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The Esther family and its strategy to survive WWII
After WWI, Baptiste Esther (1893-1973) and his wife Méli Falck (1896-1955) run with their children a small circus. About the daughters Rita and Zélie Esther we know that they worked with horses. Baptiste Esther trained also his Spanish godson Marius Swils who lived with the family and later became an agile horse rider. The Esthers Read More…
Alma and Alberto Piaia – an artist couple in Nazi occupied Europe
Alma Vizla was born in 1915 in the small Latvian town of Opekalna. There is an almost total lack of information about her family. The only thing known is that her (probably older) brother Viktor became an acclaimed soccer player – which points to the increasing popularity of the physical culture movement flourishing at that Read More…
Rodion Nikitins (14.4.1915*) – A circus artist’s journey as an entertainer through Soviet and National Socialist occupation
The Latvian-born circus performer Rodion Nikitins lived through WWII performing in different circuses and theatres in Latvia, Germany and Nazi-occupied Prague. In his autobiography Of Flight and Freedom from 1987, Nikitins confesses that his work as an entertainer gave him more opportunities and options during WWII than those available to his family members or friends Read More…