Magic at War

As war clouds loomed, foreign magicians performing in Europe had to gamble. Should they continue to fulfil their theatre contracts, or run for the border. If they stayed, they might find the borders closed, their act confiscated, and their company interred as 'enemy aliens'. These dilemmas also faced visitors to Germany in the months leading up to the war and magicians touring neighbouring countries. Most magicians decided to get out in good time, but some took this decision right to the wire.... Charles Larson Magic collector Charles H. Larson (1870-1950) ran the Larson Museum of Magic in New York City in the 1930s and 1940s. His collection contained nearly 40,000 items and he frequently made trips to Europe in search of magic. In autumn 1938, he visited magic shops and clubs in Berlin, Germany but suddenly realised he was the only person staying at his hotel: "I went to the American Counsel's representative,... and he said 'We are advising everyone to leave at on...

Hungary has a proud history of magic. Famously, Harry Houdini (Erich Weisz) and his younger brother Hardeen (Ferencz Dezso Weisz) were born there. When magician Charles H. Larson visited the country in 1938, he wrote, "Magic and Budapest compares with the best I have seen...Magicians here are [the] highest type professionals and business men. Magic should be proud of such dignity." One of these professionals was  Dr. Laszlo Rothbart.  Born in Budapest on 1 May 1897, Rothbart was an educated man with good language skills. He completed his medical studies in 1918–19 and specialised in radiology. By the late 1930s he was listed in Budapest as a r öntgenológus-főorvos – radiologist and chief physician – and Hungarian biographical research identifies him as head of the Central X-ray Institute of the Royal Hungarian 2nd District Hospital. His address, recorded in contemporary Budapest directories, was Pozsonyi út 4. Rothbart was a member of the Magyar Amateur Magusok Egyesulete (...