Did Tufts Alum Expose Holocaust Memoir Hoax?

It's been on Oprah and in the New York Times, so you know this scandal about Herman Rosenblat's fake Holocaust memoir (well, real Holocaust, fake apple-tossing) is big. But did you know a Boston boy might've exposed it all? Forget The New Republic's Christmas story; self-described Tufts alum ('71) Dan Bloom claims he uncovered the scandal on his own website on October 15 and convinced TNR's Gabe Sherman to cover it.

The basics of Herman Rosenblat's love story: he was in a concentration camp, a girl tossed food (specifically apples) to him over a wall; years later, they met serendipitously in the US and eventually married. Critics say there are many holes in the story. There's apparently no way the eventual wife could have tossed food over the walls of Schlieben, Rosenblat's concentration camp; detractors also wonder why Rosenblat never told anyone about his special visitor at the time. It hasn't been verified that Rosenblat's wife's family lived in the area of Schlieben, and even Rosenblat's own brother didn't believe the tale—in fact, it created quite a rift between the men.

Rosenblat's publisher (Berkley Books, part of Penguin) has pulled the memoir by now, and a children's book based on the same tale is being yanked from shelves as well. So there's certainly reason to doubt the love story—but is there reason to believe Bloom's the mastermind behind its unraveling? The Jossip post and Bloom's unending responses to it offer a lot of evidence, most of it pointing to insanity, if nothing else. But one burning question remains: why wouldn't the enterprising Bloom just write the story himself, rather than nag Sherman to do it—thus giving TNR the opportunity to break the story and post extensive followup? Very little makes sense about this whole situation. We're glad truth has been told, but a bit dismayed that the apple-tossing and improbable-later-life-meeting might not have occurred—the idea had us pretty misty-eyed, if you want the truth.

Bloom is now asking Oprah to have the Rosenblats on her show again, for a James Frey style apology. When will the memoir madness end?