The Forger

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Highly recommended - fascinating and enlightening - Rated
I really can't speak highly enough of this little gem. It is the autobiographical tale of a Jew living in wartime Berlin, at first openly, then going underground whilst working to forge identity papers before finally fleeing for the border - on a bike!

I consider myself at least typically well educated regarding the Second World War, but I was wrong. We all tend to know the statistics, the key dates and players, the facts. We do not really know the half of it. The human side of the story, the inhumanities and minor degradations heaped on the various oppressed groups in Nazi Germany, the process of selection for transportation to the death camps, the phenomenal risks taken by German families to help Jews and even, for example, the simple fact that many Jews were permitted to live openly in Berlin for a large part of the War, albeit severely oppressed.

This is a very personal tale, very touchingly written, full of insight and interesting details. It reads as well as a very good novel, but with true depth. This is the sort of book that should be used to educate younger generations, to balance the rather bland focus on facts that history often boils down to these days.