Okay, so I'm a sucker for a great love story. So when I got the assignment to comment yet again on another Holocaust story, I sought out something that had some assemblance of a "happy ending". I am a true believer of God's written word which states that all things are used for His glory and, in this, I think He has shone.
I'll begin with, once upon a time there was a young boy named Herman Rosenblat in a concentration camp in Nazi-controlled Germany. A girl a bit younger than the boy was living free in the village. Her name was Roma Radziki. Her family were posing as Christians. She spotted him through the barbed-wire fence and thought him handsome. She tossed an apple over the fence, for which he gratefully ate. Day after day, for months she would return and toss over the apples. They never spoke a word to one another in all that time.
This young man's father's life was one of the many cut short by the tyrantical abuse thrust upon the Jewish people. But on his deathbed he told his son, "If you ever get out of this war don't carry a grudge in your heart and tolerate everybody." Herman was only 12 years old.
One day Herman spoke to Roma. He told her he was being relocated and for her not to return again. So at that point, they thought their brief dalliance was at an end. They both went on to survive the war. Roma went to school to become a nurse in Israel, and Herman went to London and became an electrician.
Eventually Herman moved to New York. One day a friend fixed him up on a blind date. He was not very interested, but agreed to go. All went well, she was Polish and easy to talk to. Eventually their conversation turned to wartime experiences. When he spoke of the camps he was in, she in turn mentioned her time in Schlieben, hiding from the Germans at the same time as Herman. She spoke of the handsome boy she tossed apples to and how he was sent away. Herman's only response was, "That boy was me."
Herman proposed to Roma that night. She declined, thinking him crazy, and eventually said yes two months later. They were married at a synagogue and have loved one another ever since. Their story has inspired a children's book entitled "Angel Girl". There are plans to make it into a film called "The Flower of the Fence". Herman is planning to publish his memoirs next year.
Herman and Roma have been married 50 years. They often tell their story to Jewish and other groups. He believes his father's words led him in his life lessons. He says, "Not to hate and to love- that's what I am lecturing about. Not to hold a grudge and to tolerate everybody, to love people, to be tolerant of people, no matter who they are or what they are." He has forgiven the anger and atrocity.....now he has a life filled with love and his father's lesson to carry on.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081012/ap_on_re_us/holocaust_love_story_3
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3 comments:
O my goodness!
That is thee most precious story I have heard in a very long time! You told the tale eloquently too, I might add! I would love to read more of such stories, for they renew my faith and hope in such things...thank you for sharing that story of love beyond all odds.
Lisa
it IS a precious story, approved by Oprah, but do you know that some people doubt the veracity of the early part of the backstory, the part about the apples and the fence....it might not be true at all, that part. the rest is true of course....but maybe not the HOW THEY MET part.....and HOW THEY MET AGAIN 15 YEARS LATER part by chance and remembered each other from that apple fence thing..... i hope it IS true, but many people play with the truth these days....see my blog here for background......
http://northwardho.blogspot.com
Danny
I also love the story, but as a reporter, I feel it might not be completely true. The jury is still out on this. What do YOU think? email me at
danbloom AT gmail DOT com
Herman and Roma Rosenblat create a media stir with their amazing backstory and a book titled "Angel Girl"
"Angel Girl" creates a media stir with touching backstory of how
Herman and Roma Rosenblat first "met" in wartime Germany -- but some
observers question accuracy of elderly couples "memories"
It's just a 24-page children's book
written by popular kids author Laurie Friedman, but the story behind
the book's genesis is causing a stir among grown-ups nationwide. You
probably have read the Associated Press news wire story by ace AP
reporter Matt Sedensky that hit the newspapers recently and exploded
on the blogosphere with touching blog posts and commentaries from
coast to coast.
Boy meets girl in wartime Germany, girl throws apples across a guarded
security fence to boy, boy and girl move to different countries after
the war, never see each other again .... until they go on blind date
in New York in 1958 and "realize" they knew each other "back then".
He proposes on the spot, she accepts, they marry, raise a family, move
to Florida, go on Oprah Winfrey show, get two book contracts and a
movie deal. Life can't be more wonderfull that this, right?
But now, in the wake of the AP story's huge reader response and with
some critical reviews of the children's book on amazon.com's website,
some questions have arisen over the "truth" of "Angle Girl" -- the
children's book about Herman and Roma Rosenblat that Laurie Friedman
published this year. It is important to note here that the Rosenblat
did not write the book, a third party wrote it, and she based her text
on independent research she did and on long conversations she had with
the elderly couple face to face. Herman's now 80, Roma a few years
younger. Wonderful people, sweet smiles, salt of the Earth.
In fact, the book's cover notes that the book is "based on a true
story". The key word here is "based". The book does not say it is a
true story, only that it is based on a true story. So the children's
book works nicely and is a touching, wonderfull read. Friedman has a
gift for words, and she tells the story in a way that both children
and adults can understand.
But what some observers want to know is this: did the "events the
Rosenblats describe to Friedman and the AP reporter and Oprah really
take place as they say they did? Michael Berenbaum, a Holocaust
historian in Los Angeles, told the AP reporter that he had read the
children's book and "I see no reason to question it".
