Surviving With Wolves

by Misha Defonseca

One of the most extraordinary and poignant survival stories to come out of World War II; Misha was only six years old when her parents were taken away from their home in Belgium to Auschwitz. She was given a new name, a new home, and forced into a new religion. No one told her why her parents were no longer with her, only that they had gone East. So one day, equipped only with a tiny compass and a few provisions, she set out East to find them. Misha crossed Belgium, Germany and Poland on foot alone - until, close to starvation in a vast forest, she was adopted by a family of wolves. She ate and played with the wolf cubs, and was protected by their mother. Finally, at the end of the war, she found her way home to Belgium via the Ukraine, Romania and Italy. She never found her parents.

Genres: Fiction, Holocaust, Historical Fiction, Roman, Adult, War, World War II

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Misha Defonseca (born 1937), born as Monique de Wael, is a Belgian writer and the author of Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years, first published in 1997 and at that time professed to be a memoir. It became an instant success in Europe and was translated into 18 languages. The French version of the book was a derivative work based on the original with the title Survivre avec les loups that was published in 1997 by the Éditions Robert Laffont; this second version was adapted into the French film Survivre avec les loups (Surviving With Wolves).

On 29 February 2008, the author as well as her lawyers admitted that the bestselling book was a hoax, despite its having been presented as autobiographical.

Source: Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Lewis · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's important to remember that the author's parents really were taken away by Nazis when she was a small child and she never saw them again. (They were members of the Belgian Resistance - Catholic, not Jewish - and were probably killed in camps before the end of the war.) Thus her psychological problems are understandable, and she admits to having had therapy. For these reasons I'm not inclined to label the book a 'hoax' as that implies a conscious effort to make money out of lying. The truth is probably more complicated than that.
That said, the book really is a hateful piece of shit. It claims Jewish identity as a badge of suffering without demonstrating any religious or cultural understanding. It splits the world into good guys and bad guys, the latter including barely differentiated Nazis, grown-ups, Catholics, etc etc, the former being only beautiful women and animals. Humans are there simply to be stolen from and argued with, regardless of their intentions towards her. It presents ludicrously far-fetched scenes such as a 7-year-old child overcoming and killing an adult soldier, knowing that the public's idea of the Holocaust as an extreme event full of unimaginable horrors will lead them to bypass normal scepticism and discrimination.
I'm inclined to blame the others associated with the book - the publisher Jane Daniel and the co/ghost-writer Vera Lee - for this, rather than the author who is clearly unwell. While the author's endless self-pity and misanthropy is unpleasant, it needn't have found expression in a 'Holocaust memoir' bound to give offence to real victims.

[Manny]

The author of this book is a serial liar and fantasist, who made a great deal of money out of her fabrications but is having her butt sued off in court. For recent details, check e.g. this page.

[Flora · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, after Defonseca was recently outed as a fraud, I had to read this for the curiosity factor, and now I must question the I.Q. of anyone who read this "memoir" at the time of its publication and thought it was authentic. Yeah, a seven-year-old sets off on a four-year trek across war-torn Europe, and is intermittently nurtured by wolves. She just happens to slip into the Warsaw ghetto hours before it was liquidated; she stabs a Nazi to death; she digs a hole for herself in a mass grave and hides amidst the bodies... I'll stop there. Never mind that it's clearly untrue -- it's not even halfway-decent fiction. An insult to intelligence.

