Touching Holocaust Story A Hoax

Would-Be Author Admits His Version Of History Was Fiction

(CBS)  The publication of a holocaust memoir called "Angel at the Fence" has been canceled. It was written by Herman Rosenblat, a holocaust survivor, but his story was too good to be true.

The Rosenblat's marriage seemed tailor-made for movies and memoirs, reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella. A love story born in Hitler's Europe at a German labor camp.

"I saw a little girl on the other side of the barbed wire," Herman Rosenblat said.

Twelve-year-old Herman was a prisoner, the girl on the other side, he said -- his savior.

"She took out an apple out of her jacket and she threw it over the fence," Herman said. "I grabbed the apple and I ran."

Years later Rosenblat, now an adult, said he met that same girl on a blind date in New York.

"And that was it," Herman said. "I knew right then and there we were going to get married."

The story inspired a children's book, two appearances on the Oprah Winfrey show, a movie deal and memoir in the works and countless interviews.

Some historians believed him too, but one recently raised red flags. The timeline, he said, didn't work, and the fence was too high. On Saturday, Berkley Books canceled Rosenblat's memoir "Angel at the Fence." In a statement he admitted his version of history was fiction.

Fellow Holocaust survivor Sidney Finkel appeared on the Oprah show with Rosenblat last year.

"I regret I didn't have the courage to really face him with it because I wasn't really 100 percent sure, but I pretty well knew that it was a made up story," Finkel said.

Rosenblat did survive a concentration camp, and his 50-year marriage to Roma is real. A seemingly unrepentant Rosenblat says he made up the rest to bring people happiness and hope..

---

Holocaust scholar Michael Berenbaum sat down with Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez to discuss the implications of the revelation that the Rosenblat's story was fiction. To view, click the Play button below.

[misssuzq]

OK, if you classify it as Fiction, is it a good book? Do you get something out of it?

The book by Frey that was on Oprah - everyone loved it. Then we found out it was not true.

Again...so what if someone learned something positive from it???

[daniellemill]

Question: Who exactly was hurt by this lie besides Oprah..but lets be honest, the woman can stand to take a few hits..

So he made up the story to bring "happiness and hope" to people? Well, I can think of one segment of the population he''s certainly brought happiness and hope to... The Holocaust deniers thank you, Mr. Rosenblat! Perhaps you can even look forward to them ordering massive quantities of that children''s book about you, for distribution to schools all over America. And when the movie makes it to DVD, you''ve got that market locked up, baby!

If Bernie Madoff pushed Jews back 50 years, Rosenblat can take credit for pushing them back another 50. Any more takers? Should we settle for a return to pogroms, or should we take this baby all the way back to the era of the Spanish Inquisition?!

There are questions that I''d like to see answered, but perhaps never will be. For starters, how long has Rosenblat been telling this story? Is it a story that he and his wife have been telling their children, grandchildren, relatives and friends for the past half century? Or did he make it up only recently?

If the latter, then one does have to conclude, sadly, that a whole bunch of people, by their silence, have been complicit in this fraud. Can you imagine your father or mother going on Oprah telling a story like this when you''d never heard it from them yourself?

And what about his wife, Roma? She''s as much a part of this fabrication as he is. How did this happen? How and when did this web get spun, and just how many people were willing participants in that spinning?

[rsmik]

Lochlan - that''s Irish, right? And you are an authority on holocaust stories? Are you drunk? You must be drunk, because everyone knows the Irish do nothing but drink, right? Or is that just another story from "those who control our media"?

[cbsblogger]

"To bring people happiness and hope", that''s what Rosenblat said. Bernie Madoff said the same thing.

There must be an affliction that causes one to believe that more $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ should usurp ethics and honesty.

[hetup-2009]

Smiling all the way to the bank. Lies are justified when it comes to money.

[spiritwalk]

Don''''t take people.. ANYBODY! Word for word.. Ever again!
Posted by william471
%u2026%u2026%u2026%u2026%u2026%u2026%u2026%u2026%u2026%u2026%u2026%u2026%u2026%u2026%u2026.

