Schocken Books has suspended further publication of Binjamin Wilkomirski's controversial 1996 Holocaust memoir, Fragments--originally hailed by critics as a masterpiece of Holocaust nonfiction--after the house received a draft of an independent report on the many questions surrounding the book's veracity and the author's identity.
Sonny Mehta, president of Schocken's parent company, Knopf, and Carol Janeway, editor and translator of the book, issued a joint statement canceling further reprints, advertising and promotions of Fragments. The statement notes that new evidence assembled by Stefan Maechler (a Swiss historian commissioned by Wilkomirski's literary agent, Liepman A.G. of Zurich) "is in our judgment sufficiently conclusive to require action on the part of Schocken. The enormous impact that Fragments has had upon its readers must not blind us to the truth about the book."
Fragments purports to be Wilkomirski's story of his childhood in a Nazi concentration camp in Poland. The book won a number of awards and was translated into six languages. However, by 1998, Holocaust historians and many others were challenging both his claims of being Jewish and claims that he had retrieved his blocked memories of the book's vivid scenes through therapy.
Sophie Cottrell, a spokesperson for Schocken, told PW the book has sold about 35,000 copies in hardcover and softcover since its publication in 1996. She noted that there are few copies of the books left in stores, but that booksellers can return copies. According to Cottrell, by contractual agreement Wilkomirski has 20 days to respond to the final version of the report.
