Kathy Kacer combines magic and Auschwitz in her latest book

The Magician of Auschwitz, Second Story Press

The notion of a magician in a concentration camp sounds like fantasy, yet the premise of Kathy Kacer’s new children’s book is based on a true story. 

The Magician of Auschwitz (Second Story Press), published in September,  is the Toronto author’s 18th book that has published about the Holocaust; 17 of those have been for young readers, one for adults.

Her first book, The Secret of Gabi’s Dresser, published in 1999, relays the true account of her mother hiding in a dresser in the former Czechoslovakia while Nazi soldiers scoured the house looking for her. 

Not surprisingly, Kacer, 60, a former psychologist who began writing fulltime 15 years ago,  is herself the child of survivors, reared on stories of her parents’ survival. 

Kacer’s mother ultimately survived the war by hiding, while her father was a survivor of the concentration camps; neither lived long enough to read any of the books she’s written.

“My parents were talkers,” Kacer said. “They were always very open about their experiences…I think they’d be quite amazed if they knew that so many young people read my stories [today], and that I’ve had books published in over 20 countries.” 

The Magician was inspired by the experiences of Werner Reich, now 87, who’d found himself alone as a teenager  in Auschwitz where he befriended a fellow prisoner named Herbert Levin. 

Levin had, before the war, been a famous magician in Berlin who’d gone by the name  Nivelli and who ultimately survived Auschwitz by performing magic tricks for the camp guards. 

The book tells of the bond that formed between them, and of Levin sharing with Reich the secrets of some of his magic tricks. 

Upon hearing of these events, Kacer was hooked.

“I feel like I have this radar that goes off when a particular story just resonates with me,” she explained. “This story takes place in one of the worst possible places, but what is remarkable about it is that it’s a story about hope, friendship and the gift of magic…Something about the horrible conditions of Auschwitz and the beauty of magic really compelled me to want to write about this.”

Several years ago, she contacted Reich, who lives in Long Island, N.Y., with his wife, and began doing research for the book. 

“He’s the most wonderful, smart, vibrant, funny man,” Kacer said. “When he told me the story [of what happened to him], he kept calling the magic he’d been taught ‘a gift.’ He said, ‘In a place where I had nothing and got nothing, I received a gift from this man.’ That really jumped out at me.” 

The two have kept up a friendship to this day.

“[After The Magician was published], Werner sent me the most beautiful flower arrangement with a note saying, ‘Thank you for showing the world that someone can be kind.’ I know he was referring to Nivelli’s kindness towards him in Auschwitz,” Kacer said, “But that’s how I think of him. He’s such a kind, lovely, warm man.” 

Kacer’s books have clearly resonated with children and adults. Some of her books  are taught in schools and she speaks periodically to students, both Jewish and non-Jewish, about the Holocaust.

As to the challenge of capturing horrific subject matter for young readers, Kacer said it’s her job to find the balance. “That’s what I strive to do. I have to engage readers; I can’t terrify them. I think after 18 books, I’ve learned to do a pretty good job of it, to let the history unfold in a way that’s appropriate to the age and stage of development of readers.”

This spring, Kacer will be mounting a play about the Holocaust that she wrote with her son, actor Jake Epstein, at the Harold Green Jewish Theatre. 

She’s currently in the middle of writing her first book that, though it deals with a difficult history, is not about the Holocaust, but about a young aboriginal girl sent to a residential school in northern Ontario.