Nazi Prisoners Forced to Forge Allied Money - Secret Resistance Revealed

Added: 2026-04-30

[00:00:00]Did you know the Nazis once forced Jewish prisoners to become the world's best counterfeits? In 1943, the SS launched Operation Burnhard at Saxenhausen concentration camp. They handpicked Jewish prisoners with printing skills to forge British pounds and American dollars. The goal was simple but evil. Crash the Allied economy and fund the Nazi war machine.

[00:00:21]Prisoners like Adolf Burger and Salomon Smolinov faced an impossible choice.

[00:00:25]help their captives and maybe survive or refuse and face certain death. They chose a third option, secret resistance.

[00:00:33]While appearing to cooperate, they deliberately worked slowly and introduced tiny flaws into the fake money. They'd used the wrong paper thickness or slightly alter the ink colors. These small acts of sabotage kept them alive while protecting the Allied economy. Their counterfeit bills were so good that some fooled experts for decades. But thanks to their hidden resistance, production stayed low enough to avoid economic disaster. When Allied forces liberated the camp in 1945, these brave forggers had outsmarted their oppressors through quiet acts of defiance.