[Mihaela Birjovanu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mi-a plăcut foarte mult cartea, este despre curaj , despre supraviețuire, despre dragoste și ura , despre adaptare și readaptare .
Povestea incepe in Belgia , in anul 1941, este povestea unei fetițe evreice ( povestita când este deja adult) , care la doar 7 ani rămâne fără părinți, sunt deportați.
Este data in grija unei femei , pentru o sumă de bani , aceasta nu o iubește și vrea să o de-a pe mana nemților.
Aici îl cunoaște pe ''bunicul " care o învață despre geografie și îi dăruiește o busola , la întrebările despre parintii ei bunicul ii răspunde că au fost duși în est.
Se hotărăște să fugă de la femeia care nu o iubea și să plece în căutarea părinților .
Călătoria ei spre est, prin Germania, Polonia, Ucraina , Romania este o lupta continua pentru supraviețuire .Merge prin păduri, doarme sub cerul liber, fura pentru a se hrăni și îmbrăca iar sigurul gând care o ține in viață și o face sa meargă mai departe este gândul ca-si va găsi mama . Este adoptată de o haită de lupi și își dă seama că se simte mai bine printre ei decât printre oameni , ajunge chiar să urască oamenii ,mai ales că vede și percepe prin ochii ei de copil ororile războiului.
Va reuși Mishke să-și găsească mama ? Va reuși ea să trăiască iar printre oameni după atâta timp petrecut în sălbăticie ?
Va recomand din suflet sa descoperiti citind cartea.

[Ajeje Brazov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bruxelles, Belgio 1941, un giorno Mishke, una bambina di 7 anni, fuori da scuola non vede il papà che di solito viene a prenderla, ma al suo posto vi è una donna con uno sguardo ostile. Mishke capisce subito che quel giorno sarebbe iniziata una nuova e terribile vita. Così viene accolta, per modo di dire, in una nuova casa, ci passerà poco tempo, poi deciderà di andare a trovare i suoi veri genitori. Un bel giorno prende poche cose e parte verso l'est, come il "nonno" le aveva consigliato, ma Mishke non si sogna nemmeno quello che vedrà nel suo lungo e travagliato viaggio...

Diario di viaggio scritto in prima persona, perchè Mishke è proprio l'autrice che racconta, decine di anni dopo l'accaduto, ciò che le successe e tutto ciò che vide e visse in quegli anni atroci della guerra. Trovò anche degli amici, nel minestrone putrescente e nauseabondo delle crudeltà umane, negli animali selvatici che incontrò nelle foreste e nei boschi, specialmente ebbe dei bellissimi rapporti amichevoli coi lupi, che furono la sue unica famiglia in quel periodo.
Racconto toccante ed inquietante allo stesso tempo, le disavventure che descrive sono però narrate con una tale delicatezza da emozionare ad ogni pagina. Il coinvolgimento è stato tale da farmi empatizzare totalmente con ciò che racconta, perchè Mishke molte volte si domanda il perchè di tutto ciò che è successo e penso che nessuno potrà mai risponderle.
Il mio empatizzare, ovviamente è con il racconto e per come è stato scritto, perchè nessuno potrebbe capire ciò che è realmente successo, senza averlo vissuto sulla propria pelle, per come le cicatrici fisiche facciamo male, ma soprattutto quelle psicologiche e dell'animo, quelle di cicatrici non si rinsalderanno mai, perchè quando si è soggetti a disumanizzazione si muore letteralmente.
Come ammette lei stessa, Mishke è sopravvissuta grazie ai lupi, senza il loro amore e la loro compagnia, sarebbe morta due volte.
Mai dimenticare altrimenti sarebbe la fine, anche se sembra che l'essere umano ci provi gusto a disumanizzare i propri simili ed a causargli violenze e soprusi!
Perchè?
Purtroppo, all'uscita del film tratto da questa biografia, si è scoperto essere un falso, la storia è stata inventata di sana pianta... ci son rimasto male!

Molta gente usa il termine "bestiale" per descrivere ciò che i nazisti facevano alle loro vittime, e ritiene che si comportassero "come animali". Quando sento queste affermazioni, io rispondo sempre: "No, i nazisti si comportavano da esseri umani". Solo gli uomini hanno la capacità di uccidere per piacere, assaporando la sofferenza degli altri. Nessun animale ha mai fatto ciò che ho visto fare dai nazisti ai loro simili.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj3Iq...

[Vicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the first half of this book, I was totally caught up in the author's story of surviving the war years in Europe by traveling alone as a small child in search of her parents who had been seized by the Nazis. Traipsing alone from Belgium through Germany, Poland and into Russia, surviving on eating leaves, dirt and carrion, and nurtured by wolves who treated her like a pup, I was entranced. The horrors of the Holocaust through the eyes of a child was fascinating. By the second half of the book, it was wearing thin. Her constant rambling dialogue started to become tedious - though I mostly attributed it to a bad translation, or her mental difficulties brought on by years of silence and solitude as a small child. By the end, I couldn't wait for it to be over. So then I set about to give my GoodReads review, and discover it was all a HOAX! I think this poor lady has serious psychiatric issues, and because of this created this hugely fantastic story about how her life might have been. There was/is a huge lawsuit pending between her, the coauthor and the publisher over the royalties for this book. It's made a bundle though, even been made into a feature film. Goes to show you, all you need is a story and lots of publicity to make a bestseller. Sheesh!

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up this book mainly because I appreciate stories of Holocaust survivors - and it helped that there was an endorsement by Elie Wiesel on the back cover. I didn't know about the controversy surrounding the book, but got suspicious as I began reading about how a seven-year-old (or thereabouts)could survive for more than a few nights in the woods - then winter came along, and I thought - no, this is not possible, she would have died of exposure, not to mention that I think that the most natural thing for that little girl to do would have been to go to Grandfather. So I Googled the author, and it wasn't too surprising to discover that none of the story was real. I can actually understand why she made up the story (for herself) - to make up for the shame of having a traitor for a father, but to publish it? She should have made a better job of the lie - does that make sense? If the story had been plausible and compelling it could have done some good - whether true or not, it might have been of benefit to it's readers, and the truth of her shame might even have added to the story's weight. As it stands, I think this book is disrespectful to those people who truly did suffer just because they were Jews.

[TheTyee.ca]

Say you meet me at a party and I tell you that when I was 7 years old, I killed a full-grown military officer, then ran off and was nurtured by a pack of wolves. Would you believe me or begin edging away quietly, keeping the snack table between us at all times?

Or say I'm a healthy-looking, articulate young white woman, and I tell you I used to work for the Bloods in L.A. -- a full-time gun-strapped gangbanger. Would you believe me or laugh in my un-bruised, orthodontured face?

If you said you would believe these stories, then please stand by -- the process of natural selection will be along for you in a moment. More likely you scoffed at the idea you'd fall for such obvious crap.

read more ...
http://thetyee.ca/Books/2008/03/10/Li...

[March · Rating 1 out of 5]

Even if this was fiction it was not a good read but selling this as non fiction, as the true story of a Jewish kid in the holocaust? This woman is not a Jew and she spent the war in the comfort of her relatives home.
This book should be known for what it is - junk and Defonesca is not only a bad writer but also a demented liar.
I've place a little newspaper article about Defonesca inside the copies that we have at the library so that everyone will know what this loon is all about and I suggest that every library will do the same.
I wish that I could give this book zero stars for it is not even worth the effort of picking it up.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nu stiu cat este fictiune sau cat e realitate (pe unele site-uri am citit ca ar fi vb de o ficțiune, pe altele ca e real), însă povestea este pe cat de tragică, pe atat de frumoasa. Nu stiu daca frumoasa este cuvântul potrivit, mai degrabă este o lecție, plină de durere si încercări. Este o lecție despre supraviețuire si despre voința. Mi-a plăcut. Merita undeva intre 4-4,5 stele, dar ii voi da 5 pentru modul in care a afost abordata povestea.

[Greta G]

Another holocaust-hoax. Made into film before the truth came out.

[K. E. · Rating 2 out of 5]

"İnsanlar, hayvanlara yaptıklarını kendi türdeşlerine de yapıyorlar ve yaptılar da. İnsanları da aynı şekilde astılar. İnsan, yeryüzünün lanetli yağmacısı."

[Antonela · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book back in my wolfaboo phase, when I was 13 years old. I was too busy being caught up in my jealousy of someone being so easily accepted by a pack of wolves that I didn't really notice how implausible the plot was. I also didn't think that it was my place to doubt the stories of Holocaust survivors, so I couldn't just say I didn't like it.

