.2.26. Speaking Study

[vJ든쌤v]

Adolfo Kaminsky Dies at 97; His Forgeries Saved Thousands of Jews

His talent for creating realistic documents helped children, their parents and others escape deportation to concentration camps, and in many cases to flee Nazi-occupied territory.

Adolfo Kaminsky’s talent was as banal as could be: He knew how to remove supposedly indelible blue ink from paper. But it was a skill that helped save the lives of thousands of Jews in France during World War II.

He had learned how to remove such stains as a teenager working for a clothes dyer and dry cleaner in his Normandy town. When he joined the anti-Nazi resistance at 18, his expertise enabled him to erase Jewish-sounding names like Abraham or Isaac that were officially inscribed on French ID and food ration cards, and substitute them with typically gentile-sounding ones. The forged documents allowed Jewish children, their parents and others to escape deportation to Auschwitz and other concentration camps, and in many cases to flee Nazi-occupied territory for safe havens.

At one point, Mr. Kaminsky was asked to produce 900 birth and baptismal certificates and ration cards for 300 Jewish children in institutional homes who were about to be rounded up. The aim was to deceive the Germans until the children could be smuggled out to rural families or convents, or to Switzerland and Spain. He was given three days to finish the assignment.

He toiled for two straight days, forcing himself to stay awake by telling himself: “In one hour I can make 30 blank documents. If I sleep for an hour 30 people will die.” Mr. Kaminsky died on Monday at his home in Paris, his daughter Sarah Kaminsky said. He was 97.

His story reads like something out of a spy novel. Using the pseudonym Julien Keller, Mr. Kaminsky was a key operative in a Paris underground laboratory whose members — all working for no pay and risking a quick death if discovered — adopted aliases like Water Lily, Penguin and Otter, and often contrived documents from scratch.

Mr. Kaminsky learned to fashion various typefaces, a skill he had picked up in elementary school while editing a school newspaper, and was able to imitate those used by the authorities. He pressed paper so that it, too, resembled the kind used on official documents, and photoengraved his own rubber stamps, letterheads and watermarks.

Word of the cell spread to other resistance groups, and soon it was producing 500 documents a week, receiving orders from partisans in several European countries. Mr. Kaminsky estimated that the underground network he was part of helped save 10,000 people, most of them children. After Paris was liberated, Mr. Kaminsky went to work for the revived French government, where he fabricated documents that allowed intelligence agents to penetrate Nazi territory in order to gather evidence about the death camps.

He continued to forge documents for three decades after the war, aiding insurgents in British-mandate Palestine, French Algeria, South Africa and Latin America. He also fabricated papers for Americans trying to evade the military draft during the Vietnam War. “I saved lives because I can’t deal with unnecessary deaths — I just can’t,” he told The New York Times in 2016. “All humans are equal, whatever their origins, their beliefs, their skin color. There are no superiors, no inferiors. That is not acceptable for me.”

As a teenager, Adolfo Kaminsky saved thousands of lives by forging passports to help children flee the Nazis. He spent his life helping others escape atrocities around the world.Mr. Kaminsky finally gave up the forger’s life in the early 1970s and went on to earn a living as a photographer and photography instructor in Paris, shooting evocative scenes like rain-slicked cobblestones and nighttime lovers on a bench far removed from the tumult of war.

Adolfo Kaminsky was born on Oct. 1, 1925, in Buenos Aires. His parents, Salomon and Anna (Kinoël) Kaminsky, were Russian Jews who met in Paris in 1916. His mother had fled the pogroms in Russia; his father was a journalist for a Jewish Marxist newspaper. When the Bolsheviks overthrew the czarist government, France expelled sympathizers of the new regime, and the Kaminskys fled to Argentina, where their two other sons were also born.

By the early 1930s, the Kaminskys were able to return to France and settle in the town of Vire in Normandy. Adolfo left school at 13 to help an uncle run his market stall, but finding him overbearing, the boy left to work in a factory that made airplane instruments.

