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The Hand That Signed the Paper

Historical Fiction and Romance

The Hand That Signed the Paper is a 1994 novel by Helen Darville, published under the name Helen Demidenko, that also became a literary hoax. It tells the story of a Ukrainian family that collaborated with Nazi Germany during the Holocaust, and initially received a positive reception, winning Australia's Miles Franklin Award in 1995. It later became the subject of a heated debate, first over accusations of antisemitism and then over the revelation that Darville had adopted a false identity to suggest the novel was based on her own family history. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Classification
Original Language
English 1
Award
Miles Franklin Award 1
Composed, From (Year)
from 1994 2
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. The Hand That Signed the Paper (Wikipedia)
  • Wikipedia category, checked 2026-09-27
    Category:Miles Franklin Award-winning works
  • Lead paragraph
    The Hand That Signed the Paper is a 1994 novel and literary hoax. The novel was written by Helen Darville, now Helen Dale, and was published under the name Helen Demidenko. It tells the story of a Ukrainian family that collaborated with Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.
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2. Wikipedia
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