Here's the Boston Globe story on this phony survivor. I am filled with loathing at this person's action. It's not only that she made this all up but then she ruined her publisher's life [the woman may lose her home] because she was not satisfied with the way she handled her book.
The Boston Globe reporter with whom I spoke [his story will be published shortly] suggested she did it for the money.
Who knows? Who cares? Her apologies just don't cut it.
Though credit is due David Mehegan, the Gobe reporter. He smell a rat seven years ago, as his story from then demonstrates.
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« The Boston Globe reporter with whom I spoke [his story will be published shortly] suggested she did it for the money. »
Her account that she had begun lying before she became a writer suggests quite the opposite. Did Rabbi Heiligman who asked her to tell her story at Temple Beth Torah in Holliston (1) give her money ? Did she enter the jewish community by following the usual steps of jewish converts, or had she been lying about her jewish identity even earlier in her life ?
Charles C. Dike's definition of "pathological lying" : "falsification entirely disproportionate to any discernible end in view, may be extensive and very complicated, and may manifest over a period of years or even a lifetime"(2), seems fitting.
(1) see Blake Eskin, "Why did it take so long for a far-fetched Holocaust memoir to be debunked?", Slate, feb 29 2008, http://www.slate.com/id/2185493/
(2) Charles C. Dike, MD, MRCPsych, MPH, et al. Pathological Lying Revisited. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. Retrieved on 2008-01-21, quoted by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudologia_fantastica
I did not say I agree with the reporter. Could be that she is a liar, lives in a fantasy world, whatever...but as Blake Eskin says in the article you cite:
Defonseca has suffered greatly at the hands of the Nazis. But her empathy with Jewish suffering went too far, and "feeling Jewish" does not give her license for such narcissistic disregard for the suffering of actual Jews. For others to continue telling the story of Misha, especially now that she acknowledges it's a fable, is an affront to those authentic Holocaust survivors with sad but not otherworldly stories, to the memory of those who did not live to document their own fate, and to those who take the study of history seriously.
To continue to sell the book or the film as non-fiction would be an affront, but is anyone planning to do this ? Are not the publishers and film makers saying that they now want to sell the book and film as fiction ?
The publisher is ruined and is trying to recoup some of her losses by writing a book about the incident. I have a link to her site and a comment by her in my latest post.
I am not sure what is going on in Europe with the various publications.
I suggest you go to the researcher's and the publisher's sites [linked in my latest post] for more details about this.
I find the whole thing revolting.
The Internet Holocaust deniers are, as you might expect, having a field day with this one. "Look! Another 'Holohoax'!"
This sad story has become yet another way deniers use the "falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus" canard: A fake memoir (sadly, *another* fake memoir) means *no* eyewitness testimony can be trusted.
This kind of episode is not only a horrible disservice to history and an insult to true survivors, it gives aid and comfort to the enemies of the truth.
-Sara
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