Read the AP article here:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hnkoZDntzu__941CkUHI4ab7tNGgD93P468O0
Let's cut to the chase now. One amateur book reviewer on amazon's book
website writes: "The publicity relating to this book and the proposed
movie has raised
several questions about inconsistencies between the story and the
known facts of the Holocaust. Recognizing that the Rosenblats were
teenage children living
during unbelievably horrific times, it is possible that their
understanding at the time and their interpretation in later life do
not accurately reflect what truly happened. With the questions raised
about gas chambers, notification of death sentences, and other
details, it is surprising that neither of the Rosenblats has chosen
to address those questions. Before I use this book in my classroom as
part of my Holocaust education curriculum, I would appreciate the
Rosenblat's explanations."
Aother observer, Edith Kubicek, adds her opinion on the amazon website
as well, noting: "The facts are that the Rosenblat's [backstory] is
so full of holes that it reads like a wholly-invented fairy tale. From
the point of view of one who has been there -- I am asurvivor of six
German concentration camps and am of the same age as
Mr. Rosenblatt -- the details of the story are implausible at best,
and at variance with verifiable historical facts at worst."
One reviewer who liked the children's book by Ms Friedman wrote on the
amazon site: "This is a touching story with a miraculous ending. The
idea that
this is a true story really seems remarkable. I have read other
comments that question whether it is a true story or not. I'll be very
disappointed if I ever learn that it is not.''
And that is the crux of the matter here. If the backstory that the
Rosenblats have been telling the media for years -- they first went on
the Oprah Show in 1996 -- turns out to be sort of made-up due to
faulty memories or other circumstances beyond anyone's control, the
authenticity of their story will be called into doubt. And if a movie
is ever made about the Rosenblat's lives based on the children's book
or Herman's own autobiography, which is due to be published in 2009 by
a major book company in New York (with 350 pages inside it), then the
entire project might be at risk and some enterprising investigative
reporter for a major newspaper like the New York Times might undo the
magic that the Rosenblats so far have created.
When I contacted a reporter about this "literary controversy"
in the making, she said: "In my opinion, while none of the comments
from people posting critical notes on the Internet are 'smoking guns'
per se, skepticism remains.
However, if one of the most well-known Holocaust scholars in the U.S.
reviewed the children's book and gave it a thumbs up, then it must be
kosher."
But she also added a note: "Unless someone else with credibility comes
forward and tells us
otherwise, we'll have to simply take this story of how the Rosenblats
first met and later married with a grain of salt,
since there is really no one alive to discredit the story of their
romance."
Berenbaum, the Holocaust historian, told the AP: "I wasn't born then
so I can't say I was an eyewitness. But [the backstory is]
credible. Crazier things have happened."
When I contacted the publishing company that released "Angel
Girl" in 2008, a quick and polite reply was forthcoming by email:
"Thank you for your e-mails regarding our book. That picture book you
write about is
based on the true story that Herman and Roma Rosenblat told
Laurie Friedman. Ms. Friedman spent months researching the story and
discussing the details with the Rosenblats. Herman and Roma are two
senior adults recalling a memory that occurred during very dark and difficult
times in their pasts. That picture book is based on Ms. Friedman's
interpretation of that story and due to the nature of a picture book
there are obviously details left out and the text has been aimed at a
younger reading level."
The email added: "Just as it says on the cover of the book, it 'is "based on a
true story." The quotes from the book are not necessarily the exact
lines that Herman spoke to Roma. I believe that after much research done by both
Laurie Friedman and the publisher of the book that they did their best
and have no reason to doubt
that the story Herman and Roma told the author is true."
But there is another side to this controversy. Deborah Lipstadt, a
well-known Holocaust historian in her own right, noted on her personal
blog on December 2, 2007 "Apples over the Fence", the book that Mr
Rosenblat will publish next year as his autobiography "beggars the
imagination".
Lipstadt noted: "There is a Holocaust story making the rounds on the
Internet which is clearly not true. It's about an inmate of a camp who
connects with a young girl outside the camp. She
throws him an apple everyday over the fence. He tells her one day in
May 1945 that she should not throw any more apples because at 10 a.m.
the next morning he has appointment to appear at the gas chamber to be
killed. This story has so many shortcomings that one hardly knows
where to begin."
And Lipstadt adds: "There are many amazing stories about the
Holocaust. Just the fact that
some people managed to survive this hell is amazing in and of itself.
We don't need embellished and/or false stories. The truth is far more
than enough."
So what do you make of all this, dear Reader? Where is truth and how
does memory serve to tell the truth? Is the backstory of Herman and
Roma Rosenblat a "true" story, or has it been embellished for the sake
of making the story even more magical than it might have been if it
was not so embellished?
This reporter has no idea where truth lies. We are certain the
Rosenblats are not liars, of course. They have told their story on
Oprah's show two times already, and are set to appear again in 2009
when the Herman's autobiography is due to be published. But we would
love to hear from readers who might have their own opinions and ideas
about this ongoing literary controversy -- which is "maybe" soon to be
a major motion picture. Maybe is the key word. The movie has not even
started production yet.
According to Publishers Weekly, a book industry trade publication in
New York, "Angel Girl" isn't the only work inspired by the Rosenblats'
love story. "A movie, 'The Flower of the Fence' [is set to begin]
filming this fall. And Rosenblat is writing his memoirs, called 'Angel
at the Fence', scheduled for publication by Berkley Books next
February."
Attempts to reach Laurie Friedman and Michael Berenbaum for this story
were not successful, although the children's book company did reply,
as noted above.
At any rate, now it's your turn: Truth? Or consequences? You decide.
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