Misha Defonseca

In the 1990s, Misha Defonseca wrote an autobiography, "Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years", which immediately became a worldwide bestseller.

The book told of a young Jewish girl who lost her parents during World War II. Misha traveled through war-torn Europe, somehow managing to survive. Defonseca wrote about fighting off and killing a Nazi rapist, and that wasn't even the most astonishing part. The young girl was taken in by a pack of wolves, and, like a real-life "Jungle Book", lived with them as one of their own, surviving on worms and entrails. No wonder the readers ate up this amazing story. The French even made into a movie in 2007.

One small... okay, one BIG problem.

None of it were true.

The supposed autobiography was all made-up, which obviously caused quite a stir among the millions duped. Misha Defonseca turned out to be a pseudonym of Monique de Wael, who, yes, survived the War, but never ventured through Europe. Never stabbed a Nazi rapist. And never, definitely never lived with wolves. Except in her wildest imagination, that is.

But the biggest lie?

She wasn't even Jewish.