Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


3

Oprah-Endorsed Holocaust Memoir Attacked as Fake

Experts say author's Buchenwald love story couldn't have happened

Share

(Newser) – The Oprah-hyped author of an amazing memoir of love and Holocaust survival is being labeled the latest publishing fake by some researchers, the New Republic reports. Herman Rosenblat tells a poignant story of how a young girl saved him when he was a child prisoner at Buchenwald by giving him food over the fence daily. He married that same girl years later after a blind date. But now Holocaust experts say his tale would have been impossible.

Neither Rosenblat nor the girl would have been allowed anywhere near the fence, according to experts, and Rosenblat's fellow survivors say he never mentioned the girl. The president of a studio soon to start filming a movie based on the story is fiercely defensive of Rosenblat, although he acknowledges the story may have been embellished. Critics say that while Rosenblat's wartime suffering is not in doubt, adding a kitschy love story sanitizes the horrors of the Holocaust.

Herman and Roma Rosenblat pose for a photo in their North Miami Beach, Fla. home, i September as they talk about
Herman and Roma Rosenblat pose for a photo in their North Miami Beach, Fla. home, i September as they talk about "Angel Girl."   (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)
Family photographs hang on the wall of Herman and Roma Rosenblat's North Miami Beach, Fla. home.
Family photographs hang on the wall of Herman and Roma Rosenblat's North Miami Beach, Fla. home.   (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)
Herman and Roma Rosenblat pose for a photo in their North Miami Beach, Fla. home as they talk about
Herman and Roma Rosenblat pose for a photo in their North Miami Beach, Fla. home as they talk about "Angel Girl."   (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
A book trailer to promote the children's picture book 'Angel Girl.'   (LernerPublishing)

View larger videos >>
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next »

That he was able to meet at a fence with a girl in hiding every day through the winter months of 1945 without anybody knowing, or anybody seeing, it's just not plausible.
- Professor Kenneth Waltzer, director of the Jewish Studies program at Michigan State University

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.24.09
Murdoch and Microsoft: The Mice Are Trying to Roar
11.23.09
Books Are Bad for You
3 comments
VIEWING:
 
mikelo
Dec 27, 08 1:18 AM CST
'' even i fake, you going to listen to me '' Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
mikelo
Dec 27, 08 1:21 AM CST
ya, i am investing my money, '' you will listen any story'' Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
Shannonals
Dec 27, 08 2:01 PM CST
Doesn't she have a staff who vets these people out? Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

63 Stories

(Newser) - Sarah Palin's book is already a sensation, and she hasn't even appeared on Oprah's couch yet. No question it will sell, but what other purposes might it serve for the self-styled rogue Republican, Andy Barr wonders in Politico . Herewith, his benchmarks to measure the book tour and media frenzy:
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Katie Couric • Barbara Walters • Oprah Winfrey • memoir • book • Sarah Palin • Going Rogue

book preview

 10 Juiciest Going Rogue Tidbits 

From what she left in (Couric sniping) to what she left out (an index)

Nov 13, 09 11:37 AM CST
(Newser) - The moment America has been waiting for is almost here—the release of Sarah Palin’s memoir Going Rogue is just days away! For those who can't wait, Azaria Jagger of Gawker details the 10 juiciest tidbits that have leaked so far:
  • John McCain: Palin claims his campaign
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
John McCain • Katie Couric • CBS • memoir • book • Sarah Palin • McCain-Palin • Going Rogue • Animal Farm • The Pearl • Sarah Palin Going Rogue

 Palin Slams 
 Katie Couric 
 in Book 

Calls her 'badgering' and biased in her memoir

Nov 12, 09 6:22 PM CST
(Newser) - The Sarah Palin details are rolling in fast and furious. Some nuggets gleaned from the AP 's advance look at her new book and her taped interview with Oprah today:
  • She writes that Katie Couric was "badgering" and used only "gotcha" moments in their campaign interviews because
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Katie Couric • Oprah Winfrey • memoir • Sarah Palin • vice presidential candidate • Levi Johnston • Going Rogue

63 Stories


Oprah-endorsed memoir may be a fake
Jossip

Expert explains her doubts
Deborah Lipstadt


Arts & Living 
TwitterFollow @NewserArts on Twitter

 
Holocaust • Oprah Winfrey • concentration camp • publisher • memoir • book

from our news partners