Two Wheels to Freedom: The Story of a Young Jew, Wartime Resistance, and a Daring Escape

by Arthur J. Magida

The extraordinary true story of a young Jewish art student in wartime Berlin who not just survived but resisted—and retained his infectious zeal for life.Though Cioma Schonhaus was only 11 years old when the Nazis first came to power, his cleverness and resourcefulness eventually made him an unlikely hero and bon vivant. As a young adult staying one step ahead of the S.S., Cioma would dine in swanky restaurants and frequent trendy bars, and have plenty of romances -- all while sabotaging weapons in the munitions factory where he worked. He even bought a sailboat and taught himself how to sail. These hijinks never distracted Cioma from a deeper mission. Trained as an artist, Cioma’s fake ID's ensured that several hundred Jews survived the war. When he learned the Gestapo was closing in on him, Cioma masterminded a singularly daring spending a month biking to Switzerland, he became the only person to cycle his way out of the Third Reich. Beautifully written and deeply satisfying, Two Wheels to Freedom is a story of survival and resistance unlike any other. Arthur J. Magida captures Cioma’s exuberance, charm, spunk and courage. His was a life lived with wonderment, one that the author sets seamlessly against the horrors of history while never losing sight of Cioma’s “wily ways, his zest for life, and his appetite for improbable adventures—all of them delighting in the magic that’s beyond the ordinary and the staid.” Two Wheels to Freedom is an exhilarating read that by turns illuminates and inspires.

Genres: History, Holocaust, Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

Published September 3, 2024

About the author

Arthur J. Magida's new book, Code Name Madeleine: A Sufi Spy in Nazi-Occupied Paris, will be published by W.W. Norton in June 2020.
Advance readers call Code Name Madeleine "a thrilling spy story & a moving portrait of Noor Inayat Khan's courage" and "one of the finest & most affecting true stories of espionage I have read."
A former professor at Georgetown University and at the University of Baltimore and a consultant to several PBS documentaries, Magida has been a columnist for the on-line religion magazine, Beliefnet.com; a contributing correspondent to PBS's "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly;" editorial director of Jewish Lights Publishing; senior editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times; environmental reporter for National Journal; writer/editor for Ralph Nader; director of publications for an energy conservation project; & a reporter for Pennsylvania newspapers.
His op-eds have appeared in major newspapers around the country, he has free-lanced for such publications as Conde Nast Traveler, Travel & Leisure, Tikkun & Geo. amd he has appeared on Dateline, the CBS Early Show, Court TV's "Catherine Crier Live," "The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour," ABC's "World News Tonight," C-Span's "Booknotes," NPR's "Morning Edition" and an A&E documentary.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

final review: If I had not been so busy this holiday season, I would have finished it much more quickly. If you enjoy memoirs and stories of WWIi, this is a wonderful read. Since he was never in a concentration camp, we are spared a story with the horrors within (those are difficult, heart wrenching reads). This is about a life outside of those camps. by a young man who has no fear, a quick mind that aided in his survival. It also illustrates beautifully how many were willing to help another human as well as how no one truly knows what they can or cannot do in life until put in certain situations. I was cheering for him at times and saying (audibly at times) "no, don't do it!" or "i can't believe this guy!". I admire his ability to keep his composure during the many circumstances where he found himself sitting, chatting or even sharing a meal amongst the enemy. He had to do it to survive! He lived the post wartime years in the safe arms of Switzerland. Great read. I'd read it again at a later time. it's one of those books where you think .."what will he think of next?".

I'm only in about 75 pages or so of the book, but the main character, Ciomo has chutzpah (If I may borrow a Yiddish word). Even his mama said, "Don't play with fire!" when he got out of a predicament. Yet, his mama knew that was not his nature... Like many teenage boys, it was a challenge to get away with things.

I read at least 2 books at a time. One to keep me grounded (this one), and others that may be more of a self help, or general knowledge book (Swedish culture) and the food book.

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title sort of tells the whole story: a young Jewish man with no other options bicycles to Switzerland and escapes Nazi persecution. Of course, for most people this would not have been possible because the Swiss often sent refugees back to Germany (with possibly fatal results). What saved our hero? In his work forging documents to save other Jews, he met a pastor who had connections in Switzerland, who in turn persuaded the Swiss bureaucracy to let him in. So I guess the moral of the story is: good work and networking can prevail over the Gestapo.

[Kelli Reddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible story about a young man, Cioma who was a Russian Jew n Berlin, Germany during world war 2. He somehow survived in the city even as he watched family and friends be sent to the concentration camps. He survived off his wits and would pass as an aryan German who bought a sailboat and dined in the nicest places in the city. His story is absolutely incredible and defies logic, I loved it and loved that it was uplifting in a war that was so dark.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a great read about a little known group of people -- the U-Boats, Jews who hid (sometimes in plain sight) in wartime Berlin.
This is the review I wrote for the Jewish Book Council:
https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/boo...

[Darien · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow. this book is unlike most others I’ve read that are similarly set in the time of WWII, because it spares you the horrors of a concentration camp seeing that, Cioma Schönhaus never went to one. This is a real life story of Cioma and how he not only survived the Nazis but also was able to save hundreds of people with his impeccable forgery skills. ( and eventually escape to Switzerland!!!) There is clearly so much research that went into the creation of the book- well done sir athur!!

[Samantha Pechtl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the story here. I’m a bit of a sucker for real life survival stories from WWII. My biggest issue with this book is the author constantly reminding you of who someone is or of a situation that occurred previously in the book, some as recently as two pages before in the same chapter.

[Andy Tuite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible story of survival of a young Jew in Germany during WWII. Parts are truly unbelievable and almost comical - except for the horrific setting. Not that I was looking for a long postscript but the postscript to this seemed really disjointed

[Richard Silberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb non fiction story of Cioma Schonhaus, a Jewish teenager who escaped from Nazi Germany by bicycling from Berlin to Switzerland. The whole book reads like a novel with intimate details about this remarkable man.

[JUDY MILLER]

Leon