Lancaster County man lied about Auschwitz

ADAMSTOWN, Pa. - A 91-year-old Lancaster County man who has for years lectured to school groups and others about what he said were his experiences at Auschwitz now admits he was never a prisoner at the German death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

Joseph Hirt of Adamstown made the admission in a letter to the Lancaster LNP newspaper on Wednesday.

"I am writing today to apologize publicly for harm caused to anyone because of my inserting myself into the descriptions of life in Auschwitz," Hirt wrote. "I was not a prisoner there. I did not intend to lessen or overshadow the events which truly happened there by falsely claiming to have been personally involved."

Hirt's admission came weeks after his story of escaping from Auschwitz was questioned by Andrew Reid, a history teacher in Turin, N.Y. Reid and his students attended an April presentation by Hirt and the educator concluded that many of the speaker's claims didn't add up.

He launched his own investigation, which culminated in a letter he sent to media outlets and organizations that had hosted or written about Hirt. Those organizations unknowingly perpetuated "his false claims to an even greater audience," Reid said.

Among other findings, his research indicated that the identification number tattooed on Hirt's arm was actually that of another prisoner from 1944.

Hirt apologized to Reid in a phone call this month, according to Reid, who said he pushed Hirt to make a public apology.

In his letter, Hirt recounted a visit he made to Auschwitz several years after World War II and said he was determined "at that moment to prevent the loss of the truth" about life and death at the concentration camp.

Hirt said he was wrong and asked for forgiveness.