Story Archive

Holocaust Profits

The book Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years is the story of a young Jewish girl who is described fleeing to the woods, being raised by wolves, and killing a Nazi. When it gained a high profile in Europe — including being made into a French movie and an Italian opera — skeptics questioned the veracity of the tale. They were right: the author was born Monique De Wael, and when her parents died, she was raised by relatives and sent to Catholic school. She’s not even Jewish. She admitted, “This story is mine. It is not actually reality, but my reality, my way of surviving.” A judge has ordered her to return $22.5 million in royalties to her publisher. (AC/Los Angeles Times) ...The publisher is trying to collect the money, but the author says in her reality, she already paid.