He was clearly aware what was happening around him.”Īs his fame grew, he became more comfortable with his Judaism. It was two weeks after the Kishinev pogrom. “At that period, it was not permitted for Jews to stay overnight in Moscow,” Pinkert said. He similarly downplayed his Judaism when he performed in Russia shortly after the infamous Kishinev pogrom of 1903. London added, however, that diary entries and anecdotes indicate incidents in which others made anti-Semitic statements and Houdini kept quiet. London cited a letter from Houdini to “a lifetime friend” in Appleton, Wisconsin, in which the magician told of his “relief one year after his mother’s death, when he no longer had to recite the Mourner’s Kaddish prayer nightly.” While it is not known whether he did this on his own accord or out of reverence for his parents, “we discovered he did that 365 days,” London said. Harry Houdini (photo credit: Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons) Other objects are of a more personal nature, such as a Hebrew Bible that belonged to Houdini’s father, Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weisz and a travel journal the budding magician kept while performing in Maryland in 1898, noting multiple evenings in which he could not afford dinner. On display are actual locks and straitjackets he was able to wiggle out of. “Inescapable” looks at both halves of Houdini’s 52-year life - 26 years of personal struggle from 1874 to 1900 and 26 years of professional success, from 1900 to 1926, ending with his mysterious death on Halloween of 1926. The Jewish Museum of Maryland provides a fuller picture of the magician it calls the first international superstar, through an exhibit opening June 24: “Inescapable: The Life and Legacy of Harry Houdini.” He and his family immigrated to the United States when he was 4 years old, and arguably his greatest escape was from years of early poverty. Not so remembered, however, is his life before he became - well, Houdini.Ī Hungarian Jew, Houdini was born Erik Weisz in 1874, the son of a rabbi. Even decades after his death, famous escape artist Harry Houdini remains one of the world’s most celebrated magicians.
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