Two Wheels to Freedom

The Story of a Young Jew, Wartime Resistance, and a Daring Escape

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€20,12
  • The
  • extraordinary
  • true
  • story
  • of
  • a
  • young
  • Jewish
  • art
  • student
  • in
  • wartime
  • Berlin
  • who
  • not
  • just
  • survived
  • but
  • resisted—and
  • retained
  • his
  • infectious
  • zeal
  • for
  • life.Though
  • Cioma
  • Schonhaus
  • was
  • only
  • 11
  • years
  • old
  • when
  • the
  • Nazis
  • first
  • came
  • to
  • power,
  • his
  • cleverness
  • and
  • resourcefulness
  • eventually
  • made
  • him
  • an
  • unlikely
  • hero
  • and
  • bon
  • vivant.
  • As
  • a
  • young
  • adult
  • staying
  • one
  • step
  • ahead
  • of
  • the
  • S.S.,
  • Cioma
  • would
  • dine
  • in
  • swanky
  • restaurants
  • and
  • frequent
  • trendy
  • bars,
  • and
  • have
  • plenty
  • of
  • romances
  • --
  • all
  • while
  • sabotaging
  • weapons
  • in
  • the
  • munitions
  • factory
  • where
  • he
  • worked.
  • He
  • even
  • bought
  • a
  • sailboat
  • and
  • taught
  • himself
  • how
  • to
  • sail.These
  • hijinks
  • never
  • distracted
  • Cioma
  • from
  • a
  • deeper
  • mission.
  • Trained
  • as
  • an
  • artist,
  • Cioma’s
  • fake
  • ID's
  • ensured
  • that
  • several
  • hundred
  • Jews
  • survived
  • the
  • war.
  • When
  • he
  • learned
  • the
  • Gestapo
  • was
  • closing
  • in
  • on
  • him,
  • Cioma
  • masterminded
  • a
  • singularly
  • daring
  • escape:
  • spending
  • a
  • month
  • biking
  • to
  • Switzerland,
  • he
  • became
  • the
  • only
  • person
  • to
  • cycle
  • his
  • way
  • out
  • of
  • the
  • Third
  • Reich.Beautifully
  • written
  • and
  • deeply
  • satisfying,
  • Two
  • Wheels
  • to
  • Freedom
  • is
  • a
  • story
  • of
  • survival
  • and
  • resistance
  • unlike
  • any
  • other.
  • Arthur
  • J.
  • Magida
  • captures
  • Cioma’s
  • exuberance,
  • charm,
  • spunk
  • and
  • courage.
  • His
  • was
  • a
  • life
  • lived
  • with
  • wonderment,
  • one
  • that
  • the
  • author
  • sets
  • seamlessly
  • against
  • the
  • horrors
  • of
  • history
  • while
  • never
  • losing
  • sight
  • of
  • Cioma’s
  • “wily
  • ways,
  • his
  • zest
  • for
  • life,
  • and
  • his
  • appetite
  • for
  • improbable
  • adventures—all
  • of
  • them
  • delighting
  • in
  • the
  • magic
  • that’s
  • beyond
  • the
  • ordinary
  • and
  • the
  • staid.”
  • Two
  • Wheels
  • to
  • Freedom
  • is
  • an
  • exhilarating
  • read
  • that
  • by
  • turns
  • illuminates
  • and inspires.
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