Diverging Fates

Travelling Circus People in Europe during National Socialism

  • enEnglish
  • deDeutsch (German)
  • Home
    • Project Description
    • Historical Context
  • Life Stories
    • Brothers Blumenfeld jun. – the Fall of a Jewish Horse Circus Dynasty
    • Rosa Bouglione (1910-2018), in a Parisian Circus under German Occupation
    • Edit Sandor Kleinbarth (1931- ), a circus child during the war
    • Romanian-Bulgarian Roma Circus Musician – Turcho Chukoev
    • Josef Freiwald (*1912), Swiss Citizen and Inmate of Auschwitz
    • Lya Graf / Lia Schwartz (1913-1941?), the “smallest woman in the world”
    • Raymond Gurême (1925–), a Manouches in resistance
    • Sioma Zubicky (1926-2014), a musical child prodigy
    • Zoltán Hirsch (1887-1944), a Hungarian Lilliputian Circus Star, murdered in Auschwitz
    • Lulu Adams (1900-1980/1990) and Albert Adams, named Albertino (1889-1948) – Entertainers in Dark Years.
    • Nikolai Poliakov, Officer of the Order of the British Empire and ‘Coco the Clown’ in Personal Union (1900-1974)
    • Charlie Cairoli (1910-1980) and the Threat of Internment as “Enemy Alien”
    • The “Gypsy Family Camp” at Birkenau in the Eyes of Lucie Adelsberger (1895-1971)
    • Renee Scott (1916-2000) and Walter Marshall (1916-1970). A Union of Circus and Fairground Families.
    • Margarita Ivanova (*1923), from the Soviet Circus to the Front
    • Adolf Molnar (1905-1988), Austrian dissident and lion keeper in the Finnish Tivoli Sariola
    • Irene Bento (1923-2006), survived the Holocaust by being hidden in Circus Adolf Althoff
    • Luisita Leers (1909–1997) – Power trapeze artist’s career ends due to WWII
    • Gnugo De Bar (1940-2015) – Born in a camp; the internment of the Italian circus family De Bar during WWII
    • Rodion Nikitins (14.4.1915*) – A circus artist’s journey as an entertainer through Soviet and National Social-ist occupation
    • Carola Williams (1903-1987) and the circus cashier
    • Rose Richard (1899-1977) and Louis Winterstein (1899-1981) – The fate of a traveling circus family in France
    • The French circus family Amar in the wake of World War II – The circus as a place of refuge, internment and imprisonment
    • The Russian-Jewish Show Dancer Senin Glazeroff (1882-1944) – Occupational Ban and Escape to Belgium
    • Carl Strassburger (1899-1953) – From a Boycotted “Jewish Circus” to a Successful Dutch Company
    • Hugo Strassburger (1880-1942) and Family – the Fatal Return from South America
    • Strongman, Lion Tamer, Survivor: The Astonishing Life of Houssein ben Ibrik (~1891–1980)
    • James Samuel Wonja Michael (1916-2007) – from the Moroccan Tumbling Troupe to the French Foreign Legion
    • Paula Busch (1886-1973) – The Grande Dame of German Circus as Crisis Manager in Dark Times
  • Teachers
    • Personal Stories in Teaching National Socialist Persecution
    • At the Intersection of Circus, History and Education
    • Working with the website in the classroom
  • Literature
  • Archives
  • Links
  • Project Team
News Ticker
  • [ January 29, 2019 ] Working with the website in the classroom Teachers
  • [ January 20, 2019 ] The Brothers Arthur (1882-1942) and Rudolf Lorch (1893-1944) – Letters from Internment Camps in Southern France Life Stories
  • [ January 16, 2019 ] Paula Busch (1886-1973) – The Grande Dame of German Circus as Crisis Manager in Dark Times Life Stories
  • [ January 1, 2019 ] The French circus family Amar in the wake of World War II – The circus as a place of refuge, internment and imprisonment Life Stories
  • [ December 24, 2018 ] James Samuel Wonja Michael (1916-2007) – from the Moroccan Tumbling Troupe to the French Foreign Legion Life Stories
Home2018March

Month: March 2018

Life Stories

Edit Sandor Kleinbarth (1931- ), a circus child during the war

March 30, 2018 malte 0

Edit Sandor Kleinbarth was born in Budapest in 1931. Her parents were Sandor and Elise Kleinbarth. Her father came from a “private” Hungarian family. He had learned the art of school riding in the Czech […]

Stay connected

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Follow on Facebook

Copyright © 2017 | University of Helsinki

Copyrighted Image

  • enEnglish
  • deDeutsch (German)