The Wilkomirski Affair: A Study in Biographical TruthKnopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 29 jul 2009 - 512 pagina's This is the definitive report on Fragments, Binjamin Wilkomirski's invented "memoir" of a childhood spent in concentration camps, which created international turmoil. In 1995 Fragments, a memoir by a Swiss musician named Binjamin Wilkomirski, was published in Germany. Hailed by critics, who compared it with the masterpieces of Primo Levi and Anne Frank, the book received major prizes and was translated into nine languages. The English-language edition was published by Schocken in 1996. In Fragments, Wilkomirski described in heart-wrenching detail how as a small child he survived internment in Majdanek and Birkenau and was eventually smuggled into Switzerland at the war's end. But three years after the book was first published, articles began to appear that questioned its authenticity and the author's claim that he was a Holocaust survivor. Stefan Maechler, a Swiss historian and expert on anti-Semitism and Switzerland's treatment of refugees during and after World War II, was commissioned on behalf of the publishers of Fragments to conduct a full investigation into Wilkomirski's life. Maechler was given unrestricted access to hundreds of government and personal documents, interviewed eyewitnesses and family members in seven countries, and discovered facts that completely refute Wilkomirski's book. The Maechler report has implications far beyond the tragic story of one individual's deluded life. It explores our feelings about survivor literature and the impact these works can have on our remembrance of the Holocaust. |
Inhoudsopgave
3 | |
22 | |
The Origins of Fragments | 84 |
A Global Literary Event III | 111 |
The Truth of the Biography | 263 |
Notes | 319 |
Select Bibliography | 368 |
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Aeberhard anymore April Archives asked Augustiańska Street Auschwitz barracks Bern Bernstein Biel Guardianship Authorities Binjamin Wilkomirski Birkenau birth block warden Bruno Grosjean child survivors childhood children's home concentration camp Conversation with Wilkomirski Daniel Ganzfried Die Weltwoche Długa documents Dössekker Elena Lappin experience eyes father feel film foster parents Fragments Frau Grosz Ganzfried's Grabowski happened historian historical Holocaust Memorial Museum identity Jankl Jerzy Kosinski Jewish Jews July Karola knew komirski Koralnik Kosinski Kraków later Laura Grabowski Lauren Stratford Lea Balint letter Liepman lived looked Majdanek Maroko mirski mother Motti Nazi never Nidau orphanage past Poland remember Riga Ruth Klüger Sandberg screaming Shoah Foundation Sparr Stauffer Swiss Switzerland Tages-Anzeiger tape tell things thought tion told took traumatic victim video interview voice Weltwoche Wilko Wilkomirski says Wilkomirski's story woman Yad Vashem Yvonne Zurich