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Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, Vol. 2 by Samuel de Champlain

S >> Samuel de Champlain >> Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, Vol. 2




232. The latitude of Nobska Point, the most southern limit of their voyage,
is 41 deg. 31', while the latitude of Nauset Harbor, the southern limit of
that of De Monts on the previous year, 1605, is 41 deg. 49'. They
consequently advanced but 18', or eighteen nautical miles, further
south than they did the year before. Had they commenced this year's
explorations where those of the preceding terminated, as Champlain had
advised, they might have explored the whole coast as far as Long
Island Sound. _Vide antea_, pp. 109, 110.

233. Between the Kennebec and Penobscot.

234. _Vide antea_, note 177.

235. _Isles Rangees_, the small islands along the coast south-west of
Machias. _Vide_ map of 1612.

236. _Petit passage de la Riviere Saincte Croix_, the southern strait
leading into Eastport Harbor. This anchorage appears to have been in
Quoddy Roads between Quoddy Head and Lubeck.

237. In reporting the stratagem resorted to for decoying the Indians into
the hands of the French at Port Fortune, Champlain passes over the
details of the bloody encounter, doubtless to spare himself and the
reader the painful record; but its results are here distinctly
stated. Compare _antea_, pp. 132, 133.

238. Sailing from Quoddy Head to Annapolis Bay, they would in their course
pass round the northern point of the Grand Manan; and they probably
anchored in Whale Cove, or perhaps in Long Island Bay, a little
further south. Champlain's map is so oriented that both of these bays
would appear to be on the south of the Grand Manan. _Vide_ map of
1612.

239. Champlain had now completed his survey south of the Bay of Fundy. He
had traced the shore-line with its sinuosities and its numberless
islands far beyond the two distinguished headlands, Cape sable and
Cape Cod, which respectively mark the entrance to the Gulf of Maine.
The priority of these observations, particularly with reference to the
habits, mode of life, and character of the aborigines, invests them
with an unusual interest and value. Anterior to the visits of
Champlain, the natives on this coast had come in contact with
Europeans but rarely and incidentally, altogether too little
certainly, if we except those residing on the southern coast of Nova
Scotia, to have any modifying effect upon their manners, customs, or
mode of life. What Champlain reports, therefore, of the Indians, is
true of them in their purely savage state, untouched by any influences
of European civilization. This distinguishes the record, and gives to
it a special importance.




CHAPTER XVI.

RETURN FROM THE FOREGOING DISCOVERIES, AND WHAT TRANSPIRED DURING THE
WINTER.

Upon our arrival, Lescarbot, who had remained at the settlement, assisted
by the others who had stayed there, welcomed us with a humorous
entertainment. [240]

Having landed and had time to take breath, each one began to make little
gardens, I among the rest attending to mine, in order in the spring to sow
several kinds of seeds which had been brought from France, and which grew
very well in all the gardens.

Sieur de Poutrincourt, moreover, had a water-mill built nearly a league and
a half from our settlement, near the point where grain had been planted.
This mill [241] was built at a fall, on a little river which is not
navigable on account of the large number of rocks in it, and which falls
into a small lake. In this place, there is such an abundance of herring in
their season that shallops could be loaded with them, if one were to take
the trouble to bring the requisite apparatus. The savages also of this
region come here sometimes to fish. A quantity of charcoal was made by us
for our forge. During the winter, in order not to remain idle, I undertook
the building of a road along the wood to a little, river or brook, which we
named La Truitiere, [242] there being many trout there. I asked Sieur de
Poutrincourt for two or three men, which he gave me to assist in making
this passage-way. I got along so well that in a little while I had the road
through. It extends through to trout-brook, and measures nearly two
thousand paces. It served us as a walk under the shelter of the trees,
which I had left on both sides. This led Sieur de Poutrincourt to determine
to make another through the woods, in order that we might go straight to
the mouth of Port Royal, it being a distance of nearly three leagues and a
half by land from our settlement. He had this commenced and continued for
about half a league from La Truitiere; but he did not finish it, as the
undertaking was too laborious, and he was occupied by other things at the
time more necessary. Some time after our arrival, we saw a shallop
containing savages, who told us that a savage, who was one of our friends,
had been killed by those belonging to the place whence they came, which was
Norumbegue, in revenge for the killing of the men of Norumbegue and
Quinibequy by Iouaniscou, also a savage, and his followers, as I have
before related; and that some Etechemins had informed the savage Secondon,
who was with us at that time.

