The Global Sociology Blog

The Counterfeiters is a German film directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky. The tells the story of Salomon “Sally” Sorowitsch, a master counterfeiter at the height of his career in 1936 Berlin. Sorowitsch enjoys the proceeds of his crimes: money, women, champaign Champagne. He has no interest in the plight of his fellow Jews and is not bothered by the ordinary anti-semitism displayed by ordinary Germans. He even states that the Jews get persecuted because they don’t know how to adapt.

Then, his luck runs out. He gets busted by Superintendent Friedrich Herzog. He gets deported to the Austrian concentration camp of Mauthausen, famous for his deadly quarry(I have visited it, I have seen the barrack and I walked down to the quarry, still to this day, it is oppressive). Sally does what he does best: adapt. His drawing / painting talents flatter the arrogance of his guards and he gets privileges (mostly food) for his portraits of the guards, officers and their families. Then, he and other men with specific talents are transferred to Sachsenhausen camp where Herzog is running “Operation Bernhard” (see this book for the actual story), a massive counterfeiting operation designed to flood the British economy with fake Sterling Pounds and later do the same with fake dollars to the American economy.

The team of counterfeiters is made of Jews, all related to the financial and printing trade. In return for the use of their skills for the benefit of the Reich, they are well fed, get to shower once a week, get to rest during the weekend and get to sleep in beds with sheets. And they are segregated from the rest of the camp so that they don’t get bothered by what goes on on the outside of their closed compound.

Then, of course, comes the moral dilemma at the heart of the film. Sorowitsch adapts: he agrees to supervise the production of fake Sterling pounds. His rationale is to make the best of a bad situation. At least, he thinks, he’ll survive the war. On the other hand, another inmate, Adolf Burger, who left his wife behind in Auschwitz, is determined to sabotage the effort. He is willing to die for it, he is willing to sacrifice the whole barrack for it. Sorowitsch is more on the Adam Smith side: his selfishness is helping them all. Between these two positions, the other inmates represent all the moral shades of grey.

Sorowitsch is not an entirely bad guy. He befriends a young Russian artist, Kolya, who’s lost in the concentration hell and suffers from TB. But ultimately, he plans on surviving this. That is his main motivation, even if it means tolerating dreadful humiliations from the camp guards and occasional reminder from Herzog that he’s nothing but a Jew who can be killed at any time. Everything else is secondary.

It is indeed an interesting choice to make him the main character because he is not a (morally) attractive guy. Certainly, Adolf Burger is more heroic and attractive (good looks help too). Before being deported, Burger, a printer, and his wife printed anti-Nazi flyers. What matters to him is the truth and loyalty to the other prisoners (the ones outside the compound, forced to participate in the “shoe-testing”… watch the film and you’ll figure out what that is). And he refuses to help the prolong the war by funding the Nazis.

Ultimately, both men survive. But yet again, Sorowitsch adapts and manages to make it out of Sachsenhausen with piles of fake dollars they had finally managed to produce (but not enough for any economic impact). You have to watch the film to see what he does with the money and whether his life strategy is ultimately a satisfying one.

It’s a great film.