Adolfo Kaminsky: A Forger's Life

A wonderful narrative which gets into some technical detail about how Adolfo Kaminsky managed to create perfect forgeries of documents over the decades, as well as telling about the WWII and the post-war period where he worked tirelessly for the safety and freedom of those who were under the thumb of the Third Reich, post-war French imperialism and other despotic governments around the world. The tension and suspense of those times is perfectly communicated by Sarah Kaminsky, using her father's documents and recollections. Highly recommended for those wanting to learn more about the smaller battles which resulted in thousands of lives being saved.

I downloaded the book, intending to read it later, then thought I'd read "the first page," but ended up reading for the rest of the day, sitting on the edge of my seat. Too unbelievable to be fiction, too filled with wild coincidences; a young Jewish boy couldn't continue his education in Paris past elementary school, so was apprentice to clothes dyer, doing his own chemical research at home to become, at 17, an expert forger. As the Germans took over Paris, Adolfo worked tireless behind the scenes without pay, forging original, authentic-quality documents for escaping Jews from homemade equipment and his own inventions. After the war, he continued helping oppressed people fleeing cruel regimes all over the world for most of his life. Many of his colleagues were captured and killed, or committed suicide, yet Adolfo continued to miraculously escape detection.

Fans of Alan Furst will love this well-written, true story of a man whose actions saved thousands. Adolfo Kaminsky helped save untold numbers of lives by providing false identity papers to Jews and others fleeing the authorities in Nazi occupied France. Although barely 18, his knowledge of cloth dying gave him the skills to both create and erase inks of any color. With this he created identity documents from scratch, erased dangerous notations from real documents, and provided a lifeline to those hunted by the authorities. Great writing and extremely engaging. You'll look up from the book and it will suddenly be 2 a.m.!

Imagine being a passport forger during World War II and knowing that with mathematical accuracy that your sleep would cost lives. Imagine keeping your work a secret from all your friends and family and none knowing of your true life. Imagine your life work being rescuing people who would otherwise be murdered with no one ever knowing or recognizing your labor, your passion and never receiving recognition for your labor.

Me first recollection of a forger was my initial viewing of the motion picture THE GREAT ESCAPE; James Garner's character Hadley asking his roommate Blythe, played by Donald Pleasence,"Blythe, what do you do here?" to which the answer was"I'm the forger."What fascinated me most about Kaminsky's work was the technical knowledge needed to create documents that would pass muster. It is more than just meticulous copying. I would have liked to have read more about that, but I suspect that would be rather dry to most. The political intrigue is more exciting, more publishable.Some might say that a forger's life, at least this one, was no life at all. So many relationships but none that lasted. But I guess that can be said for all of us: all relationships end eventually.Perhaps a bit too long and repetitive, but certainly a book about a subject uncommon to most of us.Four stars waning

After seeing this story on a CBS news show I wondered if there was a book. This biography, written in the first person, is very interesting. Yes, a lot of the action takes place during WWII, but Adolfo Kaminsky continued his work well into the decades following the war. I believe that is part of what makes his story so amazing. This book was on the Best Seller list in Europe for many years; I understand why.

A story about the life of Adolfo Kaminsky one may think would be boring, possibly textbook-like, but far from it. Instead it is a story about a fascinating man whom one could argue was heroic.Starting with life under Nazi rule to working with liberation groups throughout the world, this Forget was the rare idealist who kept to his principles of helping victims and the downtrodden. Reading this book should be required reading.

Adolfo selflessness and commitment to what he thought was right and just is inspiring. I couldn't wait to get to the next chapter and see the next inspiring event in his life. I liked the book so much I will read it again to see what I missed on the first reading. Anyone interested in WWII espionage and the behind the scenes actions - this is another small part of the bigger war to bring WWII to an end.Thank you Adolfo for stepping up and doing what needed to be done.

Compelling reading.

I was intrigued by this book and the life Adolfo Kaminsky lived.

Okay read but rather boring after awhile.

Un libro bien escrito y estructurado. En especial una historia fascinante por haber sido real. Escrito por la hija. Lo recomiendo ampliamente

Extremely interesting!