Yekke, if the halacha is that you are not believe it, then you are not allowed to believe it, period. In a discussion with a friend once, I made the comment that I don’t see how it’s possible to not believe l”h. She pointed out that if it’s the halacha, it must be possible even it’s very hard.
In any case, even if you feel that it was impossible not to believe it (and I understand why you feel that way – I would also), at least on an intellectual level, you can’t accept it as fact and you can’t then interpret events accordingly.
I hadn’t realized that the askan acknowledged the truth of the statments, but didn’t that happen after you spoke to him? In that case, it would be irrelevant.