Historian Falsely Claims Her Family Members Died in Holocaust | Marie Sophie Hingst Case Analysis 

“Narcissists rarely have a back up plan, because having one would imply that they have a potential to fail.” - This is such an interesting point! Like Sophie, I think many people use victimization as a way to feel special. The problem is that victimization always comes at the cost of somebody else. People may devote time, money or emotional resources to help the “victim,” that never existed in the first place. Brilliant analysis Dr. Grande, thank you.❤️

That's unreal. That's like there was this lady that lied about being a survivor of the 9/11 terror attack. She told like graphic vivid stories and collected money. And she wasn't even there. There's some lines you just don't cross man.

It just amazes me how people make claims like this and assume no one will ever question or investigate

My father would lie about things that were mostly inconsequential but made him look better, helping a famous person bc of the job he had, owning more land than he actually did etc. He was very accomplished in life so it was odd to me he would make these things up. A couple people have described him as a narcissist. Having seen some of these videos about narcissists it makes more sense now. Thank you Dr.

That is so sad. With her talents, education, and imagination, she could have been a famous novelist or an inspiring history professor. So sorry it was wasted for the world.

As someone who had a family member who actually survived the Holocaust (grandpa), trust me, they aren’t sitting around HAVING GARDEN PARTIES to reminisce.

I would have chosen a more interesting subject for a doctoral thesis, but I respect Sophie's Choice.

i’m surprised the term “pathological liar” did not come up once here

I find it a bit ironic that one of my great-grandfather's brothers did in fact die in the Holocaust, but this has never in any way made me feel particularly special - 6 million other people's relatives did as well. But had I been able to obtain a PhD, I would have felt quite special, and quite proud of my accomplishment. It seems like her identity, which she had no control over, was more important than her achievements, which she did. Am I the only one who finds this completely backwards?

Calling someone out on being a liar and a fraud is never wrong. Too many people hide behind their “mental illness” and use it as an excuse to do terrible things.

In answer to, What the heck was she thinking just lying her head off like that?!?!...Dr. G: Narcissists rarely have a backup plan because to have one is to admit their potential to fail- THANK YOU DR GRANDE for explaining this so well.

What the mom said kind of struck a chord with me. When I was a teenager I met someone my age on a forum for my favorite band and we hit it off. We talked online or on the phone almost every day for close to three years and I helped her through some difficult things. Then she ghosted me and I was so worried something bad had happened (she talked a lot about hurting herself). Years after that she contacted me to apologize and explain that she had actually been in her thirties, married with kids, and she'd made up literally everything she told me about herself. I guess she was bored so she created a whole new online life for herself starting over as a teenager, and when her husband finally figured out why she spent so much time on the computer he threatened to leave if she didn't stop it. So she ghosted me and all her other online friends to try to salvage her marriage (didn't work in the end). I couldn't be friends with her after all the lying, but I still feel like that persona and that life she created online was one part of who she really was/is that she didn't know how to share otherwise. Not to excuse anything Marie or my old friend did, because those lies hurt people, but I can kind of understand what the mom meant by only having access to one of Marie's realities.

I know of a woman who claims to be Arab from a family of Syrian refugees, that her parents were political exiles and she was born while they were on the run before immigrating to the US. The reality is she was born and raised in Florida. Her mom is white and her only ties to Syria is that her biological father is like half Arab. It’s disturbing and fascinating that some people can craft an entire false identity and confidentiality sell it to the world. This woman has a significant Instagram and TikTok following by basically deceiving people into believing she’s a Syrian refugee immigrant and claiming that trauma when none of it happened.

Since you mentioned "Der Spiegel", I would be interested in your thoughts on Claas Relotius. He is a former award-winning and now disgraced journalist who got caught falsifying a couple of high profile articles, essentially making up stories out of thin air.

Unless your ancestors survived the holocaust, I recommend not lying about it. This was a very tragic, very difficult event in history and the fact that Sophie made a claim for what seemed to be for attention makes me sick

When I was a little girl our neighbor was a survivor of the Holocaust. This neighbor showed me her tattoo. She was a very nice lady who had me share all the Jewish Holidays with her. Wonderful memories. This woman upsets me, sorry about her death.

“lost in historical narratives” is my favorite observation from this episode. This was outstanding, Doc. You show much compassion for Sophie between the lines. Her mask was fragile. Others saw it too late. Thank you!

