Forging Freedom

by Hudson Talbott

Jaap Penraat has always felt a little Jewish growing up in Amsterdam in the 1930s. His hometown is one of the great Jewish centers of Europe -- until the German forces arrive at the outbreak of World War II and begin targeting the Jewish community. Jaap's instincts are to protect his Jewish friends and neighbors from Nazi persecution, and he sets to work making fake ID cards for them. As the war progresses and the Nazis turn his beloved Amsterdam into a death trap for Jews, Jaap realizes he must take a more drastic action. The scheme he devises requires two things for it to succeed: outsmarting the Nazis at their own game and having nerves of steel. The hardest part for him is not just risking his own life, but deciding which other lives he dares to risk, if he is to save them. Hudson Talbott gives us a dramatic account of a man who knew he must act against these dark forces. As Jaap has said, " You do these things because in your mind there is no other way of doing it." - Jacket flap.