The Forger

An Extraordinary Story of Survival in Wartime Berlin

In Nazi Germany, 20-year-old graphic artist Cioma Schönhaus found a unique outlet for his talent: he forged documents for people fleeing the Reich, ultimately helping to save hundreds of lives. Yet, even as the Gestapo posted his photo in public, he lived a daringly adventurous life, replete with fine restaurants and beautiful women, all the while managing to elude the Nazis. Breathtakingly bold, Schönhaus talked his way out of an arrest, defended Jewish diners being harassed by the police, and ultimately fled Germany by bicycling to Switzerland. Schönhaus's story-his courageous exploits that saved so many, as many others around him were deported, one by one, to the concentration camps-is an astonishing tale of wartime heroism and survival.