This reminds me of the case of Janet Cooke. She would be another fascinating one for you to cover. In case you're not familiar, Ms. Cooke was a journalist for the Washington Post in the early-1980s. She won the Pulitzer Prize for a story called "Jimmy's World," about an 8-year-old heroin addict. It was later discovered that the story was a fabrication and Ms. Cooke had also falsified her resume.

I have a narcissist in my immediate family that did something nearly identical. They claimed they were with a very famous person hanging out on the day they died. When they would almost get caught they’d step back, but as soon as they thought they could get away with it they were right back at it. Narcissism is one hell of a drug.

I feel like this story shows how narcissism can actually cause horrible pain to a person with it. they use the narcissism as a defense mechanism, and even though they often really hurt people around them, their narcism can cause them pain when their illusion is broken

This reminds me of the history professor who pretended to be from a poor Hispanic background (Jess La Bombera). An interesting case to analyze as well Dr. Grande. I wonder to what degree these people are products of the postmodern times in which we are living. Identities are considered to be fluid so why not obtain an identity that is interesting and beneficial for your career?

Thank you, Dr. Grande for your research and sleuth skills. Much appreciated 👍

Seems very bizarre to me. She put herself into the potential to be discovered by posting these false stories that could easily be verified and exposed. Why?

Seems like she couldn't handle the exposure of having her "mask" ripped off. So many pointless lies led to a needless death. 😢

"I wrote a story about..." _that's literally all she needed to do and she'd have a glowing authorship career parallel to whatever-the-hell Intel was doing with her..._

As someone who works at a historic site and fact checks the historical documents/materials given to new educators and is OCD about accuracy and being able to point back to a reliable primary source, and only had a bachelor’s degree, it surprises me that she didn’t do her actual job in researching the circumstances surrounding her story just in case anyone decided to fact check her.

A very sad case all in all. You mentioned many important aspects, as I am watching from Germany, I wanted to add a thought: I think the fact that all of this took place in Germany, i.e. the scene of the holocaust, made the whole thing even more dramatic. As you explain, being a descendant of holocaust victims would make her special in a sense and being caught lying about it would cause immense backlash anywhere but both of these factors are really amplified in the German context. The holocaust is connected to so much guilt and shame in Germany (and rightfully so) that anybody benefiting from it by lying about it or playing a victim without being one is considered pretty much unforgivable, like her reputation was basically destroyed beyond repair and it could very possible felt like a death sentence to her. It is possible that she could not deal with the shame and guilt of being caught in such a horrific lie. What she did was obviously wrong but I am very sorry the story ended the way it did...

Dr. Grande throwin' shade is how i beat the heat in these ol' dog days of summer

Its a fine line to walk between having sympathy for people like this and just outright condemnation here. I was pretty liberal with my "creative license" while growing up - especially in high school - and it was largely to cover up a deep inferiority complex. So when I hear cases like this, I can't help but think "there but for the grace of maturity and a great network of loved ones (etc), go I". Now I strive to live authentically and I think back to the lies I told with very justifiable sense of shame. I still worry that I might have a tendency towards narcissism - I certainly feel very egocentric and as though I have main character syndrome within my own head - but I try to combat the worst elements of myself by being a supportive friend and helping others where I can. Ah well, I guess we all have our crosses to bear!

Always interesting. I appreciate people who can make things up and lie. Makes my life interesting just reading them. Plus I love your humor. Thank you Peace 💕🇺🇲

This one is a sad story. My 2 cents, she was lonely and socially awkward and just got caught up in her own fantasies because she lacked the skills to develop normal healthy relationships. Sad though that once exposed she felt her life was so destroyed she thought suicide was her only option. Where was her family? I assume they were following her blog and were aware she was making up all these stories?

I'm so sorry for Sophie. She seemed to have been talented and competent. I Wish She could have gotten help sooner. But as a pH.D my self I think I beat Sophie's thesis in terms of "strangeness". My thesis was a critical philological edition of medieval vernacular manuscripts on horse medicine. Two volumes, BTW. Hard to beat 😁

I had a similar experience with a parent that "exaggerated" my Italian lineage. I repeated to my daughters everything she told me. I then discovered d 50+ years later it was all exaggerations. It was a gut punch.

