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The Forgers
The Forgotten Story of the Holocaust's Most Audacious Rescue Operation
Description
The secret history of one of the largest—and least-known—rescue operations of World War II
Between 1940 and 1943, a group of Polish diplomats in Switzerland engaged in a wholly remarkable—and until now, completely unknown—humanitarian operation. In concert with Jewish activists, they masterminded a systematic program of forging passports and identity documents for Latin American countries, which were then smuggled into German-occupied Europe to save the lives of thousands of Jews facing extermination in the Holocaust.
With the international community failing to act, the operation was one of the largest actions to aid Jews of the entire war. The Forgers tells this extraordinary story for the first time. We follow the desperate bids of Jews to obtain these lifesaving documents as the Nazi death machine draws ever closer. And we witness the quiet heroism of a group of ordinary men who decided to do something rather than nothing and saved thousands of lives.
Between 1940 and 1943, a group of Polish diplomats in Switzerland engaged in a wholly remarkable—and until now, completely unknown—humanitarian operation. In concert with Jewish activists, they masterminded a systematic program of forging passports and identity documents for Latin American countries, which were then smuggled into German-occupied Europe to save the lives of thousands of Jews facing extermination in the Holocaust.
With the international community failing to act, the operation was one of the largest actions to aid Jews of the entire war. The Forgers tells this extraordinary story for the first time. We follow the desperate bids of Jews to obtain these lifesaving documents as the Nazi death machine draws ever closer. And we witness the quiet heroism of a group of ordinary men who decided to do something rather than nothing and saved thousands of lives.
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Praise
“Once again Roger Moorhouse has produced an original and thrilling narrative which challenges several of the stereotypes about World War II. A tremendous story.”
—Norman Davies, author of Vanished Kingdoms
“This is a powerful story about a group of brave individuals who found a unique way of saving Jewish lives from the Nazis. Moorhouse’s original research is characteristically scholarly, his insights illuminating, and his narrative gripping. An inspiring read and an important addition to the history of the Holocaust.”
—Jonathan Dimbleby, author of Operation Barbarossa
“The Forgers is an important contribution to the way we understand international responses to the Holocaust. Powerfully told and meticulously researched, Moorhouse’s new book outlines the courageous efforts of the Ładoś Group, a circle of Polish diplomats in Switzerland who provided false documents for thousands of Jews during the Second World War in an attempt to save as many as possible from persecution and death. The Forgers is an astonishing book about one of the most ambitious rescue operations of the Holocaust.”
—Katja Hoyer, author of Beyond the Wall
“The Forgers brings to light one of the largest Holocaust rescue operations in history. Moorhouse expertly tells the harrowing story of the heretofore little-known figure of Aleksander Ładoś, the top Polish diplomat in wartime Switzerland who led the effort to save thousands of European Jews desperately seeking to flee Nazi-occupied Europe by providing forged passports and identity papers for Latin American countries.”
—Joshua D. Zimmerman, Yeshiva University