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Jokes in Auschwitz
This inspiring story is about finding laughter in the last place you would think. In 1944, Werner Reich was a teenager in the Nazi death camp known as Auschwitz-Birkenau, when the infamous Josef Mengele, "The Angel of Death," randomly "selected" 96 boys out of 5,000, saving them from the gas chamber. Werner was one of the surviving "Birkenau Boys" spared, it seems, because of a bad joke. Thank you to my friend Mikal Reich for introducing me to his courageous father who will do anything for a laugh. Today, Werner is a magician (a profession he learned in Auschwitz) and speaks to schoolchildren in hopes the Holocaust will never happen again. This inspiring story is about finding laughter in the last place you would think. In 1944, Werner Reich was a teenager in the Nazi dea... more
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"THE MAGICIAN OF AUSCHWITZ"
In 1944, as a teenager in the Nazi death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, my friend Werner Reich shared his bunk with a magician named, "Levine". By a remarkable coincidence, when "The Great Nivelli" (Levine spelled backwards), who was known as the "Magician of the Holocaust", died in 1972 in New York. Werner recognized his tattoo as being that of the man who taught him magic. This is a companion piece to our IFP/Current TV winning pod now on air, Telling Jokes In Auschwitz. In 1944, as a teenager in the Nazi death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, my friend Werner Reich shared his bunk with a magician named, "Levi... more
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"Telling Jokes In Auschwitz"
This inspiring story about finding laughter in the last place you would think. In 1944, Werner Reich was a teenager in the Nazi death camp known as Auschwitz-Birkenau, when the infamous Josef Mengele, "The Angel of Death", randomly "selected" 96 boys out of 5,000, saving them from the gas chamber. Werner was one of the surviving "Birkenau Boys". spared, it seems, because of a bad joke. Thank you to my friend Mikal Reich for introducing me to his courageous father, who will do anything for a laugh. Today, Werner is a magician (which he learned in Auschwitz) and speaks to school children in hopes the Holocaust will never happen again. This inspiring story about finding laughter in the last place you would think. In 1944, Werner Reich was a teenager in the Nazi death... more
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The banality of evil
The US Holocaust Memorial Museum unveils the private photo scrapbook from an officer at Auschwitz next week. Today, the NYT has a preview slideshow, narrated by a museum archivist. The US Holocaust Memorial Museum unveils the private photo scrapbook from an officer at Auschwitz next week. Today, the NYT has a prev... more
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Auschwitz
