Books Now That’s a Lead
posted by on January 24 at 9:08 AM
From William Grimes’ review of The Forger in today’s NYT arts section…
In June 1942 a 20-year-old Jew named Cioma Schönhaus stood in front of a Nazi bureaucrat in Berlin for final processing before being deported to a concentration camp in Poland. Asked if he had any money, he replied, “Yes, my lucky penny.” The penny went into the coffers of the Third Reich, duly noted in an account book.
The Forger is a memoir—by Cioma Schönhaus, the kid that lost his lucky penny along with his family—but not his life—to the Nazis.
They used pennies in Germany back then?
Well... pfennig.
Was it really so lucky? While he had it, he was captured and processed by Nazis. After he gave it up, he survived to live to be an old man. Maybe it's one of those tales where it's only lucky after you give it to someone else.
It never pays to be honest to a Nazi.
Thought that was yesterday's NYTimes
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