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The Forgers: The Forgotten Story of the Holocaust’s Most Audacious Rescue Operation (Hardback)
Roger Moorhouse (author)Published: 10/08/2023

Perfect reading for fans of The Escape Artist, Moorhouse's compelling account of the Lados Operation - in which thousands of forged identity documents were smuggled into occupied Europe in order to save the lives of untold numbers of Jews - is an inspiring story of remarkable courage under constant threat.
The inspirational story of the ordinary people who forged the documents that saved thousands of Jewish lives in World War Two.
Between 1940 and 1943, a small group of Polish diplomats and Jewish activists in Switzerland engaged in a wholly remarkable - and until now, almost completely unknown - humanitarian operation. Under the leadership of the Polish Ambassador, Aleksander Lados, they undertook a systematic programme of forging identity documents for Latin American countries, which were then smuggled into German-occupied Europe to save the lives of thousands of Jews facing extermination in the Holocaust.
The Lados operation was one of the largest rescue missions of the entire war, and The Forgers tells this extraordinary story for the first time. We follow the desperate bids of Jews to obtain these life-saving documents, and their painful uncertainty over whether they will be granted protection from the Nazis' murderous fury. And we witness the quiet heroism of those who decided to act in an attempt to save thousands of lives.
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
ISBN: 9781847926760
Number of pages: 288
Weight: 520 g
Dimensions: 238 x 158 x 32 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Every now and again a new story emerges about the Holocaust despite the wealth of literature already available. Roger Moorhouse is to be congratulated for finding the remarkable account of thousands of Jews rescued by the efforts of a determined circle of Polish helpers. Original and thought-provoking, the history of the Lados circle challenges the argument that there was no way for the Allies to rescue Jews from Hitler's Europe. With sufficient will and ingenuity, it was possible, against all the odds, to rescue a fraction of those otherwise doomed to die' - Richard Overy
'This is a powerful story about a group of brave individuals who found a unique way of saving Jewish lives from the Nazis. Moorhouse's original research is characteristically scholarly, his insights illuminating and his narrative gripping. An inspiring read and an important addition to the history of the Holocaust' - Jonathan Dimbleby
'A powerful and painful book. The Forgers offers new details of the brave efforts of the Polish Underground to rescue Jews. It is heartbreaking when Moorhouse details the bureaucracy and bad intentions of the international community who knowingly turned their backs on these rescue operations. This is an intimate portrait of the cycles of hope and despair that the sadistic ruses and bestial atrocities of the Nazis imposed on concentration camp prisoners' - Rosemary Sullivan>
'Precise yet heartfelt. The Forgers is an important and harrowing contribution to Holocaust literature. Essential reading' - Clare Mulley
'The Forgers is an important contribution to the way we understand international responses to the Holocaust. Powerfully told and meticulously researched, Moorhouse's new book outlines the courageous efforts of the Lados Group, a circle of Polish diplomats in Switzerland who provided false documents for thousands of Jews during the Second World War in an attempt to save as many as possible from persecution and death. The Forgers is an astonishing book about one of the most ambitious rescue operations of the Holocaust' - Katja Hoyer
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