Fälscher, Die, or The Counterfeiters is based on the true story of Operation Bernhard, the largest counterfeiting operation in history. During WWII, the Nazis had a great idea in 1936 to destroy the economies of their foes by counterfeiting large amounts of currency and flooding the markets. By 1945 the Germans had successfully created 8,965,080 British banknotes valued at £134,610,810. Their efforts were then turned towards the US dollar, but due to some sabotage on the part of the Jewish prisoners and Allied Forces winning the war, large amounts of US currency were never printed.
This film follows the story of Salomon Sorowitsch, the best counterfeiter at the time, and Adolf Burger, an expert printer, as they simultaneously try to stay alive and foil the Germans plans. Housed at Sachsenhausen, these special prisoners were kept apart from the rest of the camp. They were given nice clothes, plenty of food, real beds to sleep in, showers, and even had music playing all day long. I am by no means an expert on the Nazi camps, but I had never heard of this kind of treatment before.
Towards the end of the war the countfeiters at Sachsenhausen were moved to Ebensee, but the operation was never started back up again before the camp was liberated. Many of the banknotes were thrown into a nearby lake and were recovered by divers years later.
This is another great film for any history buff. Very interesting and enjoyable. Some of the special features even include interviews with Adolf Burger.
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