Portrait of a Young Forger

by Marian Pretzel (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1991

  $3.45

  When World War II broke out, Marian Pretzel was a 17-year-old art student in the Polish town of Lvov. The Nazi occupation of the town led to the disappearance of his parents, and Marian himself was among those who were rounded up and sent to the Janowska concentration camp. After escaping with the aid of Simon Wiesenthal, he managed to survive by becoming a skilled and daring underground forger, using his talents as an artist to outwit the Nazis by forging official documents for food, travel and money. Pretzel writes with humour of his adventures with forged ration cards and work permits, of his journeys through occupied Europe in German troop trains and his rescue of a young woman from the doomed Budapest ghetto. The result is this account of the triumph of youthful ingenuity and determination over tragedy and danger.