When I recently discovered that it was all a coax, it came as a relief; I was allowed to dislike this book! The plot is unrealistically overridden with gruesome details and the ending, sufficiently minimalistic for a true one, was underwhelming for a piece of fiction, very obviously hurried and showing that the author didn't put a lot of thought into it.

The only reason I didn't give it one star is that it was interesting enough for me to finish.

[Hobbes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointed by the hours I lost to an alternative good read!

I read this a few months after publication ... and felt guilty for thinking the 'autobiography' was severely exaggerated. For example, it wasn't just the thought of a young child walking through wintry Europe alone with no resources; but things like the improbable murder, or when she eats a wolf's regurgitated food as a pup would, that made me feel sick while my level of disbelief was increasing.

Imagine my relief when it was revealed to be a fictional tale. And as others have commented ... it is disrespectful toward real Holocaust survivors.

[Yk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not care whether there is a true story behind it or not. The war was terrible, turning people into beasts. Is it not enough that thousands of children were wandering during the war abused and denied by the human pack? That the only shelter they could have were holes in the earth and deep deep wilderness where humans could not find them? Why do you all care whether it is true or not? Were there not millions of children killed and abandoned? Aren't there now millions of children starving, denied, abused and killed? You are all nuts if the only thing you care and discuss about this book is wether it was true or not. It WAS true, and unfurtunately it is still true.

[Marilee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not certain how much the revelation that the book is more fiction, than memoir, has affected my review. I figured if someone decided to create a film and it did well at Sundance that the book had to be good.....never presume anything in life.

[Nicole Nikolova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Вероятно поради факта, че бях наясно от самото начало, че историята е измислена, а не истинска (и как да не разбера, след като на задната корица на книгата с големи букви пише „НАЙ-ГОЛЕМИЯТ ЛИТЕРАТУРЕН СКАНДАЛ НА 21 ВЕК“), успях да се абстрахирам и да не гледам на текста като на „истинска история“ и оценявах само художествената й стойност. Дали това, че авторката е представила книгата като своя автобиография и съответно историята - реална, а пък после сама признала, че не е, с измъкването, че „историята си е нейна, което я прави реална история“, е най-големият литературен скандал на 21 век… едва ли. Авторката очевидно има сериозни проблеми, които изискват лечение. Или е имала отчайваща нужда от пари. В първия случай би трябвало да бъде оправдана, а във втория… ами, платила е солидно обезщетение на издателството, така че няма какво повече да мислим този въпрос.
Колкото до художествената стойност на творбата, не може да се каже, че е кой знае колко висока. Честно казано от началото до края се молех книгата да свърши по-бързо, но това не е, защото самата книга е толкова ужасна, или защото няма никаква стойност. Напротив. Просто не е написана кой знае колко добре и на места става откровено досадна. Лично аз избягвам истории, свързани с Втората световна война поради ред причини, но четейки, опитах да се абстрахирам и от това. Историята е по време на войната и да, засяга главните проблеми (все пак детето нямаше да се скита само 4 години, ако не бяха отвели родителите му), но в крайна сметка това е история за едно дете, което се скита само в продължение на няколко години, извървява пеша почти цяла Европа чак до Русия и се връща в изходна позиция – Белгия, опитвайки се да оцелее.
И тъкмо това е интересното на книгата, всъщност. И я взех точно поради тази причина – исках да прочета историята за дете, което е оцеляло само сред вълци и не ме вълнуваше дали това е действителна история или не. За мен нямаше особено значение. И все още няма. Обожавам реалните истории за деца, отгледани от животни, които са вдъхновили много художествени измислици, като тези за Тарзан и Маугли. Ужасно харесах и книгата на Стивън Кинг „Момичето, което обичаше Том Гордън“ – отново за момиче, което се загубва в гора и дълго време се скита, търсейки изход. Защото всички тези истории показват връзката на човека с природата, силата на волята и способността на човека да оцелява при всякакви ситуации. В случая това са деца и не мога да кажа дали наистина е възможно дете да оцелее толкова дълго в условията, в които е оцеляла Мишк от „Да оцелееш сред вълци“, но със сигурност е впечатляващо и те кара да се замислиш. И мислиш за много неща. За войната, за силата на духа, за връзката с животните и природата, за безчовечността на човеците, за това колко е важна средата, в която израстват децата. Задавах си наистина много въпроси през цялото време или просто се възхищавах. Да, вероятно ефектът щеше да е по-силен, ако беше действителна история, но не можем да имаме всичко.
Както казах, самият текст няма кой знае каква художествена стойност и на моменти ми беше невероятно досаден. Първите стотина страници прочетох с мъка, чакайки въпросните вълци. Не мога да не спомена, че при това заглавие очаквах, че детето наистина е преживяло много сред вълците, отгледано от тях едва ли не. В крайна сметка имаше точно 2 глави, които засягаха взаимоотношенията й с вълци и те са заели не повече от няколко месеца от дългото й пътешествие. Та в началото четях с досада и чаках да стигне вълците. А след това осъзнах, че заглавието спокойно може да се приеме като една метафора. Вероятно сте чували израза „хвърли ме на глутница вълци и ще се върна като водач“, или нещо такова. Струва ми се, че в случая изразът може да бъде преобърнат. Малката Мишк живее във време, в което е заобиколена от „лоши хора“, които са отвели родителите й. Знаем, че нерядко „вълк“ се използва с негативна конотация, и често тъкмо за „лоши хора“. В известен смисъл тя успява да оцелее въпреки това, въпреки че е еврейка и наблюдава как десетки деца като нея биват разстрелвани, въпреки че родителите й и стотици като тях са били отведени. Сред вълци, които я дебнат, тя успява да оцелее до края на войната. Същевременно животните, които среща в гората, са нейни другари и спътници, някои от които погубени от хората, които тя до края на живота си смята за лоши.
Не знам дали това нещо е възможно. Но ми се иска да е. Иска ми се да вярвам, че едно дете, благодарение на силната си воля и желанието да открие майка си, е способно да извърши такъв подвиг и да оцелее. Иска ми се да вярвам, че човек може до такава степен да се пребори със себе си и същевременно да се слее с природата, че да оцелее при такива тежки условия. И имам основания да вярвам, че макар и тази история да е измислена, тя не е далече от реалността. Може да не е имало момиченце, на име Мишк, което е извървяло цяла Европа само, но има достатъчно други действителни истории за деца, отгледани от животните и привикнали към природата. Отделен въпрос е какво се случва с психиката на тези деца. Но това говори много за адаптивните способности на хората. Показва, че човек може да се приспособи към всичко.

