Potrait of a Young Soldier

‘Non-fiction shows us how people cope with difficult situations.’ How does Portrait of a Young Forger illustrate this? ‘Non-fiction shows us how people cope with difficult situations.’ That is a saying very well demonstrated by Marian Pretzel’s autobiography, Portrait of a Young Forger. The book is entertaining and enlightening, it provides a sense of actuality and gives a real depth to the story, with an insight of Marian. The urgency for survival and intensity involves different people’s opinions and things that happen to them at times struck Marian very hard. The first person narration gives credibility and it is essential because it gets the readers involved also the detailed description of characters gets you thinking all the time and shows how non-fiction portray how people manage with tough situations.

Marian was born in Lvov, Poland He was an active member of the Dror Jewish sporting organisation. While most Poles were in distain over the Russian’s takeover of Lvov, Marion enjoyed the new opportunities that it brought him. He enrolled in an art school and was taking delight in all the knowledge of art, sports and girls that he was given a go at. When the Germans invaded in June 1941, everything took a turn. Unlike other groups of students who decided to escape to Russia, Marian decided to stay with his parents. And in this time is when he first discovered his talent for forging stamps on documents. Marian was separated with his parents when the Germans sent him to a farm in Wilniczka. When Marian returned one week, he had found that his parents were taken away. That was definitely one of the sad but the very real life that he had to face.

One day, Marian was captured by the SS and sent to Janowska, a horrific place where he endured things that would affect him for a very long time. Luckily he bumped into Simon Wiesenthal, a doctor that had being living in the same apartment as Marian and his friend Adek. Simon had organised for him to escape the