'''Adolfo Kaminsky''' or '''Adolphe Kaminsky''' (born in [[Argentina]] on October 1, 1925) was a [[French Resistance|French Resistant]], specializing in the [[identity document forgery|forgery of identity document]]s, who later went on to assist Jewish emigration to [[Israel]] and then to forge identity documents for the [[National Liberation Front of Algeria|National Liberation Front]] and French [[draft dodger]]s during the [[Algerian War]] (1954–62). He forged papers for thirty years for different activist groups, mainly [[national liberation front]]s, without ever claiming money for it.<ref>[http://www.la-bas.org/article.php3?id_article=1878 Adolfo Kaminsky, une vie de faussaire.]</ref>
== Before the war ==
Born in Argentina in a Jewish family from Russia, his family moved to Paris in 1932, where his father worked as a tailor, then to [[Vire]], in the [[Calvados]] department, in 1938, where his uncle was established.<ref name=OF28>[http://www.ouest-france.fr/actu/actuLocale_--Mon-activite-de-faussaire-j-ai-tout-appris-a-Vire-_14762-avd-20091028-57038853_actuLocale.Htm « Mon activité de faussaire : j'ai tout appris à Vire »], ''[[Ouest France]]'', October 28, 2009</ref> Adolfo worked in a [[dye]] shop, being fascinated by [[chemistry]] of [[colourant]]s. He bought at that time a treatise from [[Marcellin Berthelot]] at a [[flea market]].<ref name=OF28/> He later created his own lab at his uncle's house, and worked in a [[butter]]-shop as assistant of a chemist who taught him the basics.<ref name=OF28/>
== World War II ==
After the [[German invasion of France]], in 1940, his house in [[Vire]] was taken by the Germans, and he temporarily lived in another house, in which [[Michel Drucker]]'s father was also hosted.<ref name=OF28/> His mother was killed by the [[Nazi]]s in 1941. Aged 17, Adolfo Kaminsky entered the [[French Resistance|Resistance]]. At first, he watched the train-station of [[Vire]] from where railcars of the [[Todt Organization]], loaded with material for the [[Atlantic Wall]], transited. He sent messages to London about these trains. However, his family was [[internment|interned]] in the [[Drancy internment camp|camp of Drancy]], last stop before deportation, in 1943. Thanks to support from the [[Consul (representative)|Consul]] of Argentina, which country had broken diplomatic relations with [[Nazi Germany]] under pressure from the United States, they managed to be freed on 22 December 1943,<ref name=OF>[http://www.ouest-france.fr/actu/actuDet_-Adolfo-Kaminsky-le-faussaire-au-grand-coeur-_3639-1132865_actu.Htm Adolfo Kaminsky, le faussaire au grand coeur], ''[[Ouest France]]'', October 28, 2009</ref> and moved on to Paris.<ref name=OF28/>
Adolfo then worked in an underground laboratory in Paris (17, rue des St Pères) where he passed the rest of the [[World War II|war]] forging identity papers for Jews and people sought by the Nazis. He was introduced to the network, the Resistant group, while researching false ID for his father. This group, made up of Jewish people from the [[General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia|General Jewish Union]] (including Marc Hamon, alias "the Pingouin", Suzie, Loutre, René, etc.) and called ''La Sixième'',<ref name=OF/> was having problems deleting [[Waterman]] blue ink stains on papers. Adolfo told them to use [[lactic acid]], and thereafter joined the group, finally becoming responsible for the chemical forgery lab. They notably had to respond to the challenge of the invention of the [[watermark]]. Kaminsky also quickly learned [[photogravure]] under a false pretext, and set up a new lab in order to create "real-false" documents. The Kaminsky Lab became the main producer of false ID for northern France and [[Benelux]], although ties with other clandestine groups were discontinued, each group working as a cell.
He used to say: "''Keep awake. The longer possible. Struggle against sleep. The calculation is easy. In one hour, I make 30 false papers. If I sleep one hour, 30 people will die.''<ref>[http://www.liberation.fr/societe/06011643-adolfo-kaminsky-une-vie-de-faussaire Adolfo Kaminsky, une vie de faussaire], ''[[Libération]]'', February 5, 2010</ref>
After the [[Liberation of Paris]] (August 1944), he joined the [[French Army]] and marched to Germany. He was awarded the [[Médaille de la Résistance]], and was engaged by the French military secret services, who charged him with making false IDs for [[spy|spies]] sent behind the lines in order to investigate and detect the location of [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]] before their dismantlement by the Nazis.
