Sharon Sergeant Explained

Sharon Sergeant is an American forensic genealogist who specializes in researching and tracing international fraud cases, property settlements, and provenance of artifact collections. She also conducts biographical research for historians, publishers, authors, and journalists. Sergeant attended Northeastern University and received a bachelor's degree from Boston University. She lives in Waltham, Massachusetts.

She was involved in exposing two high-profile literary frauds in 2008, Misha Defonseca and Herman Rosenblat.[1]

Cases

Sergeant and Colleen Fitzpatrick led the team that exposed Misha Defonseca's bestselling book as a hoax.[2] [3] [4]

She also worked with the team that exposed Herman Rosenblat's book, Angel at the Fence, as a fraudulent account of his time as a concentration camp survivor.[5] [6]

Notes and References

  1. Judith Rosen. "Does Publishing Need Genealogists?", Publishers Weekly, Jan. 12, 2009.
  2. Barbara Taormina. "Bad moon rising: The truth behind a Holocaust hoax," The Daily News Tribune, Mar. 7, 2008.
  3. Blake Eskin. "Crying Wolf Why did it take so long for a far-fetched Holocaust memoir to be debunked?", Slate, Feb 29, 2008.
  4. Blake Eskin, "The Girl Who Cried Wolf: A Holocaust fairy tale", Boston Magazine, September 2008.
  5. Kayla Habermehl, "MSU professor debunks couple's Holocaust hoax", The State News, January 14, 2009.
  6. Caleb Daniloff, "Untrue stories: a Genealogist Reveals the Truth About Three Holocaust Memoirs: They're Fiction", Bostonia, Summer 2008