About a year ago, one of the women read a book about Hanna, who was an infant in a concentration camp during WWII. Many years later, Hannah had lived a remarkable life that has proved a great inspiration for others. The book was about her marvelous journey.
One of Patty’s quilting pals got a copy of the book and discovered that Hannah lived in a nearby
Once that was agreed, the quilters wanted to know everything about Hannah. They were honored to take her to lunch to discuss the details. Once the story was clear the gifted quilters went to work, each one taking on a different role and a different part of the project. One of Hannah’s primary homes was a common theme depicted.
Eventually, the one-of-a-king piece of art was completed and the ladies entered it ina quilting contest about quilts with a story. They all gathered to share the glory of their combined efforts. Hannah had a brand new hand-made quilt as a symbol of her life and the new friends that she had made.
A few months later, a weird phone call was received. It revealed that the charming Hannah had accomplished a lot more than the ladies ever knew, but not the particular things they thought. She was even a a part of the activities at Holocaust Week at the Universit of Colorado. (April 22) She had been convicted of fraud. She never was in a concentration camp and her whole story was a giant lie. Before anybody could catch up to her, she packed up her bags and disappeared into the night with a brand new quilt - a quilt created by truly extraordinary women.
Hannah’s real name is Rosemarie Pence. The writer of the book, Jean M., can’t help but feel partially responsible for perpetuation the lies about the 71 year old con woman: but Jean is just one of many who followed the string of lies. For more details visit the story as told in the
whaddya think?
4 comments:
Interesting. Precisely why I believe actions define the person. Christians allow for sin and remedy that sin with forgiveness - the real power there being the person who grants the forgiveness. The problem is that people are still left hurting. By looking from the perspective of actions, Patti and her group still did a wonderful thing for an old lady, something they can feel good about, an example for others. The actions of "Hannah" serve only to create hurt, yet the good deeds of the group stand untarnished. I see no need to forgive this woman's misdeeds, only to commend the laudable efforts of the quilters.
Is your "Hannah was a con artist" link to a holocaust deniers website an implication that we should deny everything because we might, sometimes, be right?
Or was it to show that there will always be people that deny, exploit, and twist history and tragedies to diminish reality and tarnish the legitimate work and intentions of others?
Hopefully every time Rosemarie uses the quilt her sinister and pathetic thoughts will be suffocated by all the love, compassion, and selflessness that the quilters intended for Hannah.
The Longmont paper said her husband said she was schizophrenic and had been hospitalized. If this is true, it really is sad for her. Her actions should not be condoned or swept away, but people with mental illness can weave intricate alternate lives for themselves, without realizing the hurt they are causing. She also could just be a terrible person, but if she really is mentally ill, I would swap any ill feelings towards her with pity.
There were several people who "knew" Hannah fairly well, including a quilt store owner with whom Hanna lived for quite a while and the author of the book. There is a lot of evidence that she was just a con artist. Furthermore, she was convicted of fraud, so if this was really a mental health issue she probably would have been given some sort of treatment rather than convicted of a crime.
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