“THE DEVIL’S WORKSHOP – – A Memoir of the Nazi Counterfeiting Operation”, by Adolf Burger.Frontline Books, an imprint of Pen & Sword Books, dist. by Casemate Publishing: first publishedin 2009, republished in 2022, 288 pages, sc; $26.95. Visit, www.penandswordbooks.com; email,
[email protected]; call, (610) 853-9131.
“IN THE SERVICE OF THE EMPEROR – The Rise & Fall of the Japanese Empire 1931 – 1945”, by NS Nash. Pen & Sword MILITARY, an imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd, dist. by CasematePublishing: 2022, 332 pages, hc; $34.95. Visit, www.penandswordbooks.com; email, Uspen-
[email protected]; call, (610) 853-9131.
“THE DEVIL’S WORKSHOP” brings crucial facts, eye-witness accounts, documents, andunpublished photos to bear on one of Hitler’s most intriguing endeavors of the Second WorldWar: a stunning counterfeit operation that was one of the largest the world had yet seen,leading to the post-war reissue of sterling in Great Britain and its dominions.In this extraordinary memoir, the sole surviving Czech counterfeiter, Adolf Burger, describes
his wartime experiences. He recounts the harrowing facts surrounding the murder of his wife,
Gizela, in Auschwitz, as well as his own time as a prisoner in four concentration camps. He wasworking as a counterfeiter until his liberation from the Ebensee Camp on 5 May 1945. Not onlywas he the consultant for the feature film “The Counterfeiters”, the winner of the 2008 ForeignLanguage Oscar, but also note that Burger’s memoir has been published in Hungarian, Persian,Czech, and Japanese. The “Jewish Book World” praised, “This book is essential for ourunderstanding of a relatively unknown chapter of the Holocaust.” Meanwhile, “Goodreads”,the popular literary journal, adds, “Quite exciting. The details are absolutely astounding both intheir enormity and abhorrence, but also in their clarity of recollection.”“IN THE SERVICE OF THE EMPEROR – – The Rise & Fall of the Japanese Empire 1931 – 1945”revolves around a fundamental question, “How is it that such a small nation, and notindustrialized, at that, dared to take on China, the most populous country in the world, GreatBritain with its world-wide empire, and the U.S., the wealthiest and most powerful on earth?Brilliantly, author Brigadier N S “Tank” Nash CBE examines the political, economic andstrategic effects of the rapid Japanese expansion and explores the cult of deity that surroundedthe Emperor. The contribution of the Allied forces and their leadership is given due attention.When retribution duly came, it was focused on the military leadership responsible for theirtroops’ unspeakable atrocities on both military and civilian victims. Yet, the physicalperpetrators remained largely unpunished. Japan, today, has still not acknowledged its wartimeguilt.N S Nash, the author who has provided us with more than a dozen excellent WWI and WWIIreads, has excelled them all with this treatise. He writes in his concluding remarks, “TheJapanese Empire was probably the briefest. During its existence it produced only beyond-imagination misery and death on a vast scale. The only product of its territorial expansion wasto hasten Britain’s withdrawal from empire, and, in this, it inadvertently shared a politicalsuccess with the USA. Nothing remotely positive was produced by the Japanese. The crushingdemise of its empire by America is to be applauded. Let there be no doubt. The USA won this
war.”