The Germans invaded France in 1940. They took over the Normandy factory and dismissed all Jewish workers. Needing work to help his family, Adolfo answered an ad for an apprentice dyer in a business that converted military uniforms and greatcoats to civilian wear. The owner, a chemical engineer, taught him the secrets of altering and removing colors. Adolfo became an expert at effacing the most stubborn stains.

He became so interested in chemistry that he took a side job as an assistant for a chemist at a dairy that churned butter. To gauge the fat content of the cream brought by farmers, the dairy would insert methylene blue in a sample and waited for its lactic acid to dissolve the color. That was how Adolfo learned that lactic acid was the best eraser of Waterman blue ink, the kind used on ID cards.

In 1941, the Kaminskys were arrested and sent to Drancy, an internment camp near Paris that was a way station to the death camps. Thanks to their Argentine passports, they were released after three months. But the family soon feared that those passports would no longer protect them, and so Adolfo, by then 18, was dispatched to secure documents from the French underground that would disguise the fact that they were Jews. When the resistance agents learned of his expertise, they recruited him.

A memoir, told in his voice but written by his daughter Sarah Kaminsky and published in English in 2016 with the title “Adolfo Kaminsky: A Forger’s Life,” chronicles how Mr. Kaminsky began his resistance work in earnest after learning that his mother had been killed on a train returning from Paris, where she had gone to warn her brother of his impending arrest. Furious, he committed several acts of sabotage, using chemicals to rust railway equipment and corrode transmission lines. He had sought vengeance, he said, and needed “consolation for his sadness.” “For the first time I didn’t feel entirely impotent,” he said.

Forging documents was perilous work. Once, on the Paris Metro, a policeman approached him to inspect his satchel, which contained blank identity documents and forging tools. Thinking fast, Mr. Kaminsky told him that it contained sandwiches and asked him if he wanted one. The policeman moved on. But several of Mr. Kaminsky’s underground colleagues were arrested and killed, and the strain of doing such painstaking work for hours on end cost him his sight in one eye. His first marriage, in 1950, to Jeanine Korngold, ended in divorce in 1952. He married Leila Bendjebour in 1974.

In addition to his daughter Sarah, from his second marriage, Mr. Kaminsky is survived by his wife; their two sons, Atahualpa and José-Youcef; a daughter from his first marriage, Marthe; a sister, Pauline Gerlich; and nine grandchildren. A son from his first marriage, Serge, died of a heart attack in 2021.

In a 2010 talk in Paris, Sarah Kaminsky recalled her first glimpse of her father’s life as a forger. She had received a bad grade in school, she said, and needed her mother’s signature as proof that she had informed her parents. So she faked it. Her mother quickly perceived a forgery and rebuked her, but her father responded with a laugh. “But really, Sarah, you could have worked harder,” he said of her effort. “Can’t you see it’s really too small?”

<Questions>

Adolf was a hidden hero. Do you know any heroes that you want to share with us?

2. Do you have any episodes in which you helped others and felt proud of yourself?

3. Do you have any talents that are superior to other people like Adolf?

[vJ든쌤v]

forgery
1.
NOUN the action of forging a copy or imitation of a document, signature, banknote, or work of art

2.
NOUN a forged document, signature, banknote, or work of art

GB [ ˈfɔːdʒ(ə)ri ]

[vJ든쌤v]

deport
1.
VERB expel (a foreigner) from a country, typically on the grounds of illegal status or for having committed a crime

2.
VERB exile (a native) to another country

3.
VERB archaic conduct oneself in a specified manner

GB [ dɪˈpɔːt ]

[vJ든쌤v]

concentration camp
NOUN a place in which large numbers of people, especially political prisoners or members of persecuted minorities, are deliberately imprisoned in a relatively small area with inadequate facilities, sometimes to provide forced labour or to await mass execution

[vJ든쌤v]

banal
ADJECTIVE so lacking in originality as to be obvious and boring

[vJ든쌤v]

indelible
1.
ADJECTIVE (of ink or a pen) making marks that cannot be removed

2.
ADJECTIVE not able to be forgotten

GB [ ɪnˈdɛlɪb(ə)l ]

[vJ든쌤v]

Normandy
a former province of north-western France with a coastline on the English Channel, now divided into the two regions of Lower Normandy (Basse-Normandie) and Upper Normandy (Haute-Normandie); chief town, Rouen.