[Adri Dosi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Já jsem si říkala, že mi ten název něco říká. Jen jsem se začetla, hned jsem věděla. Podle knihy byl natočený film, Kniha popisuje skutečný příběh jedné dívenky v době 2. sv války. Jde o celkem nettypycký příběh, i když i na podobné už jsem narazila od jiných autorů a v jiných zemích. Prostě se to dělo. Bohužel, jak se mi film líbil... našla jsem si ho, tak kniha ne. Ona možná byla špatně přeložená. Vyšla totiž v románkové podobě, takže mám celkem představu, jak si překlad zaplatili v té době mizerný. Text se nešte zrovna ideálně a ten jazyk je prostě divný. Takže buď překlad špatný nebo prostě autorka nevyužila potenciál příběhu.

[Esmeralda Hübner · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ik kwam er halverwege het boek achter dat het helemaal niet echt is gebeurd, maar een verzinsel. Ik vond het af en toe al ongeloofwaardig klinken, vandaar dus Omdat dit het enige boek was wat ik mee had op vakantie heb ik het uitgelezen, maar ik heb me enorm geërgerd aan het verhaal en hoe ze steeds herhaalt hoe vreselijk het allemaal was en wat een trauma's ze eraan heeft over gehouden. Geen aanrader dus.

[BellaGBear]

Found out after reading the book that it was a big hoax. Now feel weird about giving it stars.

I don't mind made-up stories, but apparently she lied about it for a long time and also shared the story during lectures and such. That's not ok. Especially about traumatic historic events. It's hard enough already keeping history straight.

