Dishonesty is an insidious evil - might seem harmless in some settings, but when a little is OK, what about a little more? Why call it true if it is not? Dishonesty is at the root of broken marriages, our current economic disaster, and more. Is there really a line between OK lies and "bad" lies?

Marie, Modesto, USA

It matters that this was exposed as fraudulent because the 'author' claimed it was his true sotry ... he LIED, and all the muppets who are blogging that this is not so important have lost sight of a cardinal value in this stew pot of internet fantasy - anything based on a lie loses value. He lied.

henry balfour, nelson, new zealand

I know that some of you are upsett about this and i dont think you should be cuz after all they did this for us i guess... they tried to bring love and hope.

Faisal, Kitchener, Canada

I understand that many of his fans feel betrayed, but you should still give him credit for a great story. Does admitting the story as false make it any less emotional? So if the story was really true, everything would be fine? I am by all means not saying that misleading his readers was not wrong.

T. Wong, Vancouver,

It's a beautiful love story - makes no deference if it is fiction or non-fiction.... think of all the people that wouldn't have read the book if he had said fiction and Opra didn't tout it!

Donna Coffield, Horton, Alabama, USA

if you’re calling your work a memoir, you may not say your childhood house burned down if there was no fire. And you may not, as James Frey did in A Million Little Pieces, say you set a county record for blood-alcohol level, got beat up by the Ohio cops, and went to prison for three months if none of those things happened. That’s fiction and should be so identified.

Steve Boga, Guerneville, CA, U.S.

The Berkley people are so unimaginative. Obviously he used the imagery to help him cope in real life. So, just rewrite the story's ending so it is revealed to have been nothing but a survival mechanism... a fantasy that helped him to survive. Just like in Saint-Exupéry's Little Prince.

Paul Ronco, Manassas, VA, USA

I agree...the man's childhold was traumatic. No one remembers their history exactly. It's a beautiful story...movies have been made out of FICTION. Give the guy a break.

Ellyn Mack, Biloxi, MS, United States

Has anyone seen the childrens book titled "Rose Blanche" by Roberto Innocenti? Copyright 1985 Switzerland. A picture book of a little german girl who gives bread & apples to the Jewish children behind the barbed wire fences. Beautiful illustrations and so similar to this story.

Denise Avallon, N. Attleboro, usa

It's so sad and disrespectful to all Holocaust Survivers and people that ever surfuerd injustice!

How dare you Herman Rosenblat!

Benjamin, Pasadena, CA,

Hey, if the vision of a made-up girl that threw him apples over the fence got him through the HORROR of living in a concentration camp, good for him. If his memory is not what we would want it to be? Well, guess what, he grew up in a concentration camp. How is your cushy childhood looking?

Karen Kraft, Santa Cruz, CA, USA

If people would quit looking at OW as delivering the word of God, and start accepting that she is an entertainer, the better off we all will be. It's a television show people, not life as the rest of us know it.

K Wesl, Eau Claire, U.S.A.

Mr Rosenblat's only downfall is the fact that he characterized his story as "non-fiction" and went public around the tv circuit to amp up his story. Nonetheless, it is still a very touching storyline; we all know that it is fiction and can now get on with the process of enjoyment.

TMA, Seattle, USA

I agree with S.N. Rao. Every memoirist distorts real events in one way or another, and this is hard to avoid. But if Mr. Rosenblat's book is captivating and makes the reader magnetized, why should he be discredited? I personally see no reason for this, whether or not his story was fictional.

Dmitry Klenin, Moscow,

It is about $$$. Perhaps it brings good to the world, but it for certain brought Mr. Rosenblat cash by lying about the exgtraoridnary "love" that never occured.

Leila Lipmann, South Mimms, UK

At least he was a real survivor. I don't see why he needed to exaggerate that one detail; even if he hadn't met the girl at Schlieben, it's still an inspiring story and one that deserved to have been told. In my view, this revelation only tarnishes Rosenblat and not his story of survival and love.

Brak , Woodbridge,

Mr. Rosenblat got into trouble by writing this story to win a contest in the first place. It was always a bad thing to do ethically, and now the consequences are great. He is a Holocaust survivor, but he pinped his own experiences to make the world feel good-- and has just given ammo to survivors.

Gwen, Millburn, NJ, USA

Sad. Just sad. Couldn't have Mr. Rosenblat written his memoirs about his experiences in the concentration camp, his life before & after, then how he met the love of his life & married her? What's wrong with that? Why do people think they need to embellish what happened? Is there something they're ashamed of in their lives to not just write what really happened?

Carrie, Austin, TX, USA

Ok, move on, and find a real Holo- story! Jeez.

I want to say an (acclaimed) author's name is Chaim Potok, but the essence of what I'd like to say is this:

For every "fake" Holocaust story, there are hundreds of real ones, some published, some handed down from grandma to grandchild.

Deana K., Shawnee,

Two of the survivors of Sobibor (an extermimnation camp), one from Poland and one from the Netherlands, met and fell in love there, escaped together, married and eventually settled in New Jersey. Why not film their story, whose truth has never been challenged?

Sash Lewis, Mons, Belgium

I wonder when she will be proven wrong about her presidental choice! You know she dobbed him "you're the one" Nauseating!

donna , tabb, usa

Let it happen - the meaning is the same whatever and if one has been to Auschwitz, as I have, hope is what the world needs !!!!!

IAN PAYNE, Walsall,

Anyhow Mr. Rosenblat now says that it is not a true account, So categorize it as fiction and print it. Come on people have written memoirs and most of them have some level of embellishment.

S.N.Rao, Boulder, U.S.A

Yet another book promoted by OW is unmasked as a hoax.
'When will they ever learn.....?'

Prudence Eely Bond McGuire BA, LONDON, ENGLAND UK

If the book is an Oprah endorsed non-fiction book, I can guarantee that most, if not all the book, is made up fiction.

CR, Jax, USA