Jack Bilbo, born Hugo Cyrill Kulp Baruch, was born in 1907 on Berlin's Kurfürstendamm. Although he came from a wealthy family—his grandfather Hugo Baruch founded one of the most significant theater design companies of the time—his life took an unconventional and adventurous turn. Thrown from one country to another by wars and persecution, Jack Bilbo navigated the dark decades of the last century with changing identities and fictional roles. He became famous as a celebrated writer, provocative painter, gallery owner, and legendary pub owner. In the factual novel "The Lives of Captain Bilbo," Ludwig Lugmeier traces his path and follows the transformations of the Berlin Jew who was to become famous as an author and painter, and whose death anniversary falls on December 19, 2017, marking the 50th year.