The commander of the shallop was the savage named Ouagimou, who was on
terms of friendship with Bessabez, chief of the river Norumbegue, of whom
he asked the body of Panounias, [243] who had been killed. The latter
granted it to him, begging him to tell his friends that he was very sorry
for his death, and assuring him that it was without his knowledge that he
had been killed, and that, inasmuch as it was not his fault, he begged him
to tell them that he desired they might continue to live as friends. This
Ouagimou promised to do upon his return. He said to us that he was very
uneasy until he got away from them, whatever friendship they might show
him, since they were liable to change; and he feared that they would treat
him in the same manner as they had the one who had been killed.
Accordingly, he did not tarry long after being dismissed. He took the body
in his shallop from Norumbegue to our settlement, a distance of fifty
leagues.

As soon as the body was brought on shore, his relatives and friends began
to shout by his side, having painted their entire face with black, which is
their mode of mourning. After lamenting much, they took a quantity of
tobacco and two or three dogs and other things belonging to the deceased,
and burned them some thousand paces from our settlement on the
sea-shore. Their cries continued until they returned to their cabin.

The next day they took the body of the deceased and wrapped it in a red
covering, which Mabretou, chief of this place, urgently implored me to give
him, since it was handsome and large. He gave it to the relatives of the
deceased, who thanked me very much for it. After thus; wrapping up the
body, they decorated it with several kinds of _matachiats_; that is,
strings of beads and bracelets of diverse colors. They painted the face,
and put on the head many feathers and other things, the finest they had.
Then they placed the body on its knees between two sticks, with another
under the arms to sustain it. Around the body were the mother, wife, and
others of the relatives and friends of the deceased, both women and girls,
howling like dogs.

While the women and girls were shrieking, the savage named Mabretou made an
address to his companions on the death of the deceased, urging all to take
vengeance for the wickedness and treachery committed by the subjects of
Bessabez, and to make war upon them as speedily as possible. All agreed to
do so in the spring.

After the harangue was finished and the cries had ceased, they carried the
body of the deceased to another cabin. After smoking tobacco together,
they wrapped it in an elk-skin likewise; and, binding it very securely,
they kept it until there should be a larger number of savages present, from
each one of whom the brother of the deceased expected to receive presents,
it being their custom to give them to those who have lost fathers, mothers,
wives, brothers, or sisters.

On the night of the 26th of December, there was a southeast wind, which
blew down several trees. On the last day of December, it began to snow,
which continued until the morning of the next day. On the both of January
following, 1607, Sieur de Poutrincourt, desiring to ascend the river
Equille, [244] found it at a distance of some two leagues from our
settlement sealed with ice, which caused him to return, not being able to
advance any farther. On the 8th of February, some pieces of ice began to
flow down from the upper part of the river into the harbor, which only
freezes along the shore. On the both of May following, it snowed all night;
and, towards the end of the month, there were heavy hoar-frosts, which
lasted until the 10th or 12th of June, when all the trees were covered with
leaves, except the oaks, which do not leaf out until about the 15th. The
winter was not so severe as on the preceding years, nor did the snow
continue so long on the ground. It rained very often, so that the savages
suffered a severe famine, owing to the small quantity of snow. Sieur de
Poutrincourt supported a part of them who were with us; namely, Mabretou,
his wife and children, and some others.

We spent this winter very pleasantly, and fared generously by means of the
ORDRE DE BON TEMPS, which I introduced. This all found useful for their
health, and more advantageous than all the medicines that could have been
used. By the rules of the order, a chain was put, with some little
ceremonies, on the neck of one of our company, commissioning him for the
day to go a hunting. The next day it was conferred upon another, and thus
in succession. All exerted themselves to the utmost to see who would do the
best and bring home the finest game. We found this a very good arrangement,
as did also the savages who were with us. [245]

There were some cases of _mal de la terre_ among us, which was, however,
not so violent as in the previous years. Nevertheless, seven died from it,
and another from an arrow wound, which he had received from the savages at
Port Fortune. [246]

Our surgeon, named Master Estienne, opened some of the bodies, as we did
the previous years, and found almost all the interior parts affected. Eight
or ten of the sick got well by spring.

