THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP: A Memoir of the Nazi Counterfeiting Operation [Hardcover]

Adolf Burger (Author), (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2009

One of the most remarkable episodes of WWII was the Nazi attempt to forge currency and trigger the economic collapse of the Allies. The counterfeit operation was one of the largest the world has ever seen and lead to the postwar reissue of sterling.

At the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin, 144 Jewish prisoners of 13 different nationalities were forced to work on producing counterfeit pound and dollar notes worth billions. The plan was known as Operation Bernhard.

The forgeries that were produced were virtually undetectable: only the most senior forgers were able to spot fakes, where even the Bank of England failed to do so.

In this extraordinary memoir, the sole surviving Czech counterfeiter Adolf Burger describes his wartime experiences, including the murder of his wife Gizela in Auschwtiz and his time as a prisoner in four concentration camps. He was working as a counterfeiter until his liberation from the Ebensee camp on 5 May 1945 and was present at Toplitzee lake on July 5th 2000 when thousands of forged notes were brought to the surface.

Supported by hitherto unseen documentation and photographs that Burger took of his fellow prisoners after the war, this is a shocking account which sheds fresh light on the calculated barbarity of the Nazi war machine.

Adolf Burger was a consultant for the film The Counterfeiters, winner of the 2008 Foreign Language Oscar. His memoir has been published in Hungarian, Persian, Japanese and Czech. He continues to travel to speak about his wartime experiences.

REVIEWS

"This riveting book is essential for our understanding of a relatively unknown chapter of the Holocaust."Jewish Book World, Spring 2010

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Frontline Books (April 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1848325231
• ISBN-13: 978-1848325234
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #420,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #60 in Books > History > Europe > Czech Republic

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fast read, February 18, 2010

By 

Northender (Boise, Idaho) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP: A Memoir of the Nazi Counterfeiting Operation (Hardcover)

this book is interesting in that it tells the story about the Nazi counterfeiting operation during WWII by prisoners in a concentration camp. Fast read and lots of pictures so you understand what the author is talking about.

0 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Devils Workshop, April 11, 2009

By 

Dobreff (Folsom, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP: A Memoir of the Nazi Counterfeiting Operation (Hardcover)

I still have not received this book but saw the movie which I enjoyed.