Krueger's Men

by Lawrence Malkin

This true story details the greatest counterfeiting scheme in history and the men the Nazis called upon to help it a group of concentration-camp Jews.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Espionage, World War II, War, Holocaust, Military Fiction

305 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

From the author's website:

Lawrence Malkin is an award-winning correspondent who served in London, Paris, Washington, New Delhi, Madrid, the United Nations, New York City and elsewhere for Time magazine, the International Herald Tribune, and The Associated Press.

Malkin has been a contributor to The Atlantic Monthly, Connoisseur, Fortune, Horizon, The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Queen (London), The Times Literary Supplement (London), World Policy Journal, and others. His dispatches from London received a prize for international financial reporting from the Overseas Press Club, and his essay, "Distributing the Gift of Life," was awarded the Greenwall Foundation's Prize for the best personal essay.

He lives in New York with his wife, who survived World War II hidden in a convent in her native Belgium

Reviews

[Don]

This is the true story of Nazi Germany's plot to flood the Allies with conterfeit money to collapse their economies. Using printers, artisans, engravers and others, the Nazi's pick prisoners from camps to refine the process.

Although this is an amazing story of survival, luck and part of an underground secret never reveled completely after WWII, this book is oddly schizophrenic.

Malkin's writing style makes part of this book unreadable while other parts are clear and suspenseful. It feels like this book was written at different times and even by different authors. If you like history you'll be able to get through it.

[Al Berry]

An interesting look at the Nazi counterfeiting plot; the use of Concentration Camp internees and their fight for survival. The book also takes a look at what the Nazis did with their fake money; mostly used to pay off spies; most notably ‘Cicero’ who worked in the British Embassy in Ankara during the war. The remarkable survival of the concentration camp members working the presses is an interesting tale just of itself; a book worth reading.

[Rob]

While the subject matter in and of itself is fascinating -- I found the book and the way it was written to just be ok. I guess I was expecting it to read more like a true-to-life thriller (a la Mark Bowden or Stephen Ambrose), whereas for the most part, the material felt very textbookish.
Still - to think that this group of prisoners counterfeited more than 6-billion dollars (in todays exchange rate) - is pretty mind-boggling and I'm glad I read it.

[Mark Moxley-Knapp]

Excellent history of a somewhat unknown subject. Goes into all the background, but also into the lives of those involved, in the camps and even the Nazis. Well-written, detailed, shorter than it seems.

[Bruce MacDonald]

Interesting Read

I knew from other avenues about the operation. This gave a great deal more information about the amounts of pound notes produced and how the crew producing survived. A scholarly work written in ordinary English. I recommend it.

[Debra]

Slower reading, but amazing in the detail of the Nazi regime, WW2 and the counterfeit operation of British pounds and, almost, US dollars.

[Jesús Torres]

Compré este libro pensando que sería la novela en la que se había basado la película Los Falsificadores. Lamentablemente, no era exactamente así ya que este libro no es una novela sino un ensayo histórico. Básicamente el autor de "El falsificador de Hitler" reconstruye todos los hechos relacionados con los proyectos nazis destinados a falsificar libras durante la II Guerra Mundial, a partir de un extenso trabajo de recopilación de toda la documentación existente. La prosa es sencilla y el autor, en lugar de limitarse a dar datos y más datos al lector, intenta darle un toque novelesco que a veces hace dudar de que lo que se esté leyendo sea cierto. Aun así, para mí no fue una lectura amena. Es muy sencillo perderse entre los nombres alemanes y las cuestiones económicas. Precisamente muchas de dichas cuestiones se tratan de manera un tanto superficial, dejando la sensación de que nos estamos quedando a medias.

[Ulrike]

Heel interessant onderwerp. Ondanks ik al veel over WOII gelezen heb, was het een onderdeel dat ik niet kende. Jammer genoeg was de schrijfstijl vaak droog en heel erg beschrijvend. Ook de achterflap vind ik nogal misleidend. Het is niet echt het verhaal van de mannen van blok 19, maar eerder het verhaal rond het idee van het valsmunten tot de uitvoering.

[Glen Leavens]

True story of counterfeiting in Nazi Germany with concentration camp members. The British and Americans are asked about a counterfeiting plot and reject it for Germany with all of the controls in their economy it would not have worked. Some needed capital is raised for the Nazi's. Also, over 100 lives are spared in the process. A fascinating book.

[Emily Goodson]

A very eye opening read into one of the most secret operations from the nazi regime. Very interesting and fascinating. I love how Lawrence tied the book with ending it about what happened to all of the members who were actually in Block 19-it was a sweet touch.

[David Engel]

I now know about the economic warfare attempted by Germany ad other beligerents during WWII. Dumping counterfiet currency was an attempt to riun one anothers' ecomonmies.

The actual story is a bit dry, but was told well.

[yourlocalsushigirl]

This was for school actually interesting

[Stacey Martin]

One of if not longest boring books I ever read. Put it down it never gets any better.

[Christine]

The story is interesting. The writing at times rather dull. Malkin does a very good job in describing the different countries view on counterfeiting. In other words, the back story is well drawn. When Malkin gets to the actual Block 19, however, the book becomes rather dull. I think part of the reason for this is that Malkin does not do a good job at making the people seem real. The people seem like little more than shadows. As I was reading the last section, I couldn't help but compare the writing style to that of Saul Friedländer, who is dealing with a much larger group of people, yet makes them seem like people. It's true that Friedlander has more tragic endings, but it is more than that. Friedlander never forgets that the people are people. Malkin might not either, but that doesn't come across in his writing. All the Prisoners are the same, most of the Nazis are the same.

[Veleda]

Krueger's Men is certainly an interesting read. Malkin's writing is readable though not electrifying, but while he does a decent job with the espionage, when it comes to the actual men of block 19, he falters. The reader is left with little sense of the prisoners' inner lives and struggles, despite the fact that several of them wrote memoirs, so the information should be available. In addition, what could have been a cornerstone of the book, the relationship between the prisoners and Krueger feels underexplored, with little tantalizing hints given but never explored.

Still a worthwhile read for illuminating some little known history.

[George]

Only so-so as a book2 1/2 stars, really. An interesting story, a more modest book. the author spends a lot of energy trying to stretch the material out into book format, and insists on making numerous unnecessary editorial comments on all things Nazi. Like many of those picking up the book at this point, I saw the Counterfeiters and wanted to know more. Here's one book where the movie was far better, if not entirely accurate, it would seem. Another film "inspired by true events."

[David]

2/24/25 --not sure why I didn't review this three months ago and now I can't remember the difference between what I gleaned from this book versus what came from watching a movie on the same subject. I think perhaps I grabbed this and whipped through it immediately after seeing the Netflix movie. I did think the book was well-written and occasionally witty, and it IS a good story. I'd recommend both the book and the film. Maybe the film more than the book.

[Bethany]

i picked this up at b&n after seeing the film 'the counterfeiters', a german film that was based on the true story about the SS during WWII using men from the concentration camps to counterfeit the british pound. a must see...not sure if the book will hold my attention as well. worth a try.

[Ryan]

Interesting subject, but not an interesting read. Wouldn't recommend it.

[Gbug]

This book is not for everyone. It starts out a little slow, but if you are a WWII history buff just stick with it and it will become facinating.

[Courtney]

A dry, British retelling if what should be an adventurous piece of history.

[John Chapman]

a lot of detail. somewhat interesting

[Rey]

Way too dense. Reads more like a history textbook. Time to rent the movie.