Books and the Penguin Group.

Also, in 2008, Misha: A Memoir of the Holocaust Years was revealed to be a fake. Author Misha Defonseca made up the entire story of her as a four-year old escapee from the Warsaw ghetto who was adopted by wolves and shielded from the Nazis. She never trekked 1900 miles across Europe to search for her deported parents, nor did she kill a German officer. In fact, Defonseca is not even Jewish.

Then there was Fragments: Memories of a Childhood by Binjamin Wilkomirski, which was exposed as yet another fake.

A Disservice to Holocaust Victims and European History?

Do these fake memoirs hinder history? What about schoolchildren who read such books thinking they are real? For example, The Diary of Anne Frank is on almost every school reading list, but did you know that the diary was actually heavily edited, according to literature expert Francine Prose?

Holocaust victims are the only ones who truly know the truth of history. They are a generation that is quickly dying out and years from now, the general public will only have knowledge of the Holocaust from books, articles and movies. There will be no more survivors to tell us what happened.

As for historical purposes, to keep history preserved correctly, it is imperative for lawyers, researchers and academics to be compensated to fully examine a memoir to ensure it is 100 percent nonfiction. The publishing companies have learned this lesson the hard way, but will hopefully rigorously check their facts before publishing in the future.

When a beloved Holocaust memoir is a fake, it is a disappointment to every reader, historian and academic. However, to poke fun at the trend, the Jewish magazine Heeb sponsored their Fake Holocaust Memoir Competition in 2009. Even though historians aren't laughing, some people find the silver lining in all of the tragedy.

Sources

Rich, Motoko and Joseph Berger. False Memoir of Holocaust Is Canceled, NY Times, December 28, 2008 -- viewed August 12, 2010.
Van Gelder, Lawrence. Holocaust Memoir Turns Out to Be Fiction. NY Times, March 3, 2008 -- viewed August 19, 2010.

Jennifer Ciotta Writer Editor, James Murphy

Jennifer Ciotta - Jennifer Ciotta is the author of I, Putin (Vladimir Putin novel): http://vladimirputinnovel.com.

Comments

Aug 22, 2010 12:45 PM

Guest :

I came upon the Herman and Roma Rosenblat tale in June 2008 and it instantly didn't pass my smell test. I found many of its elements implausible, while others were simply contrary to verifiable historical facts. Of course, as a survivor of six German concentration camps I viewed the story from the other side of the fence, so to speak. I contributed my view, citing facts, to numerous sites and joined with some eminent historians and researchers to debunk this hoax.
Jennifer Ciotta is so right. We Holocaust survivors are a dying breed: within the next couple of decades we will be extinct. What concerns us is that the testimony we leave behind is the absolute truth. Not only does a lot of misinformation abound, but there is a whole industry of Holocaust revisionists, deniers, and just unadulterated anti-Semites. The latter had a field day with the Rosenblats. I am greatly bothered by the thought that once we are gone only the lunatic fringe will remain and they will have won.
Somebody please show me that I am wrong.

Aug 23, 2010 1:50 PM

Guest :

I am the "Guest" whose comment was posted on August 22.

Though I ask for follow-up comments, I now note that the only thing I failed to mention is my name. I am Peter Kubicek. I am the author of a Holocaust memoir entitled "1000:1 ODDS"
(see Amazon.com for details), published in 2006. In my memoir I endeavored to be as truthful and succinct as possible: too succinct, in fact, since I left a lot unsaid and I now realize that I could have and should have said more. But nobody can challenge me on the truthfulness of what I wrote. For the truth is my mantra.

Aug 23, 2010 3:20 PM

Jennifer Ciotta :

Peter, that's incredible. I agree with everything you say in regard to what happened with the Rosenblats' fake memoir. It's good to know that your memoir is told with absolute truth and integrity. That is why the next generation will have the correct information about the Holocaust.

In regard to the lunatic fringe taking over, I believe it's just what say, they're lunatics. No one in their right mind will listen to this fringe group esp. since there is plenty of information and documentation to prove the Holocaust existed. I believe the right voices will be heard and remembered. That is why Anne Frank is still a legacy today.

Aug 24, 2010 10:28 AM

Guest :

If someone wrote a fake memoir about NASCAR racing, would it demean the sport? Would it make the history of NASCAR invalid? If someone wrote a fake memoir about their skill as a chef, would it render the history of cooking invalid or irrelevant?

The Holocaust stands as the most egregious genocide against any religious group in history. Were there a thousand fake memoirs about the Holocaust, it could not alter this historical fact or change the way we should feel about it.

We must instead wonder about the incentive of those who clamor publicly over a fake Holocaust memoir. What is their motivation? Is it their intention to suggest that the Holocaust did not occur, or that far fewer Jews perished than facts reveal? What are they trying to say with their faulty logic?

Captured German war records prove that millions of innocent Jews (and tens of thousands of others) were systematically exterminated by Nazi Germany - mostly in gas chambers. These facts have been proven repeatedly through countless thesis and dissertation research papers. Virtually every PhD in the world will stake their career on these known Holocaust FACTS. Despite this knowledge, Holocaust deniers ply their mendacious poison everywhere, especially with young people on the Internet. The deniers have only one agenda - to distort the truth in a way that promotes antagonism against the object of their hatred (Jews), or to deny the culpability of their ancestors and heroes.

Whenever we stand up to those who deny or minimize genocide we send a critical message to the world. As we continue to live in an age of genocide and ethnic cleansing, we must repel the broken ethics of our ancestors, or risk a dreadful repeat of past transgressions. A world that continues to allow genocide requires ethical remediation. We must show the world that religious, racial, ethnic and gender persecution is wrong; and that tolerance is our progeny's only hope. Only through such efforts can we reveal the true horror of genocide and promote the triumphant spirit of humankind.

Charles Weinblatt
Author, Jacob’s Courage
http://jacobscourage.wordpress.com/

Aug 26, 2010 2:44 PM

Guest :

Charles Weinblatt is known to me as one of the good guys for whose views I have the most profound respect. But, as one "who clamored publicly about a fake Holocaust memoir," I must take issue with him about the motives of debunkers. Herman and Roma Rosenblat romanticized the Holocaust and the world was thrilled by the account of their phony romance. I and the respected scholars and researchers who exposed this hoax were viciously attacked by people whose illusions we were destroying. In reality, there was no romance to be found in the Holocaust -- there was only unrelieved brutality.

Rosenblat continued to pile on fake stories during his period of fame and adulation. He thus grotesquely distorted his own genuine suffering, as well as that of his brothers. We now know that his one surviving brother begged him to desist, but Herman just laughed at him, saying "That's Hollywood." He was fully aware that he was acting out a fake story. He thus caused irretrievable damage to the cause of truth about the Holocaust. My only motive was to expose his lies and thus protect the truth.

I am afraid that Charles Weinblatt's sports analogy does not hold water either. We continuously see exposures of lies involving well-known figures in baseball, in golf, in cycling, in athletics, and each such exposure demeans the sport these firgures represent.

Mr. Weinblatt's words about historical truth are eloquent, but they are not enough. The Holocaust is impossible to comprehend. Each fact you learn merely adds a bit of knowledge. Those of us who contributed our testimony must guard that we leave behind a few small tesserae of truth that can be carved in stone.

Peter Kubicek
Author of "1000:1 ODDS"

5 Comments