Magic at War

An incredible true story of how the brotherhood of magic saved a life in the midst of world war... Magician Jac Olten (1913-c.1995) was born as  Alfred Mihiel in  Marseilles, France.  Performing as a faux 'Count,' he developed a silent cabaret act which featured manipulation and other magic. Wearing white gloves, he worked with billiard balls, cards, silks and cigarettes in an act styled on those performed by Cardini and Jose Frakson. By his twenties, Olten had turned professional. He toured throughout Europe, achieving success, particularly in Germany. Alongside magic, he was a professional gambler. Jac Olten ( Alfred Mihiel) (Source: Author's collection) Near the start of the war, Olten was performing in Weimar in central Germany. Unlike other foreign performers who had left Germany as war-clouds loomed, Olten chose to stay - gambling that war would be averted - or else he didn't leave fast enough after the war started. It was the wrong bet. One evening, during the mi...

Born into a family of traveling fairground performers specialising in magic,  Louis Van Dyck (1897-1959)  appeared on stage from an early age. After his father died suddenly at the age of 44, Louis' mother Elisabeth took on the act. To appear less Flemish, she changed the family's stage name to Vanda (and later Wanda). Newly billed as Les Vanda Illusionnistes , Elisabeth, Louis, and his sister Jeanne, toured Belgium and France with their trio magic act until the onset of World War One. Louis Van Dyck - child magician (Source:  Suzy Wandas: The Lady with the Fairy Fingers , 2019) Les Vanda Illusionnistes - Elisabeth, Jeanne and Louis Vanda (Source: Public domain) After Louis turned eighteen, he volunteered for the Belgium Army. He completed two months of basic training in France, before being sent to the front in 1916. He served with the 3rd Regiment of the Line in Belgium's 1st Army Division, experiencing the horrors of trench warfare first hand. In the end, the hars...