At the beginning of March and of April, all began to prepare gardens, so as
to plant seeds in May, which is the proper time for it. They grew as well
as in France, but were somewhat later. I think France is at least a month
and a half more forward. As I have stated, the time to plant is in May,
although one can sometimes do so in April; yet the seeds planted then do
not come forward any faster than those planted in May, when the cold can no
longer damage the plants except those which are very tender, since there
are many which cannot endure the hoar-frosts, unless great care and
attention be exercised.

On the 24th of May, we perceived a small barque [247] of six or seven tons'
burthen, which we sent men to reconnoitre; and it was found to be a young
man from St. Malo, named Chevalier, who brought letters from Sieur de Monts
to Sieur de Poutrincourt, by which he directed him to bring back his
company to France. [248] He also announced to us the birth of Monseigneur,
the Duke of Orleans, to our delight, in honor of which event we made
bonfires and chanted the _Te Deum_. [249]

Between the beginning and the 20th of June, some thirty or forty savages
assembled in this place in order to make war upon the Almouchiquois, and
revenge the death of Panounias, who was interred by the savages according
to their custom, who gave afterwards a quantity of peltry to a brother of
his.[250] The presents being made, all of them set out from this place on
the 29th of June for Choueacoet, which is the country of the Almouchiquois,
to engage in the war.

Some days after the arrival of the above Chevalier, Sieur de Poutrincourt
sent him to the rivers St. John [251] and St. Croix [252] to trade for
furs. But he did not permit him to go without men to bring back the barque,
since some had reported that he desired to return to France with the vessel
in which he had come, and leave us in our settlement. Lescarbot was one of
those who accompanied him, who up to this time had not left Port Royal.
This is the farthest he went, only fourteen or fifteen leagues beyond Port
Royal.

While awaiting the return of Chevalier, Sieur de Poutrincourt went to the
head of Baye Francoise in a shallop with seven or eight men. Leaving the
harbor and heading northeast a quarter east for some twenty-five leagues
along the coast, we arrived at a cape where Sieur de Poutrincourt desired
to ascend a cliff more than thirty fathoms high, in doing which he came
near losing his life. For, having reached the top of the rock which is very
narrow, and which he had ascended with much difficulty, the summit trembled
beneath him. The reason was that, in course of time, moss had gathered
there four or five feet in thickness, and, not being solid, trembled when
one was on top of it, and very often when one stepped on a stone three or
four others fell down. Accordingly, having gone up with difficulty, he
experienced still greater in coming down, although some sailors, men very
dexterous in climbing, carried him a hawser, a rope of medium size, by
means of which he descended, This place was named Cap de Poutrincourt,
[253] and is in latitude 45 deg. 40'.

We went as far as the head of this bay, but saw nothing but certain white
stones suitable for making lime, yet they are found only in small
quantities. We saw also on some islands a great number of gulls. We
captured as many of them as we wished. We made the tour of the bay, in
order to go to the Port aux Mines where I had previously been, [254] and
whither I conducted Sieur de Poutrincourt, who collected some little pieces
of copper with great difficulty. All this bay has a circuit of perhaps
twenty leagues, with a little river at its head, which is very sluggish and
contains but little water. There are many other little brooks, and some
places where there are good harbors at high tide, which rises here five
fathoms. In one of these harbors three or four leagues north of Cap de
Poutrincourt, we found a very old cross all covered with moss and almost
all rotten, a plain indication that before this there had been Christians
there. All of this country is covered with dense forests, and with some
exceptions is not very attractive. [255]

From the Port aux Mines [256] we returned to our settlement. In this bay
there are strong tidal currents running in a south-westerly direction.

On the 12th of July, Ralleau, secretary of Sieur de Monts, arrived with
three others in a shallop from a place called Niganis, [257] distant from
Port Royal some hundred and sixty or hundred and seventy leagues,
confirming the report which Chevalier had brought to Sieur de Poutrincourt.

On the 3d of July, [258] three barques were fitted out to send the men and
supplies, which were at our settlement, to Canseau, distant one hundred and
fifteen leagues from our settlement, and in latitude 45 deg. 20', where the
vessel [259] was engaged in fishing, which was to carry us back to France.

