WILKOMIRSKI AFFAIR, THE(ISBN=) 英文原版

　　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 heartwrenching 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.

　　Stefan Maechler studied history and German literature at the
University of Zurich. He lives in Zurich.