The old guy that made up a love story about his time in a Nazi concentration camp spoke out this morning on ABC’s Good Morning America (GMA). The story, made popular by the Oprah Show, begins with Herman Rosenblat who was imprisoned by German Nazis during the Holocaust. He claims that he was greeted daily by a young lady at the fence of the camp who would bring him apples to eat. Miraculously (or so it seemed) he meet up with her again 12 years later on a blind date. Once Rosenblat realized she was the young girl who had offered him apples and hope so long ago, he proposed on the spot. Seems like an incredible story right? Turns out it was INcredible and completely untrue.

Herman was a prisoner of Nazi Germany as a boy and he did marry a sweetheart of a lady, Roma. But, that is about as far as the truth of this fairytale extends. The rest…a ficitional daydream. He and his wife appeared twice on Oprah to tell their tall tale. A lucritive book deal and movie proposal were also in the works when the truth emerged. The Rosenblats have been telling the lie for over a decade and this morning on GMA, Herman defended his actions, saying that he made up the story to give people hope and understanding about the Holocaust.

“It was not a lie, it was my imagination. In my imagination, in my mind, I believed it. Even now, I believe it.”

Scholars who have extensively researched the Holocaust era uncovered some inconsistencies in the Rosenblat story. Prisoners of the camps were not allowed any where near the fences, so his daily encounter with the girl by the fence is not feasible. Also, it was discovered that Roma’s family lived over two hundred miles away during the time that Herman was imprisoned.

Rosenblat’s son knew his father was living the lie and tried to talk some sense into him. He says his father was motivated by the possibility of some financial recourse from the story. He also says that since learning of his parents’ misleading history , his father is someone he doesn’t even know. Herman Rosenblat says that given the opportunity, he would tell the story (LIE) all over again.