Sieur de Poutrincourt sent back all his companions, but remained with eight
others at the settlement, so as to carry to France some grain not yet quite
ripe. [260]

On the 10th of August, Mabretou arrived from the war, who told us that he
had been at Choueacoet, and had killed twenty savages and wounded ten or
twelve; also that Onemechin, chief of that place, Marchin, and one other,
had been killed by Sasinou, chief of the river of Quinibequy, who was
afterwards killed by the companions of Onemechin and Marchin. All this war
was simply on account of the savage Panounias, one of our friends who, as I
have said above, had been killed at Norumbegue by the followers of
Onemechin and Marchin. At present, the chiefs in place of Onemechin,
Marchin, and Sasinou are their sons: namely, for Sasinou, Pememen; Abriou
for his father, Marchin; and for Onemechin, Queconsicq. The two latter were
wounded by the followers of Mabretou, who seized them under pretence of
friendship, as is their fashion, something which both sides have to guard
against. [261]

ENDNOTES:

240. Lescarbot, the author of a History of New France often referred to in
our notes, published a volume entitled "LES MUSES DE LA NOUVELLE
FRANCE," in which may be found the play entitled LE THEATRE DE
NEPTUNE, which he composed to celebrate the return of this expedition.

241. The mill is represented on Champlain's map of Port Royal as situated
on the stream which he calls _Riviere du Moulin_, the River of the
Mill. This is Allen River; and the site of the mill was a short
distance south-east of the "point where corn had been planted," which
was on the spot now occupied by the village of Annapolis.

242. _Vide antea_, note 212. see also the map of Port Royal, where the road
is delineated, p. 24.

243. This Indian Panounias and his wife had accompanied De Monts in 1605,
on his expedition to Cape Cod.--_Vide_ antea, p. 55.

244. Now the Annapolis River.

245. The conceit of this novel order was a happy one, as it served to
dispel the gloom of a long winter in the forests of La Cadie, as well
as to improve the quality and variety of their diet. The _noblesse_,
or gentlemen of the party, were fifteen, who served in turn and for a
single day as caterer or steward, the turn of each recurring once in
fifteen days. It was their duty to add to the ordinary fare such
delicate fish or game as could be captured or secured by each for his
particular day. They always had some delicacy at breakfast; but the
dinner was the great banquet, when the most imposing ceremony was
observed.

246. Champlain does not inform us how many of Poutrincourt's party were
killed in the affray at Chatham. He mentions one as killed on the
spot. He speaks of carrying away the "dead bodies" for burial. He also
says they made a "deadly assault" upon "five or six of our company;"
and another appears to have died of his wounds after their return to
Port Royal, as stated in the text.

247. _Une petite barque_. The French barque was a small vessel or large
boat, rigged with two masts; and those employed by De Monts along our
coast varied from six to eighteen tons burden, and must not be
confounded with our modern bark, which is generally much larger.

The _vaisseau_, often mentioned by Champlain, included all large
vessels, those used for fishing, the fur-trade, and the transportation
of men and supplies for the colony.

The _chaloupe_ was a row-boat of convenient size for penetrating
shallow places, was dragged behind the barque in the explorations of
our coast, and used for minor investigations of rivers and estuaries.

The _patache_, an advice-boat, is rarely used by Champlain, and then
in the place of the shallop.

248. It Seems that young Chevalier had come out in the "Jonas," the same
ship that had brought out Poutrincourt, Lescarbot, and others, the
year before. It had stopped at Canseau to fish for cod. It brought the
unwelcome news that the company of De Monts had been broken up; that
the Hollanders, conducted by a "French traitor named La Jeunesse," had
destroyed the fur-trading establishments on the St. Lawrence, which
rendered it impracticable to sustain, as heretofore, the expenses of
the company. The monopoly of the fur-trade, granted to De Monts for
ten years, had been rescinded by the King's Council. "We were very
sad," says Lescarbot, "to see so fine and holy an undertaking broken
off, and that so many labors and perils endured had resulted in
nothing: and that the hope of establishing there the name of God and
the Catholic Faith had disappeared. Notwithstanding, after M. de
Poutrincourt had a long while mused hereupon, he said that, although
he should have none to come with him, except his family, he would not
forsake the enterprise."--_His. Nou. France_, par M. Lescarbot.
Paris, 1612. pp. 591-2.