Another fantastic video, Dr. Grande! You explain these situations in such a concise and comprehensive way and as your audience, we're so grateful that you continue to share content on so many different topics! ❤️

I always feel kinda bad for the various "Dolezals" & "Smolletts" when they get exposed. They had it coming, but at the same time it must be mortifying to have everyone know you made up a ridiculous story. (Full disclosure: I told all the kids at summer camp that I was adopted and also had a pet Persian cat. In reality, my biological parents raised me and we had no household pets. I just wanted attention for having a cool "backstory." Of course, I was eleven years old, so... not totally pathological, I hope.)

I can picture some executive yelling at recruiters: "It's great that we're making all these millions of dollars with all these IT majors, but we really need to hire someone who understands 17th century Irish history. That's the secret to growth in the microprocesser business." Omg! 😅😅😅 Good one, Dr. G. I don't know what I would do in the morning without your channel!

This reminds me of the story of Tania Head, subject of the 2012 documentary The Woman Who Wasn't There. She claimed to have survived and been injured in the 9/11 attacks and that her fiancé died in the attacks, and she ended up becoming fairly well-known as the president of the World Trade Center Survivors' Network support group. In reality, she wasn't even in the U.S. at the time, and she had never met the man she claimed was her fiancé. It seemed to me that she was so wrapped up in her story that she came to believe it actually happened. She put a lot of time and effort into the survivors' network, and some members said she inspired them and helped them get through some difficult times.

You should analyze Steve Rannazzisi lying about surviving September 11th. That story is hilarious and fascinating to me. A lie that went way too far.

As a German blogger who has followed Sophie in real time, I feel a significant part of context is missing in your analysis. Mental health is one aspect, the very specific sense of collective guilt that's deeply rooted in German society, and more recently is being rebelled against by some segments of the population, is just as important to take into account. There's a reason so many people here took Sophie's admittedly beautifully written stories for facts. Taking on a fake Jewish identity is by no means a singular occurrence. In fact, German language even has a slightly pejorative expression for it: Kostümjude, or "costume Jew". Other cases that in recent years made headlines are those of Spiegel journalist Claas Relotius (which explains why the Spiegel journalist was going so hard against Sophie), fake holocaust survivor Moshe Peter Loth, and fake Jewish community leader Walter Seibold. I'm sure many more are out there who don't make headlines. A key figure for Sophie has likely been her friend and mentor Lea Rosh, a Berlin based journalist and publicist and activist against antisemitism. Rosh had a Jewish grandfather on her mother's side. She was born as Edith Renate Ursula - and took on Lea as her first name later in life. If you look at Rosh's biography (she has an English Wikipedia entry) it's obvious that Sophie emulated it to create her own. Which narcissists do. Removing oneself from the collective identity of the perpetrators to take on, performatively, an identity of the victims' collective, however, seems to be a universal phenomenon even outside the Nazi - Holocaust survivor counterpole. Take Rachel Dolezal, performatively pretending to be African-American, or Amber Heard or Evan Rachel Woods pretending to be a gender-based violence victims and activists, hurting their alleged cause. Alleged, because their actual cause is only ever narcissistic supply.

Reminds me of all the white Americans claiming "native" heritage, then everyone finding out they're 100% European. Some get *so upset* when they get caught claiming that

Being German, I can see why the Spiegel would publish the story; there is certainly an audience here for learning about individual fates in our horrible history, and thus also for exposing people who make false claims about it.

This analysis was handled with the appropriate sensitivity I personally believe it deserved, thank you for this. While her claim was of course heinous, this is just such a sad case. It's different from people like Rachel Dolezal who have massively benefited from their damaging false claims around ancestry. Just speculating myself here but if Marie had received therapy around self worth and self belief, this all maybe wouldn't have happened.

I always like how Dr. Grande slide little jokes with the same "poker face" all along on his videos.

Sad that some people have to invent stories to feel worthy.

Truth always prevails. No path made towards lying will ever bring you peace.

Dr. grande is definitely doing a great job in analyzing these weird cases!! 🙏

It’s such a sad story. I wonder sometimes if simply having a devoted friend would have made a difference in her life.

Your humour has me crying with laughter. Something I need especially as I'm suffering health wise. Thankyou for your time

When I was a little kid, I got in a nasty fight I thought I was winning, but my knee was kicked so many times it bleed a lot and required stitches. The neighbors thought it was an accident and made me ice cream, and wished me well. I felt like such a fraud, and so guilty, and it was a misunderstanding. I can't imagine deliberately spinning a yarn like this woman.

