Cioma Schönhaus - Biography

Samson "Cioma" Schönhaus (born in Berlin, 1922), a graphic artist and writer, lived illegally as a Jew in hiding in Berlin during World War II. He was responsible for forging hundreds of identity documents to help other Jews survive during this time. He worked closely with members of the Confessing Church, including Franz Kaufmann and Helene Jacobs. He ultimately escaped from Berlin to Switzerland by bicycle in 1944, where he remains.

His memoir, "The Forger," was published by Granta Books in 2007, translated from the German original (Der Passfälscher, published 2004).