Which is pretty sad. Especially with a subject like the holocaust.
Growing up I was taught to believe that the holocaust happened, as I was being told%u2026and...that people were basically honorable.
Then along came %u201CHogan%u2019s Heroes%u201D. At the time a large number of people were offended at the idea of a comedy about Nazi prison camps. TV Guide then did a story about Robert Clary (Cpl. LeBeau). It told about how he had been in a Nazis concentration camp and had seen his family murdered by the Nazis. The result was that people then backed off on their criticism on the basis of %u201Cif he can see the humor in it%u2026%u201D
I was appalled. This guy had supposedly seen his family murdered by Nazis and he was making light of the Nazis. He is running around in scenes where he is playing with the German guard dogs after saying that he saw people ton apart by guard dogs.
What conclusion can you come to except that either his holocaust story is not true or that he is so dishonorable that he would make fun of it to get an acting job?
I don%u2019t want to think I have been lied to about the holocaust and I want to believe that people are basically honorable, but I guess I can%u2019t have both. If I can only have one of these to believe, I don%u2019t know which I would choose.

[spiritwalk]

Posted by HymieTown1
.........................

The name says it all.

This is why there are no innocent lies. By telling one "innocent lie" about the holocaust it gives the ignorant the basis to deny the entire holocaust. Which leads them to feeling enabled to use a name like "Hymietown".

People are ruled by their emotions; their emotions are ruled by their prejudices, their prejudices are ruled by their ignorances and their ignorances are ruled by the lies excite their emotions.

You may critcize people like Mel Gibson and his father for denying the holocaust, but you can''t totally blame them when holocaust survivors keep getting caught lying about the holocaust.

"Hymietown" chose to use the name, but Rosenblat helped create the climate where it is acceptable.

[fantod-2009]

And one day the truth will be told that we never really landed on the moon!

[fantod-2009]

And one day the truth will be told that we never really landed on the moon!

[bjcone8559]

The fence was too high to throw an apple over? My grandmother could throw an apple over a FIFTY-FOOT fence with ease!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by BRdeckard



WOW!!
Where''s your grandmother... is she married?

[fantod-2009]

And one day the truth will be told that we never really landed on the moon!

[neonink]

btw my grandfather died at aushwitz......he fell out of a guard tower!!
Posted by dannyc1975

--- Say he was pushed by this guy and write a "memoir" about it. It could be a juicy non-factually based bestseller of hyperbole in the biography section. Or as today we call it, non-fiction fiction.

[nothappyatall]

A seemingly unrepentant Rosenblat says he made up the rest to bring people happiness and hope.."

Yeah right, and maybe sell some BOOKS with this bogus story eh? it was all about the book MONEY and fame admit it shyster!

[observer2020]

"...integrity, truth, honesty and history..."
Posted by Credibility2

There is absolutely NO integrity, truth, honesty in history. History is told by the winners and the winner has their own "spin" on exactly what happened. Actually, there is extremely little (if any) integrity, truth, and honesty in today''s world much less history. And that''s very sad.

[mykysmom]

Hey Fool, I''m not trashing, nor am I making it about race. Fact is, EVERY SINGLE TIME the news story involves someone who is not white (good or bad) it turns into ''lets kill all of the negros via the web''. Never is any responsibility taken when white goes wrong. There are reasons and excuses for why he did it. "oh he saw a movie" or "it''s partially true". It was all a bunch of bull. Admit it and move on. He''s not the first, certainly not the last who has lied about his past, or present for that matter.

[you_fools]

why do haters have to make this a race thing? Are they that unhapy with their own lives that they have to trash others..

[mykysmom]

I am so glad he is NOT black! Whew! Thanks fat white man. Finally, you guys did something wrong. You all know that if it were a black person who had done this, the thread would be FULL. CBS would have to disable the publish button to allow everyone to post. Ah Ha! Jew, Gentile, whatever. He ain''t black.

[samael2014]

Rosenblat did survive a concentration camp, and his 50-year marriage to Roma is real. A seemingly unrepentant Rosenblat says he made up the rest to bring people happiness and hope..

I think I remember a Law and Order episode awhile back (clearly before this became public) based on the premise of a some Holocaust survivor relic, book or document which was destroyed or mutilated by someone and in turn this person was MURDERED by some Jewish psycho (I use these terms mutually exclusive, because the character was indeed Jewish, and by his actions clearly a psychopath to ever value human life more than a physical religious document under ANY circumstance). The Jewish murderer in this Law and Order story was was given some ridiculous commuted sentence for aggravated assault or something (not insanity or anything that would require his being separated from normal society or punished for taking another human life like you would expect).

As in many Law and Order stories, this one had an even more ironic ending (doubly so). The destroyed document which "motivated" the killing, was actually fake and merely held up to be authentic by some Jewish rabbi or other religious elder because it brought people "happiness and hope".

I''m guessing this Law and Order episode was probably in reaction to some different self-exploitation of the Holocaust theme. Apparently they''re pretty common.