December 29th, 2008
01:43 PM ET

False Holocaust memoir canceled

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Motoko Rich and Joseph Berger
The New York Times

A man whose memoir about his experience during the Holocaust was to have been published in February has admitted that his story was embellished, and on Saturday evening his publisher canceled the release of the book.

And once again a New York publisher and Oprah Winfrey were among those fooled by a too-good-to-be-true story.

This time, it was the tale of Herman Rosenblat, who said he first met his wife while he was a child imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp and she, disguised as a Christian farm girl, tossed apples over the camp’s fence to him. He said they met again on a blind date 12 years after the end of war in Coney Island and married. The couple celebrated their 50th anniversary this year.


Filed under: 360° Radar • Oprah Winfrey
soundoff (8 Responses)
  1. Jane

    Why lie? Wasn't the reality horrible enough?

    December 29, 2008 at 7:40 pm |
  2. Ruth

    As a Holocaust Survivor I am apalled that one would lie about such an important past of our history. There are many Holocaust Survivors who are out there woking hard telling their stories to school children and keeping memories alive.This like the Madoff Case puts a dark mark on us Jews. As if it isn't already a big problem ANTISEMITISM! This will make things much worse for us Jews. Shame on you Mr Rosenblat. I am not sure how you will be able to face your friends and neighbors. Didn't you think of the consequences prior to telling your fake story?

    December 29, 2008 at 6:47 pm |
  3. Melissa, Los Angeles

    I saw the interview with Rosenblat and it disappoints me to know he lied. There simply is no excuse for his lies and I don't blame Oprah or the publishers. Rosenblat is to blame for misleading all of us.

    December 29, 2008 at 6:01 pm |
  4. sarah,doha

    i saw the episode where the "writer" came in and showed pictures of him self and he's wife when they first met and there wedding pictures ..
    i just don't understand why they lie about it i mean aren't they aware that people might find out eventually weren't there people around them when they grew up and knew that it was completely a lie before there book became a best seller and collected more money after being on oprah book club !
    don't they feel guilty about selling A lie to people and toy with there emotions !

    December 29, 2008 at 5:34 pm |
  5. Claudia, Houston, Tx

    It's not about Oprah fact checking for us, it's about someone lying about one of the most horrible events in history to cash in on.

    December 29, 2008 at 2:33 pm |
  6. Annie Kate

    Glad there is not going to be another literary hoax out. It sounds like a couple of organizations need to fact check what some writers claim to be truth a lot better than they have been doing. When something like this happens it makes the publishers and the show hostesses look really bad.

    December 29, 2008 at 2:22 pm |
  7. Tammy, Berwick. LA

    Fortunately, truth wins here. When teaching Night it was so hard convincing kids that something that horrible was real. But Mr. Wiesel's truth spoke for itself. And my students learned from him. How many are still alive who have real stories that can be shared and honored? How many can still learn from their truths and not made up fiction that will sell a pretty story?

    False history serves no one. It is an insult to those who actually were there in the real events of our collective pasts. It is an insult to those who want to learn from what was. It is an insult to those in the future who will only have accounts from the past to gauge where they are and need to go.

    I find it sad that Oprah's people don't do a better job of fact checking before they put someone on the air and let her publicly support that person. It discredits her and her program to an extent, and that's a shame because of the good work she has done over the years.

    And for publishing companies, the fact that they don't check sources for accuracy says how much the dollar matters and the reality doesn't. So much for truth in publishing. Thank goodness the historians were watching this one and spoke the truth. At least someone did. Otherwise we'd have another pretty Holocaust story when the reality of this event was anything but.

    December 29, 2008 at 2:13 pm |
  8. Cindy

    I find it funny that these so called "bookees" can be so easily duped! Can they not spot a fake a mile away? Rosenblat's story sounded fake to me from the get go. You'd think they would atleast look into the stories before buying and publishing them as the truth, or having them on their shows and praising them for it.


    December 29, 2008 at 1:53 pm |