249. On the 16th of April, 1607, was born the second son of Henry IV. by
Marie de Medicis, who received the title, Le Duc d'Orleans. In France,
public rejoicings were universal. On the 22d of the month, he was
invested with the insignia of the Order of St. Michael and the Holy
Ghost with great pomp, on which occasion a banquet was given by the
King in the great hall at Fontainebleau, and in the evening the park
was illuminated by bonfires and a pyrotechnic display, which was
witnessed by a vast concourse of people. The young prince was baptized
privately by the Cardinal de Gondy, but the state ceremonies of his
christening were delayed, and appear never to have taken place: he
died in the fifth year of his age, never having received any Christian
name.--_Vide the Life of Marie de Medicis_, by Miss Pardoe, London,
1852, Vol. I. p. 416; _Memoirs of the Duke of Sully_, Lennox, trans.,
Phila., 1817, Vol. IV. p. 140. In New France, the little colony at
Port Royal attested their loyalty by suitable manifestations of
joy. "As the day declined," Says Lescarbot, "we made bonfires to
celebrate the birth of Monseigneur le Duc d'Orleans, and caused our
cannon and falconets to thunder forth again, accompanied with plenty
of musket-shots, having before for this purpose chanted a _Te Deum_."
--_Vide His. Nou. France_, Paris, 1612, p.594.

250. Lescarbot says that about four hundred set out for the war against the
Almouchiquois, at Choueacoet, or Saco. The savages were nearly two
months in assembling themselves together. Mabretou had sent out his
two sons, Actaudin and Actaudinech, to summon them to come to Port
Royal as a rendezvous. They came from the river St. John, and from the
region of Gaspe. Their purpose was accomplished, as will appear in the
sequel.

251. At St. John, they visited the cabin of Secondon, the Sagamore, with
whom they bartered for some furs. Lescarbot, who was in the
expedition, says, "The town of Ouigoudy was a great enclosure upon a
hill, compassed about with high and small trees, tied one against
another; and within it many cabins, great and small, one of which was
as large as a market-hall, wherein many households resided." In the
cabin of Secondon. they saw some eighty or a hundred savages, all
nearly naked. They were celebrating a feast which they call _Tabagie_.
Their chief made his warriors pass in review before his guests.--_Vide
His. Nou. France_, par M. Lescarbot. Paris, 1612. p. 598.

252. They found sack at St. Croix that had been left there by De Monts's
colony three years before, of which they drank. Casks were still lying
in the deserted court-yard: and others had been used as fuel by
mariners, who had chanced to come there.

253. De Laet's map has C. de Poutrincourt; the map of the English and
French Commissaries, C. Fendu or split Cape. Halliburton has Split
Cape, so likewise has the Admiralty map of 1860.

It is situated at the entrance of the Basin of Mines, and about eight
miles southwest of Parrsborough. The point of this cape is in latitude
45 deg. 20'.

254. _Vide antea_, p. 26.

255. The author is here speaking of the country about the Basin of Mines.
The river at the head of the bay is the Shubenacadie. It is not easy
to determine where the moss-covered cross was found. The distance from
Cap de Poutrincourt is indefinite, and the direction could not have
been exactly north. There is too much uncertainty to warrant even a
conjecture as to its locality.

256. The port aux Mines is Advocate's Harbor.--_Vide antea_, p. 26, and
note 67.

257. Niganis is a small Bay in the Island of Cape Breton, south of Cape
North: by De Laet called _Ninganis_; English, and French Commissaries,
_Niganishe_; modern maps, _Niganish_.

258. The _3d of July_ was doubtless an error of the printer for the 30th,
as appears from the later date in the preceding paragraph, and the
statement of Lescarbot, that he left on the 30th of July. He says they
had one large barque, two small ones, and a shallop. One of the small
ones was sent before, while the other two followed on the 30th; and he
adds that Poutrincourt remained eleven days longer to await the
ripening of their grain, which agrees with Champlain's subsequent
statement, that he left with Poutrincourt on the 11th of
August.--_Vide His. Nou. France_, 1612, p. 603.

259. The "Jonas."--_Vide antea_, p. 146.

Fidel and Che: a revolutionary friendship

After last week's fairly open theme, I thought I'd go with something a bit more structured this time. As I type this, I'm listening to Steeleye Span and thinking about the great ballad traditions of Britain and Ireland. What is a ballad? I suppose the most inclusive definition would be that it's a singable narrative poem: that covers a multitude but will do for the moment.

Ballads in English stretch back to the middle ages, with fine examples to be found among the Scottish border ballads and the English Robin Hood poems. These early ballads are among the best-known poems and stories in the language, and form part of the common heritage of English speakers everywhere. They gave rise to a tradition of ballad-making that endures down to the present day.

