Samson "Cioma" Schönhaus (28 September 1922 in Berlin[1] – 22 September 2015 in Biel-Benken[2]) was a graphic artist and writer who 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 1943, where he remained until his death. For the escape, he used a military identity card that he had forged himself.
![]() | This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (June 2008) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
His memoir, "The Forger," was published by Granta Books in 2007, translated from the German original (Der Passfälscher, published 2004).[3]
Schönhaus was interviewed for the docudrama The Invisibles that was released after his death in 2017.
General | |
---|---|
National libraries | |
Biographical dictionaries | |
Other |
|
![]() | This article related to the Holocaust is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |