Man Who Claimed He Escaped Auschwitz Admits It Was A Lie

FILE - This undated file image shows the main gate of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz I, near Oswiecim , Poland, which was liberated by the Russians in January 1945. Writing at the gate reads: "Arbeit macht ... FILE - This undated file image shows the main gate of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz I, near Oswiecim , Poland, which was liberated by the Russians in January 1945. Writing at the gate reads: "Arbeit macht frei" (Work makes free - or work liberates). German prosecutors say they’ve charged a 93-year-old man with 300,000 counts of accessory to murder for serving as a guard at the Nazis’ Auschwitz death camp. The charges against Oskar Groening come as part of a nationwide push against former Auschwitz guards launched last year. Unlike most of the others, Groening has openly talked about his time as a guard and says while he witnessed horrific atrocities, he did not commit any crimes himself. But Hannover prosecutors said in a statement Monday Sept. 15, 2014 he was a cog in the machinery of destruction during his time at Auschwitz in 1944, noting that he helped collect and tally money stolen from murdered inmates. (AP Photo/File) MORE LESS
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ADAMSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A 91-year-old Pennsylvania man who has for years lectured to school groups and others about what he said were his experiences at Auschwitz now says he was never a prisoner at the concentration camp.

Joseph Hirt made the admission in a letter to LNP newspaper (http://bit.ly/28XFmgJ ) Wednesday and apologized. He said he used poor judgment and faulty reasoning in trying to tell the story of those affected by the Nazis.

The Adamstown man’s admission comes weeks after Hirt’s story of escaping from Auschwitz was questioned by history teacher Andrew Reid in Turin, New York.

Reid attended an April presentation by Hirt in upstate New York with several students. He concluded that many of the speaker’s claims didn’t add up.

Reid says Hirt called him and apologized earlier this month.

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Information from: LNP, http://lancasteronline.com

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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