I believe another factor might be the underlying feeling of shame and guilt that is still present in German society. The Third Reich and the Holocaust are still very prominently taught in German schools, often with the emphasis on the responsibilities and guilt of the generation living during the time. And with the implication of responsibility to the generations born afterwards. This can cause a feeling of underlying guilt in people. Either people reject it flat out this, they feel guilty or they try to free themselves from this feeling of guilt by taking on the role of the victims. There are some people who convert to Judaism for this reason, and some people reinvent their family history. Another very prominent case was Binjamin Wilkormirski aka Bruno Dösseker, who lied about being a suvivor of the Holocaust.

When you declare something you should expect to answer questions. When someone states “i don’t care if you believe me”, they are most likely lying.

I'm not amazed about her hiring. My ex graduated with a master of museology and got a job in the office of labour. Their only job requirement was a master degree of any kind. 🤷🏻‍♂️

She’s not the first, and certainly won’t be the last. Why does this happen so often?

We sure do come up with a lot of fancy ways to say she’s a liar.

😳 Unbelievable. History is a hobby with me. I've seen the roster of the dead at Auschwitz, as well as the SS guards. Two people shared my last name: one guard and one victim. That does not mean that I am related to them in any way. Just that my last name occurred more frequently than I thought.

First "stolen valor", now "stolen Hebraism"

Your humor helps so much in dissecting such difficult stories. The joke about the Intel exec saying, "but we really need to hire somebody who understands 17th century Irish history..." 😂 Also, I appreciate the time & effort you put into researching these stories. When you were describing this one, I was thinking of someone w/ personality disorder (Cluster B). Her allegedly "teaching" men about sexuality & how to interact w/ women could be a way to brag about her sexual knowledge (thus, she's an "expert"), or even a cover for her sexual history. Many ppl w/ personality disorders are hypersexual, so just thinking out loud about potential motives for those claims. The tragic ending of her life, is also not uncommon among Cluster B diagnoses. Certainly we don't have the data to prove this, but it seems plausible w/ the info we have. Sympathy to her loved ones.

Narcissists aren't really "treatable", because they can't conceive of anything wrong with their behavior. It's always someone else's fault that things aren't working. Narcissists are never in doubt. That's why you find so many of them in them clergy. Congregations are "reassured" by leaders who display complete assurance...

Hi, Dr. Grande. Can you please analyze the case of Robert Raymond Cook, the last man to be hanged in the Canadian province of Alberta?

So many people wanting to be a victim. Shameful.

I remember this - and the sickest part about the Holocaust survivor garden party was omitted in that she claimed her grandmother made her send out invitations that read "dear Auschwitzers." Sick

Dr. Grande: “which proves just about anything can be interesting to some people.” 🤣🤣🤣🤣 slayed me, i was thinking similarly as he described her thesis topic.

Victimhood has become valuable currency in the modern times. I can understand why someone would do this. I feel sorry for her, acting out a character online through a blog is probably fairly common, it just seemed to snowball and she found herself in a position in which she saw no way out other than suicide. Poor lady.

What’s a complex person. Thank you for giving this analysis as it has been very intriguing.

I wonder if Sophie, as a German woman, felt a sense of guilt and shame over her country's history, and wanted to mitigate that by identifying herself as the descendent of Holocaust survivors.

"the CIA using satellite lasers to turn me into an Aardvark". My god, sir, that is comedy gold! You are an absolute deadpan legend! Your analysis is excellent, but if I'm entirely honest I mostly tune in for your brutal put downs and hilarious deadpan comments.

Yesss king go offff

His deadpan delivery during funny parts is hilarious!!!!

Such people are a slap in the face of all real victims. What is wrong with such people?!

Social media has taught me more that people don't want to be left behind, everybody wants to show to the world how special they are.

Read Norman Finkelsteins book "The Holocaust Industry". Having a Holocaust story can be worth millions. In our current society many times being a 'Victim' can bring you power, prestige & fame. Its actually shocking that there aren't more Jussie Smollet, Tawanna Brawley type stories.

I have been told false about my family history so I could understand making a mistake-but this seems intentionally dishonest and she has a pattern. Good analysis

A victim of her own crimes.