== After the war ==
After the German capitulation, he helped Jews to emigrate to the [[British Mandate for Palestine]] from 1946 to 1948, at a time when the United Kingdom was imposing quotas limiting immigration (see also ''[[Bricha]]''). After the foundation of Israel, he stopped this job, refusing a "religious state" endorsed by the [[Status quo (Israel)|Secular-religious Status quo]] giving an important role to the [[Chief Rabbinate of Israel]], and became a photographer.
He resigned from the military services at the beginning of the [[Indochina War]], unwilling to collaborate in a [[colonial war]]. He thereafter continued to forge papers for various groups, working first with the [[National Liberation Front of Algeria]] and French [[draft dodger]]s by setting up a clandestine lab in Paris. He collaborated with the [[Jeanson network]] and [[Henri Curiel]] during the [[Algerian War|war]].
Starting in 1963, he assisted various leftist movements from Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, Chile, Mexico, [[Saint-Domingue]], Haiti), Africa (Guinea-Bissau, Angola, South Africa) and from Portugal (then under [[Salazar]]'s dictatorship) and [[Francoist Spain]].<ref>[http://www.la-bas.org/article.php3?id_article=1883 Adolfo Kaminsky, une vie de faussaire II ]</ref> He trained a lot of people in forgery in order to support them in their struggle against dictatorships. He always worked for free, in order to be able to refuse a job if he didn't support the ideas - the only exception being during World War II, when the lab took up all his expenses in order to make him able to dedicate himself full-time to this job.
He also supported the Greeks struggling against the [[Greek military junta of 1967–1974|regime of the Colonels]], and made false ID papers for American [[draft dodger]]s during the [[Vietnam War]]. In 1968, he also made false ID for [[Daniel Cohn Bendit]] to allow him to speak at a meeting - he would later on say : "''It was certainly the least useful, but a way of showing that there is nothing more porous than a [[border]] and that [[idea]]s don't know them''".<ref name=OF/>
He made his last false ID in 1971, putting an end to his career. He lived 10 years in [[Algiers]], married to an Algerian woman, with whom he had five children. In 1982, he moved to France with a temporary residence permit.<ref name=OF/> All his family was [[naturalization|naturalized]] [[French nationality|French]] in 1992.<ref name=OF/>
Adolfo Kaminsky has been awarded with the [[Croix du Combattant]], the [[Croix du combattant volontaire de la Résistance]], and recently the ''médaille de Vermeil de la ville de Paris'' for his acts during the Resistance.
[[Jacques Falck]] has made a documentary film on his life, named ''Forging Identity''. Kaminsky's son is a well known hip-hop singer, [[:fr:Rocé (chanteur)|Rocé]].<ref name=OF/> Among other themes close to [[conscious hip hop]], his lyrics highlight his various origins (Jewish, Argentinian, Russian, French, Algerian, Muslim, etc.) and support [[peace process in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict|peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict]], recall history of the US [[civil rights movement]] and of [[Black Power]], sometimes not well known by French youth, and defends [[feminism]].
His daughter, Sarah, born in 1979, is a comedian and writer, who wrote her father's biography, ''Adolfo Kaminsky, une vie de faussaire'' (Paris: [[Calmann-Lévy]], 2009).
== See also ==
* [[Identity document forgery]]
* [[Lucio Urtubia]] (Spanish anarchist, forger who attempted to disrupt Capitalist economy)
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{fr}} [http://emma.passicos.free.fr/KaminskyWeb/index.htm Study on Kaminsky]
* {{fr}} [http://archives.arte-tv.com/hebdo/archimed/20010109/ftext/sujet5.html Interview]
* [http://icarusfilms.com/new2001/forg.html ''Forging Identity'', a film about Adolfo Kaminsky]
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2011}}
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Kaminsky, Adolfo
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = October 1, 1925
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaminsky, Adolfo}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:French Resistance members]]
[[Category:National liberation movements]]
[[Category:Document forgery]]
[[Category:Forgers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[fr:Adolfo Kaminsky]]
[[it:Adolfo Kaminsky]]
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