''Angel at the Fence: The True Story of a Love That Survived'', written by Herman Rosenblat, was a fictitious Holocaust memoir purporting to tell the true story of the author's reunion with, and marriage to, a girl who had passed him food through the barbed-wire fence when he was imprisoned at the

Schlieben Schlieben ( dsb, Sliwin) is a town in the Elbe-Elster district, in southwestern Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated north of Bad Liebenwerda. Schlieben was the site of a concentration camp during the Holocaust. History From 1815 to 1944, Schlie ...

subcamp of the

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...

in World War II. The book was scheduled for publication by Berkley Books in February 2009, but its publication was canceled on December 27, 2008, when it was discovered that the book's central events were untrue. Prior to being exposed as a fabrication, the film rights to the book were purchased for $25 million by producer Harris Salomon of Atlantic Overseas Pictures. Other fans of the story included

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

, who described it as the single greatest love story she had heard in 22 years of doing her show.

The story

Fabricated by Rosenblat, the story states that, beginning in the winter of 1944, a nine-year-old Jewish girl, posing as a Christian from a local farm, met Rosenblat at the electrified perimeter fence of the Schlieben concentration camp and tossed him an apple over the fence. She continued passing him food for seven months until he was transferred to another camp. According to Rosenblat, they met in 1957 on a blind date at Coney Island, New York, and, while relating their personal histories, discovered their shared past. Shortly afterwards, they married.

Authenticity questioned

Several Holocaust scholars, including Deborah Lipstadt, raised questions about “the central premise of his narrative — that a girl met him at the fence and that very girl became his wife,” and suggested that that premise "is, at the very least, an embellishment, and at worst, a wholesale fabrication." Friends and family members also raised questions about the truth of statements in the book. Professor Kenneth Waltzer, director of the Jewish Studies program at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

, stated that maps of Schlieben indicate that neither prisoners nor civilians could have approached the perimeter fence because one could only obtain access immediately next to the SS barracks. Waltzer also determined that Rosenblat's wife, as well as her family, were hidden as Christians at a farm near Breslau, 210 miles away from Schlieben. A number of researchers, including forensic genealogists Sharon Sergeant and Colleen Fitzpatrick, as well as several Holocaust survivors, worked with Waltzer in uncovering the deception and bringing it to the attention of reporters. Rosenblat and the publisher initially maintained that the story was truthful. Berkley Books subsequently stated that it was "canceling publication of ''Angel at the Fence'' after receiving new information from Herman Rosenblat's agent, Andrea Hurst," and "will demand that the author and the agent return all money that they have received for this work." Rosenblat, who was in fact imprisoned in Schlieben, has acknowledged that the story of meeting his wife there was invented.Conan, Neal (December 29, 2008)
Holocaust Memoir Exposed As Fake.
'' Talk of the Nation'', National Public Radio

Related works

A children's version of the story, entitled ''Angel Girl'' (), written by

Laurie Friedman Laurie B. Friedman (born 1964) is an American author. Friedman is best known for the Mallory McDonald chapter book series for 7–10-year olds, published by Darby Creek, a division of Lerner Publishing Group Lerner Publishing Group, based in ...

and illustrated by Ofra Amit, was published in September 2008 by

Carolrhoda Books Lerner Publishing Group, based in Minneapolis in the U.S. state of Minnesota since its founding in 1959, is one of the largest independently owned children's book publishers in the United States. With more than 5,000 titles in print, Lerner Publi ...

of Lerner Publishing Group. In August 2009, York House Press published a paperback by Penelope Holt titled ''The Apple: Based on the Herman Rosenblat Holocaust Love Story'' (). In June 2010, Salomon and Atlantic Overseas Pictures signed a co-production agreement with Castel Film Studios, the largest film studio in Central and Eastern Europe and the studio for '' Cold Mountain'' and '' Borat'', to produce a feature film on the Herman Rosenblat affair, in spite of the cancellation of the story's publication. The $25 million

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

of the book, titled ''Flower of the Fence'', was to be based on an original screenplay by Ivo Marloh, and was to be shot in 2011. Salomon said the film would be a "loose and fictionalised adaptation" unaffected by issues with the memoir's authenticity.Herman Rosenblat's Holocaust memoir of love is exposed as a hoax
from '' The Times'' The film, however, was never made.

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Love Lessons from Amazing Couples
via Oprah.com
Untrue Stories, article & video on how Holocaust memoir hoaxes are busted
American romance novels Books about the Holocaust Cancelled books Holocaust-related hoaxes Literary forgeries Polish romance novels Written fiction presented as fact

The story

Authenticity questioned

Related works

See also

References

External links