I knew someone who lied about their parents being slaves. When the community found out, she decided to work for free on a farm to live “as a slave” to say sorry. Well, she ended up working her way up to Farm Manager and now is considered a millionaire. Moral of the story: hard work pays off!!!

“She was already special.” Oh gosh that’s sorta touchingly bittersweet

I've never heard of this one before! Thanks, Dr. Grande!

Possibly was aware of Anne Frank's existence, she became inspired to fabricate in relation into her own family history, enduring horrific suffering and trauma as for Anne Frank is considered a hero for the determination to stay alive and maintaining a handwritten Diary of the atrocities how it affected her and family. Thank you Doctor, for another informative video that expands you're impeccable collection soaring up to the heavens on a daily basis.

I'm addicted to your video. Thank you

“The fact that good people can be forced to do wrong doesn’t make them less good. But it also doesn’t make the wrong less wrong.” Ovadya ben Malka, A Damaged Mirror

Can't remember the name but a lady who claimed to be Holocaust survivor who lived with wolves. Like the wolves adopted her on two different occasions. She used to give talks about her 'life' at different synagogues and many Jewish families gave her money. A school in France added her book to their curriculum and the youths did an art exhibition inspired by the book. Turns out it was all lies, she wasn't even Jewish and her father had even given names to the SS. Just horrific.

I have a story from when I was a boy and two burglars tried to break in my house at Christmas when my family went on vacation without me.

Oh, my GOD!! I sound so heartless!! I'm sorry she passed, and wasn't able to correct things. I'm sorry for her Family.🙏🙏🙏🙏

There was a case recently in Czech Republic where a women lied about her history of Soviet oppression and terrible life in gulag. She gave lots of lectures in schools etc. and a book was issued about her story (called Krvavé jahody). This went on for almost 20 years, until one historian specialized on this era visited her lecture and did his thorough research finding out almost everything she claimed was fake. He even discovered that her mother of Russian origin collaborated with nazi regime during WWII and after that voluntarily ran with her children to Soviet Russia hoping to avoid a punishment for her activity during war.

Great points. Another case of a sad narcissist. Thanks Dr G 😊💛💛

Your wit is smart and funny as hell, however the conclusion is terribly sad. This woman needed help badly.

Holocaust Exploitation is a thing? Anyway, Dr. Grande should start a clothing line. I don't know what it is, but your shirts are always on point.

Outstanding, you meet and exceed every time.

Dr. Grande, what do you think of the article in Psychology Today that says there's no true link between depression and serotonin levels? I'm sure a lot of people are interested in that...especially since SSRI's are so lucrative to pharmaco....and so many people have been put on them. Probably explains why so many have to play musical chairs before finding a med that works....if they ever do find one.

My goodness, Dr Grande is brilliant! 🤝🏼

Why and who on earth would put that information on Wikipedia? Did they not know how vulnerable she was? She made a mistake. So much talent is gone. Not familiar with the case but Wikipedia needs to be scrutinized and monitored.

Good morning Bella and Max! 🐾🐾

Good job. How about doing the case of Elizabeth Warren.

Interesting analysis as always - I felt you left out a key aspect in the potential guilt and shame and perhaps horror of growing up in post-holocaust Germany and how that affected her. I feel that the lie came from an interesting tendency people have to “recreate” history when there is shame involved. I noticed this in South Africa when so many claimed after the historical events had played out - to have been “anti-apartheid” activists. I think more then narcissism - the root is guilt And the tendency for the personality structure to self-heal.

It’s rare for me to laugh out loud when alone, but thanks to you, it happens!!

More of these old school style Dr Grande videos please and less celeb news!

As long as tragedies continue to occur there will be people who come along and try to gain something from it

Narcissist rarely have a back up plan …. I would argue that they never have a backup plan. Once a narcissist is exposed as a fraud they disappear forever. In this case she took disappearing to the extreme.

What madness. I put this lady on the same level as Rachel Dolezal for Olympic level mental gymnastics. Would love to see you cover Rachel Dolezal if you haven't already. White skin lady who identifies as African American and ran a NAACP chapter.

Re the "rationale" for Sophie's hire: D.I.E. ; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. Stem companies frequently hire people from "protected" groups who don't really have the qualifications that are normally required at least for the positions they supposedly fill.

I wish this to be two hours long, your voice soothes me and darker humor is a joy to me. That being said, this is disturbing. Thanks for the video, insane , the realities some twist in minds. Is anyone safe ? 🍀