Author admits making up memoir of surviving Holocaust

[Jim O]

Eleven years after the publication of her best-selling Holocaust memoir - a heartwarming tale of a small Jewish girl trekking across Europe and living with wolves - the Massachusetts author yesterday admitted the whole story was a hoax.

In a statement issued by her Belgian lawyer, Misha Defonseca of Dudley, whose book, "Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years," has been translated into 18 languages and is the basis for a new French movie, "Survivre avec les Loups" ("Surviving With the Wolves"), confessed that she is not Jewish and that she spent the war safely in Brussels.

The 1997 book was the center of a multimillion-dollar legal battle pitting Defonseca and her coauthor, Vera Lee of Newton, against publisher Jane Daniel of Gloucester. The book was a bestseller in Europe and Canada, and attracted attention from Walt Disney Co. and Oprah Winfrey, but it sold few copies in the United States, largely because the marketing stopped after the authors sued...

Full story: Author admits making up memoir of surviving Holocaust - The Boston Globe

[cyberia]

I don't know if I should feel anger that she intruded on the true stories of actual survivors of the Holocaust, or take the view that she contributed to helping continue a high level of Holocaust awareness.

[Whiterook]

Not a fine representative of my fair State!

[Horch]

Originally Posted by cyberia

or take the view that she contributed to helping continue a high level of Holocaust awareness.

She perpetrated a scam in order to literately 'steal' big bucks. Anyone who does that sort of thing regardless of the subject should be persecuted to the full extent of the law.If anything, it degrades the subject at hand.Totally inexcusable.

[MAGNA]

This is the third instance I have heard of someone using the guise of a holocaust victim to make money on a book.

It really is a bad thing for everyone as it makes it hard to be sure whether you are reading a true account at any time.

It's a pity there isn't some way of verifying these things before they are published.

Still, some people will believe what they want too anyway.

[Horch]

I have read of several such instances in the past also. I am sure there must be a lot that haven;t been let known. It can sure make one wonder. Those examples sure can't help any cause in the positive sense.

[Klaus]

Great. Now everytime I read about a holocoust survivor I ask myself: "IS it true?" In my opinion very bad for the whole discussion. There are already too much people out there who deny the Holocoust. Things like that just add fuel.

[Jim O]

Originally Posted by Klaus

There are already too much people out there who deny the Holocoust. Things like that just add fuel.

That's a good point. Soon enough they will all be gone and the world will only have their stories. It is better that there be less doubt about it.

[Klaus]

Yeah. Problem ist that stories like to fade away over time. Enough effort put into it, someone could make future generations believe it never happened.