Two More Articles of Note

The Daily News Tribune published an article today that is now posted in the links at left. The author, Barbara Taormina clearly understands what is at issue in this case and took the time to research both sides of the story. It is available at: Bad moon rising: The truth behind a Holocaust hoax

Belgian journalist Marc Metdepenningen wrote the article about Misha Defonseca's father Robert DeWael being discovered to be a traitor during the war. The article published in Le Soir came under heavy criticism by people posting comments. Consequently Metdepenningen has published a well researched and fully documented article about the facts of Robert DeWael who was both a traitor and a Gestapo collaborator whose actions caused the death of a good many people. Metdepennigen has now become a lightning rod for the wrath of those who wish to keep Misha Defonseca as an icon.

The current article, written in French, is now online at Misha Defonseca: Surviving with his true past. By using online translation tools such as Google Translate or Alta Vista's Babelfish it is possible to read a rough translation of the article if you do not read French. A partial translation begins:

Her father... was recognized as a traitor by Belgian courts. Robert De Wael voluntarily collaborated with the Gestapo. He wanted to become Waffen SS and serve on the Eastern front. Ten-resistant Grenadiers died as a result of his betrayal. At the end of the war, his survivors wanted to change the name of his daughter Monique to avoid the stigma.

The literary and cinematic trickery committed by Misha Defonseca who claimed in her autobiographical book "Surviving with the Wolves ", that she was a Jewish girl of 7 years who traveled in 1941 though the forests of Eastern Europe in search of her deported parents, also refers to a page in the history of the little-known Belgian Resistance. This page, written in black and white, tells the story of Monique De Wael, aka Misha, and contains within it the reasons that have caused her, knowingly or unknowingly, to invent an imaginary past with no credibility.

Many readers have leveled insults against "Le Soir" and myself , implying that our revelations were either a creation of the "Jewish lobby", or of other sickening motives. But few have taken the time to read what the real fate of De Wael was. This story is not imaginary.

Our investigation has benefited from research undertaken two years ago on the "Grouping Grenadiers" by the writer and editor Jean-Philippe Tondeur (1), who before the outbreak of the controversy about Misha Defonseca, intended, through the history of this group of courageous resistance fighters to show his children and the younger generations the value "of a commitment such as we could not imagine today." May he be thanked.

Our investigation also relies on the account of the surviving witnesses that we found and archival documents that we obtained.

The supporting documentation can be seen by clicking on the IN EXTENSO links to the right of the article.

We thank M. Metdepennigen for his continued commitment to publishing the truth behind this on-going investigation.