ZGram - 11/6/2004 - "The Holocaust Survivor genre" - Story 1

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

Zgram - Where Truth is Destiny:  Now more than ever!

November 6, 2004

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

In case you are short of Holocaust survivor stories, here are two 
more for you - one for today, and one for tomorrow.  After all, we 
must never forget!

Remember Wilkomirski - he of the Holocaust survivor memoir, 
Fragments, that received several prestigious awards and was 
subsequently exposed as a hoax?  Imagine my surprise that here have 
another hoaxer of the same ever-lucrative genre:

[START]

Perth, Western Australia, Sunday, October 31, 2004

  Holocaust man's claims queried

  By Catherine Madden and Jim Kelly

A WA author who wrote a book allegedly based on his harrowing life as 
a  Holocaust survivor is at the centre of a row over his credibility.

  UWA Press has pulled copies of Stolen Soul  from bookshops after a 
private  investigator was called in to probe the author's background.

  The book, written by Secret Harbour man Bernard Holstein -- whose 
real name  is Bernard Brougham -- claims to be "the amazing true 
story of survival and  mateship in Auschwitz".

  The publisher describes the book as "an epic read full of stories of 
how  Bernard underwent experiments, assisted the Underground and even 
escaped, only to  be recaptured and subjected to even greater 
torture".

  But this week a UWA Press spokeswoman admitted the publishing house 
removed  the book because of doubts about the author's credibility.

  A fake Auschwitz tattoo

  Initially, it was convinced of the authenticity of the memoirs of 
Brougham,  who sports a tattoo of the number 111404 on the inside of 
his left arm, similar  to those given to Jews by the Nazis.

  Brougham, 69, a mining camp cook, says his story is true -- but 
concedes he  may never be able to prove it.

  "It is true, it did happen," he said, acknowledging he had little to 
support  his claims and might never convince his detractors that his 
death camp  experiences were real.

  He has no immigration papers, no German birth certificate and no 
living  witnesses who could verify his arrival in Sydney from a 
post-war holding camp in  Cyprus.

  "All I have is what is in my memory," he said. "But I have got 
nothing to  hide. This book is an account of what happened in my life.

  "I am not a liar, what I have written is true. People might ask how 
a boy who  was only nine at the time can remember what happened in so 
much detail but I  can tell you, once you step through the gates into 
the barracks at Auschwitz,  you instantly grow up. I remember 
everything. I still have nightmares about  it."

  On the strength of the book Brougham was invited to talk to 
schoolchildren at  the Holocaust Institute in Yokine.

  His story was questioned when his NSW foster family called UWA Press 
claiming  that not only was he not born in Holstein, Germany, as he 
said, but he was  not Jewish.

  By this stage the book had sold out its first print run and Brougham 
was  already at work on a sequel, revealing how he fled to Australia 
after Auschwitz  was liberated.

  A private investigator employed by UWA Press claims that Brougham 
was born in  country NSW [New South Wales, Australia], baptised a 
Roman Catholic in 1942,  made his Confirmation in 1952 and even spent 
time in a seminary training to  become a priest.

  Brougham says he was raised as a Catholic in Australia and his 
step-parents  never discussed his Jewish heritage.

  He said he would take a DNA test to prove he was not related to his 
five  step-siblings in a bid to authenticate his story and convince 
UWA Press that it  was true.

  "I remember that three doctors who were members of the Underground 
(resistance fighters) told me that 'one or two or three of you boys 
are going to get out  of this hell hole and you must tell the world 
what happened here'," he said.

  In the book he claims that a tearful exchange with a German tourist 
several  years ago convinced him to write his memoirs, which cost him 
about $70,000 to  have ghost-written and published.

  The book has been selling on the Angus & Robertson website for 
$26.95 and  Brougham has made several book-signing appearances.

  Publicity for the book said Bernard Holstein "endured two years of 
hell" at  Auschwitz. Despite his ordeal, "Bernard survived and has 
now fulfilled his  promise to tell the story the world needs to know. 
Stolen Soul is Bernard's story.  His memories, his tears, his belief 
in the human spirit are all contained  within its pages."

http://www.fpp.co.uk/Auschwitz/docs/fake/WA_SundayTimes_301004.html

[END]

In bygone days, we would just ridicule or shun a liar - not so today! 
When Wilkomirski's book, Fragments, was shown up for a hoax, all 
sorts of Holocaust pundits rushed to his defense. Deborah Dwork, for 
instance, who makes a nifty living as director of the Center for 
Holocaust Studies at Clark  University (Worcester, Mass.), expressed 
sympathy for Wilkomirski and actually took the publishers to task for 
having "exploited" Wilkomirski. (New York  Times, Nov. 3, 1998).

Likewise, Bernard Holstein aka Bernard Brougham has tasted victimhood 
and found it to his liking.  Expect him to sue a Holocaust Denier.

tomorrow:  The Holocaust Survivor genre - Story 2