Binjamin Wilkomirski
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Binjamin Wilkomirski was a name Bruno Grosjean (born 1941) adopted when he took on the mantle of a Holocaust survivor.
In 1995 Binjamin Wilkomirski published a memoir Fragments: Memories of a Wartime Childhood 1939-1948. In it he described what he claimed were his experiences in Nazi concentration camps. He claimed he was a Polish Jew born in Riga, Latvia in 1939.
The book was translated to many languages; an English translation appeared in 1996. Jewish organizations like the American Holocaust Museum gave it many awards. Wilkomirski attended many Holocaust survivor meetings, symposiums and TV documentaries. Another would-be survivor, Laura Grabowski, supported his story.
Wilkomirski claimed that his foster parents had intentionally concealed his past by sending their original child away and forcing him to take up his identity. He was able to retrieve the memories with a help of a therapist.
In August 1998 Swiss author Daniel Ganzfried, himself the son of a Holocaust survivor, wrote an article in Swiss newsweekly Weltwoche where he exposed Wilkomirski. Wilkomirski was actually Bruno Grosjean, an illegitimate child born in February 12 1941. His single mother, Yvonne Grosjean, gave him up for an adoption at the age of two. He had been transferred between orphanages and foster homes for two and half years until the wealthy Dosseker couple had adopted him. Instead of becoming a doctor, like his foster father wished, he became a musician. He did not mention his birth mother to his first wife.
Wilkomirski himself denied everything and his supporters condemned Ganzfried. Ganzfried presented more evidence and Wilkomirski could not verify many of his own claims. Initially he refused to submit to a DNA test. It was done in 2001 and verified the fact that he was related to a father he denied.
Wilkomirski's agent hired historian Stefan Maechler to investigate. An 18-month investigation revealed documents that Wilkomirski denied even existed and interviews of people who demolished his story. Even Laura Grabowski was found to be a fraud who had previously used the name Lauren Stratford to write about alleged satanic ritual abuse.
Maechler even found a man who seemed to be Wilkomirski's father. All Wilkomirski's publishers withdrew the book. The US TV program 60 Minutes released more evidence a few months later. Newer versions of the book, The Wilkomirski Affair, include Maechler's report.
Books
- Blake Eskin: Life in Pieces: The Making and Unmaking of Binjamin Wilkomirski.
- Stefan Maechler: The Wilkomirski Affair: A Study in Biographical Truth.