Masquerade

The Nazis came late to Hungary because, until early 1944, Germany and Hungary were allies. But when they did arrive, their orders were to put the "Final Solution” into effect with deliberate speed. Soros, a Jewish lawyer in Budapest, secured fake Christian identities for himself, his wife, and his two sons following the German invasion of Hungary on March 19, 1944. In a narrative reminiscent of the great Primo Levi, Soros recounts his experiences with a beguiling humor, deep humanity, and a wisdom that is humbling. Superbly translated by Humphrey Tonkin, Masquerade is a unique account of how one man managed not only to survive but to retain his integrity, compassion, family unity, and humor by "dancing around death.” Like Klemperer's Diary of the Nazi Years, this very personal, low-key testament of the Holocaust is a gripping depiction of "normal” daily life under the Nazis-told by a man who triumphed by leading an ordinary life under extraordinary and terrifying circumstances.

Tivadar Soros was born in Budapest in the last decade of the nineteenth century. In 1956, at the time of the Hungarian revolution, he and his wife escaped to the West, where he lived in New York until his death in 1968.Dr. Humphrey Tonkin is University Professor of the Humanities and President Emeritus at the University of Hartford. He joined the university in January 1989 and served as president for almost ten years, returning to teaching and research in June 1998. In 1998-99 he was Visiting Fellow at the Whitney Humanities Center at Yale University.George Soros is chairman of Soros Fund Management and the founder of a global network of foundations dedicated to sup- porting open societies. He is the author of several best-selling books, most recently The New Paradigm for Financial Markets. He was born in Budapest and lives in New York City.