GB [ ˈnɔːməndi ]

[vJ든쌤v]

resistance
1.
NOUN the refusal to accept or comply with something

2.
NOUN the use of force or violence to oppose someone or something

3.
NOUN a secret organization resisting authority, especially in an occupied country

GB [ rɪˈzɪst(ə)ns ]

[vJ든쌤v]

ration
1.
NOUN a fixed amount of a commodity officially allowed to each person during a time of shortage, as in wartime

2.
NOUN an amount of food supplied on a regular basis, especially to members of the armed forces during a war

3.
VERB allow each person to have only a fixed amount of (a commodity)

4.
VERB allow someone to have only (a fixed amount of a commodity)

GB [ ˈraʃ(ə)n ]

[vJ든쌤v]

Auschwitz
a Nazi concentration camp in the Second World War, near the town of Oświęcim (Auschwitz) in occupied Poland.

GB [ ˈaʊʃvɪts ]

[vJ든쌤v]

haven
1.
NOUN a place of safety or refuge

2.
NOUN an inlet providing shelter for ships or boats, a harbour or small port.

GB [ ˈheɪv(ə)n ]

[vJ든쌤v]

baptismal
ADJECTIVE relating to the Christian rite of baptism

GB [ bapˈtɪzməl ]

[vJ든쌤v]

round up
1.
drive or collect a number of people or animals together for a particular purpose

2.
arrest a number of people

[vJ든쌤v]

convent
1.
NOUN a Christian community of nuns living together under monastic vows

2.
NOUN a school attached to and run by a convent.

3.
NOUN the building or buildings occupied by a convent

[vJ든쌤v]

toil
1.
VERB work extremely hard or incessantly

2.
VERB move slowly and with difficulty

3.
NOUN exhausting physical labour

GB [ tɔɪl ]

[vJ든쌤v]

operative
1.
ADJECTIVE functioning or having effect

2.
ADJECTIVE (of a word) having the most significance in a phrase or sentence

3.
NOUN a worker, especially one in a manufacturing industry

4.
NOUN mainly North American a secret agent or private detective

[vJ든쌤v]

alias
1.
ADVERB used to indicate that a named person is also known or more familiar under another specified name

2.
NOUN a false or assumed identity

3.
NOUN Computing an alternative name or label that refers to a file, command, address, or other item, and can be used to locate or access it.

GB [ ˈeɪlɪəs ]

[vJ든쌤v]

contrive
1.
VERB create or bring about (an object or a situation) by deliberate use of skill and artifice

2.
VERB manage to do something foolish or create an undesirable situation

[vJ든쌤v]

fashion
1.
NOUN a popular or the latest style of clothing, hair, decoration, or behaviour

2.
NOUN the production and marketing of new styles of clothing and cosmetics

3.
VERB make into a particular form

4.
VERB use materials to produce (something)

GB [ ˈfaʃ(ə)n ]

[vJ든쌤v]

typeface
NOUN Printing a particular design of type

GB [ ˈtʌɪpfeɪs ]

[vJ든쌤v]

photoengraving
1.
NOUN a photomechanical process for making linecuts and halftone cuts by photographing an image on a metal plate and then etching

2.
NOUN a plate made by photoengraving

3.
NOUN a print made from such a plate

US [ ˌfō-tō-in-ˈgrā-viŋ ]

[vJ든쌤v]

partisan
1.
NOUN a strong supporter of a party, cause, or person

2.
NOUN a member of an armed group formed to fight secretly against an occupying force, in particular one operating in German-occupied Yugoslavia, Italy, a...

