Werner Reich

Werner Reich (1927–2022) was a Holocaust survivor, an engineer, magician, and author. Reich was captured and sent to a concentration camp when he was 15. At Auschwitz, he was selected by Josef Mengele for labor rather than execution. There, he shared barracks with the magician Herbert Levin (the Great Nivelli). After the war, Reich emigrated to England and later New York, where he studied engineering at night school. He became a structural engineer, performed magic tricks at parties and events, and gave talks about his Holocaust experience. In 2020, he delivered the popular TEDTalk, "How the magic of kindness helped me survive the Holocaust".

Early life Reich was born in Berlin on 1 October 1927. His father, Wilhelm was an engineer, and his mother Elly (née Dux) Reich was a nurse who had been awarded an Iron Cross for her service during World War I. In 1940, Reich's father died and, in 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded by the Nazis. including Theresienstadt, Auschwitz, and Mauthausen. Levin had been a professional magician before the war, who went by the name the Great Nivelli Levin taught Reich a card trick, which would help him survive the war,

After the war After the war, Reich returned to Yugoslavia for two years In 2020, he delivered a TEDTalk.

Personal life and death Reich died on July 8, 2022 in Smithtown, New York.