I'd like to learn more about the German Illusionist Alois Kassner and would appreciate any suggestions as to where to look.
Thanks,
Frank Lehmann

I think Richard Hatch just wrote or translated a book about the Jewish magicians of Germany before WW II, which was when Kassner's act first took off. I'll see if I can find more information about it for you.

If you can read German, I'm reasonably certain that some of the material from the Magischer Zirkel von Deutschland would have information about him. He was born in 1878 and died in 1970.

The German wikipedia has a little bit of material about him:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alois_Kassner

There are some bibliographical references there, as well.

Bill,
Thank you. I appreciate the leeds, which I will follow up on.

I'm particularly interested in hearing what happened to Kassner during the war. I've heard stories that either Kalanag stole his show or helped him escape from Germany. I'd also love to find any information on when and where he was performing. My father saw him perform in the early 20's in East Prussia.

Frank

A number of people reported that Kalanag had pinched Kassner's show; however, Kassner, himself is supposed to have stated that Kalanag helped him escape.

Maybe Dick Hatch can help you with this. Since this is a very public forum and there are "bots" that spam people, I won't put his e-mail address here, but you can reach him via magicbookshop.com . His e-mail address is based there, and his name at that address is richard .

Thanks, Bill!

I'll email Richard.

Do you know if the Magischer Zirkel von Deutschland's "Magie" is either online or digitally available? I've found their website but it doesn't have much information on Kassner (my German is a bit rusty, but I was able to read most of it).

Thanks again,
Frank

I don't think it is. You might try e-mailing Card-shark. He lives over there and should know who to contact.

Thanks for the lead, Bill.

Frank