3.
ADJECTIVE prejudiced in favour of a particular cause

GB [ ˌpɑːtɪˈzan ]

[vJ든쌤v]

insurgent
1.
NOUN a person fighting against a government or invading force, a rebel or revolutionary

2.
ADJECTIVE rising in active revolt

3.
ADJECTIVE relating to rebels

GB [ ɪnˈsəːdʒ(ə)nt ]

[vJ든쌤v]

draft
1.
NOUN a preliminary version of a piece of writing

2.
NOUN a plan, sketch, or rough drawing

3.
VERB prepare a preliminary version of (a document)

4.
VERB select (a person or group of people) and bring them somewhere for a certain purpose

[vJ든쌤v]

atrocity
1.
NOUN an extremely wicked or cruel act, typically one involving physical violence or injury

2.
NOUN humorous a highly unpleasant or distasteful object

GB [ əˈtrɒsɪti ]

[vJ든쌤v]

tumult
1.
NOUN a loud, confused noise, especially one caused by a large mass of people

2.
NOUN a state of confusion or disorder

[vJ든쌤v]

pogrom
NOUN an organized massacre of a particular ethnic group, in particular that of Jewish people in Russia or eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

GB [ ˈpɒɡrɒm ]

[vJ든쌤v]

apprentice
1.
NOUN a person who is learning a trade from a skilled employer, having agreed to work for a fixed period at low wages

2.
NOUN a beginner

3.
VERB employ (someone) as an apprentice

4.
VERB North American serve as an apprentice

GB [ əˈprɛntɪs ]

[vJ든쌤v]

churn
1.
NOUN a machine for making butter by shaking milk or cream.

2.
NOUN British a large metal container for milk

3.
VERB shake (milk or cream) in a machine in order to produce butter

4.
VERB produce (butter) by churning milk or cream

GB [ tʃəːn ]

[vJ든쌤v]

dissolve
1.
VERB (with reference to a solid) become or cause to become incorporated into a liquid so as to form a solution

2.
VERB disappear

3.
NOUN an act or instance of moving gradually from one image or scene in a film to another

[vJ든쌤v]

interment
NOUN the burial of a corpse in a grave or tomb, typically with funeral rites

GB [ ɪnˈtəːm(ə)nt ]
All

[vJ든쌤v]

memoir
1.
NOUN a historical account or biography written from personal knowledge

2.
NOUN an account written by a public figure of their life and experiences

3.
NOUN an essay on a learned subject

GB [ ˈmɛmwɑː ]

[vJ든쌤v]

chronicle
1.
NOUN a factual written account of important or historical events in the order of their occurrence

2.
NOUN a fictitious or factual work describing a series of events

3.
VERB record (a series of events) in a factual and detailed way

[vJ든쌤v]

sabotage
1.
VERB deliberately destroy, damage, or obstruct (something), especially for political or military advantage

2.
NOUN the action of sabotaging something

[vJ든쌤v]

rust
1.
NOUN a reddish- or yellowish-brown flaking coating of iron oxide that is formed on iron or steel by oxidation, especially in the presence of moisture

2.
NOUN a fungal disease of plants which results in reddish or brownish patches.

3.
VERB be affected with rust

[vJ든쌤v]

corrode
1.
VERB destroy or damage (metal, stone, or other materials) slowly by chemical action

2.
VERB (of metal or other materials) be destroyed or damaged slowly by chemical action

3.
VERB destroy or weaken (something) gradually

GB [ kəˈrəʊd ]

[vJ든쌤v]

console 1
VERB comfort (someone) at a time of grief or disappointment

GB [ kənˈsəʊl ]

[vJ든쌤v]

perilous
1.
ADJECTIVE full of danger or risk

2.
ADJECTIVE exposed to imminent risk of disaster or ruin

[vJ든쌤v]

satchel
NOUN a bag carried on the shoulder by a long strap and closed by a flap, used especially for school books.

GB [ ˈsatʃ(ə)l ]

[vJ든쌤v]

strain 1
1.
VERB force (a part of one's body or oneself) to make an unusually great effort

2.
VERB make an unusually great effort

3.
NOUN a force tending to pull or stretch something to an extreme or damaging degree

4.
NOUN an injury to a part of the body caused by overexertion

GB [ streɪn ]