So no stars.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

:O

[Alessia Loba · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bello finché non ho scoperto che la storia è stata tutta completamente inventata e che la scrittrice non è nemmeno ebrea.

[Zina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Je pense que tout a été déjà dit sur ce livre. J'ai adoré. L'écriture en particulier ça a été un énorme coup de cœur. J'aurais pu lire 200 pages de plus facilement, j'ai pas vu le temps passer pendant les 9/10e du livre. MAIS bah depuis j'ai lu que tout était un tissu d'affabulation. Alors mettons nous d'accord. Je suis pas contre qu'on écrive des fictions sur la Shoah. Mais là où j'ai un problème c'est qu'on le vende comme une autobiographie, qu'on répète sans cesse que ses parents ont été déportés parce que juifs, qu'on répète sans cesse qu'on est juive (en particulier à la fin du roman, c'était là à presque chaque page) et qu'elle donne cette anecdote où on lui aurait dit qu'elle n'était pas une survivante de la Shoah parce qu'elle n'avait pas été dans les camps. Je ne comprends vraiment pas. Visiblement, elle a été en justice plusieurs fois pour ca. Pourquoi ne pas raconter sa vraie histoire ? Ses parents (catholiques donc, pas juifs) ont vraiment été déportés en tant que résistants belges apparemment, et elle donc vraiment du trouver comment survivre à la guerre.
Les loups à la limite, même si effectivement une fois que je l'ai lu c'était clair que c'était pas trop possible, on peut penser que c'est une allégorie ou une sorte de délire occasionné par la faim, la solitude et la douleur mais j'ai vraiment été dérangée par ces répétitions constantes d'une histoire qui n'est pas la sienne et qu'elle vend en tant que telle.

[Tabata Ioana · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Cunosc bine copacii, fac parte din albumul meu de familie, precum lupii, insectele, pasarile."
O carte care m-a impresionat atat de mult ca nici nu-mi gasesc cuvintele ca sa-mi exprim parerea.
 Lectia de supravietuire si suferinta, prin care trece acest copil intrece orice imaginatie, si toate emisiunile de pe National Geografic sau Discovery.
Ciudat ca acest pur dramatism nu mi-a smuls nici o lacrima, ba din contra te face sa te rusinezi de "mofturile" pe care le putem face noi oamenii moderni, in fiecare zi.
"Eram atat de nestiutoare, condusa de instincte, incat treceam prin pericole cu o inconstienta de neinchipuit "
Am ramas uimita sa constat ca poate exista atata vointa si curaj la un copil, si chiar daca  inocenta copilariei se izbeste de atatea ori in modul cel mai brutal cu putinta , de cruda realitate, totusi vointa si curajul nu dispar. 
"Pentru mine singuratatea era cel mai singur  adapost, starea mea normala era libertatea, obsesia mea : sa supravietuiesc si sa-mi gasesc mama."
  O carte nu trebuie sa fie mare si groasa ca sa poti invata ceva din ea... sau ca sa fie cotata o "carte buna".

[Britta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I find the historical backdrop fascinating, truth be told, I read this book because the Boston Globe ran an article on Feb 29th about how the author made the whole thing up. Truly, it was boring, like a really, really bad tale of what it MIGHT have been like. http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articl...

[Michele · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was an amazing story, until I found out it was completely fabricated. I think is was sometime in 2008 that it was discovered to be completely false. Real nice. A made-up holocaust story that was advertised as truth.

[Angelique fernandez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I though it was good at first, but later when I learned that it wasn't based on real events my likeness for this book lessened. Hence my two stars.. However, the stories/events were startling and highly diminitive.

[Paul Jr. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Literary fraud

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/world...

[Fellini · Rating 2 out of 5]

История трогательная, очень ярко написанная, но совершенно неправдоподобная. Героиня выживала, несмотря на холод, голод, войну и отсутствие необходимых для этого вещей.

[Corina Dabija]

Impresionantă și cutremurătoare! O carte care te provoacă să crezi în speranță și mai ales să nu îți pui limite.