In fact, most poets since have tried their hand at the ballad at one time or another, and the result has been to deny any definition more specific than the one I ventured in my first paragraph. If you look around the internet, you'll come up with a wide selection of poems that are called ballads but have little in common formally. Stanza length varies from two to 10 or more lines, and all sorts of metrical and rhyming patterns are used. A good number will be singable in only the loosest possible sense, and at times the narrative tends to get lost in a mesh of more-or-less successful verbal embroidery.

So, what should a ballad be? Well, "proper" ballad stanzas are quatrains in which the first and third lines have four stresses and the second and third have three. The lines will rhyme A-B-C-B or A-B-A-B. It's as simple, and as difficult, as that. Here's an example, from Robert Burns's extremely singable Comin Thro' the Rye:

Gin a body meet a body
          Comin thro' the rye,
Gin a body kiss a body –
          Need a body cry.

Burns wrote a good number of ballads, and his lead was followed by many 19th-century poets. Two examples that I particularly like are Robert Browning's Confessions and Christina Rossetti's Up-Hill, but you can find ballads by just about any Romantic or Victorian poet if you look for them.

There is a long, strong tradition of ballads and ballad singers in Ireland, too. It is hardly surprising, then, that the great appropriator of tradition, WB Yeats, tried his hand at the form. At least four of his poems have the word "ballad" in the title; the pick of the bunch, for my money, is The Ballad of Father Gilligan, which may have benefited from having been written with a specific tune in mind.

Ballads continued to be written in the 20th century; perhaps the most unexpected exponents were Ezra Pound, with his Ballad of the Goodly Fere, and WH Auden. In fact, the ballad The Quarry is probably my favourite Auden poem.

And so, this week I invite a chorus of balladeering. You may choose to go the whole hog and write in ballad stanzas or you might prefer to take a more liberal view of the formal requirements. Either way, sing up and – as they say at all the best Irish sessions when calling for a bit of hush for the singer – one voice please.

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Obituary: Donald Westlake

The disputed Holocaust memoir, written by Herman Rosenblat, which was dropped from Penguin Group's publication schedule at the end of December is now set to appear as a work of fiction.

Rosenblat's memoir - which Oprah Winfrey called "the single greatest love story" she had heard in two decades in television - recounted how as a teenage boy in a Nazi concentration camp, he was kept alive by the food which was thrown to him by a young girl, Roma Radzicky. Penguin's US imprint Berkley Books had planned to publish the story, which sees Rosenblat reunited with Radzicky on a blind date years later, as Angel at the Fence: the True Story of a Love That Survived, next month.

But a Holocaust historian said it would have been impossible to approach the fence in the Schlieben concentration camp to throw food over it, concluding that this part of the story was made-up. Berkley initially defended the book, saying it was a work of memory, but then decided to cancel its planned publication, and demanded the return of the advance it had made to Rosenblat. A $25m film based on the book, to be called The Flower of the Fence, is still going ahead, with production due to start this year.

Publisher York House Press based in White Plains, New York, has entered into a tentative agreement with the film production company to publish a novel based on the film script early this spring. It said the book would be "grounded in fact", and would rise "to the proper levels of artistic value, ethical conduct and social responsibility".

A spokesperson for York House Press condemned the attacks which were made on the 80-year-old Rosenblat after the veracity of his story was questioned, describing them as a "savage" response to what was otherwise "a credible, heart-wrenching, and verifiable account" of his time in the concentration camp.

"No deliberate untruth is permissible, but beneath any fabrication is motivation and intent. We believe Mr. Rosenblat's motivations were very human, understandable and forgivable," the spokesperson said. "It is beyond our expertise to know how Holocaust survivors cope with their trauma. Do they deny, try to forget, rationalise or fantasise and promote fiction along with truth? Perhaps the coping mechanisms are as individual as the survivors themselves."

The president of the company producing the film, Harris Salomon from Atlantic Overseas Productions, said the book, "regardless of its shortcomings", would "challenge, educate and enlighten" readers about the horrors of the Holocaust. "The documented fact, acknowledged by his critics, is that Herman is a survivor of concentration camps," he said.

But Rosenblat's agent, Andrea Hurst, said that neither she nor Rosenblat were involved with this version of his story. "Usually book rights from films come out after the movie is released," she told guardian.co.uk. "I think the timing on this is very insensitive."

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