The Forger of Paris (Doppelhouse Press, 2025) presents
Adolfo Kaminsky’s biography in its only authorized edition, expanded
with photographs from Kaminsky's 2019 exhibition at the Museum of Jewish
Art and History in Paris and accompanied by essays from MAHJ director
Paul Salmona and National Jewish Book Award winner Deborah Dash Moore.
"This necessary book provides unforgettable insights into hidden
worlds of the Jews, intellectuals, and partisans who fought back.... has
a thriller dimension that outshines even the best undercover fiction." — Jewish Book Council
At
seventeen, Adolfo Kaminsky had narrowly escaped deportation to
Auschwitz and was recruited to join the Jewish underground. Due to his
expert knowledge of dyes and an artistic, technical ability to reproduce
official documents, he soon became the primary forger for the
Resistance in Paris, creating papers that would save an estimated 14,000
Jewish men, women, and children from certain death. Upon the Liberation
and for the next twenty-five years, Kaminsky worked as a professional
photographer. But, recognizing the fight for freedom had not ended with
the defeat of the Nazis, and driven by his own harrowing experiences, he
continued to forge documents in secret for activists, refugees, human
rights causes, and pacifists throughout the world.
"At a moment when someone’s passport, or religion, can still mean
the difference between life and death, Mr. Kaminsky’s story remains
painfully relevant, but inspiring." — Filmmakers Samantha Stark, Alexandra Garcia and Pamela Druckerman for The New York Times
"A triumphant wartime biography, full of heroism and near-alchemistic craftiness." — Foreword Review
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