Welcomed, Erin, monkeys, cabinet of curiosity is a production of I hurt radio and grim and mild. Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all of these is amazing, tales right there on display just waiting for us to expire, Welcome to the cabinet of curiosities, The not everyone gets recognition for their work. When they deserve it. The teacher who a child reed or the nurse who notice is something wrong with a patient might never get acknowledged for their contributions, but a hero doesn't help people for famer fortune. They do it because it's the right

to do. One man, however, did go on to great acclaim, but not for helping people, even though that was precisely why he should have been famous. In the first place. Marcel mangel was born in strasbourg, france in nineteen, twenty three is father. A kosher butcher had emigrated from poland, while his mother, had come from ukraine. Miguel spent a lot of time with this her and said especially enjoyed going to the movies with his mother. He was a big fan of silent film, star, charlie chaplin, who inspired him to pursue acting later in life. While Mandela was a kid, he would act like chaplain pretending to be famous figures like robin hood and napoleon, while playing with the other children in the neighborhood. he loved acting, but unfortunately, his chance at a future in hollywood was cut short. When the nazis invaded france, manuel was only seventeen when he and his family were forced to leave their home. They settled in limos, small town about two hundred and fifty miles south of paris

It was around this time when the young men shall connected with his cousin george longer longer escaped from a german P. W camp and joined the french jewish resistance now he was encouraging his cousin to do the same. Therefore, Jews in france were in need of help and mankind, could do a lot of good during the war. He also kept up as acting lessons while attending a technical school in italy upon joining the resistance. Mangled got his start by forging idee cards for his fellow members, but was quickly assigned to a new position helping jewish children get to safety so that they could be evacuated out of france gale was young which made him someone. The children could look up to they loved spending time with him because he made them feel safe. They were able to remain while on the run from german soldiers one time they'll put on a boy scout uniform and pretended to be a scout leader for twenty four jewess children all wearing uniforms of their own. The escort

them to the french border, where he handed them off to an ally who helped them cross over into switzerland. but it wasn't just his young age that endeared him to the kids. He acted for them as well performing shows to distract them. Ass, nazis, patrolled nearby. He was also able convey messages to them using hand, gestures and facial expressions which came in pretty. andy when they couldn't speak without giving away their position. Mangles efforts and his acting managed to save the lives, over seventy jewish children from the nazis. They also saved his own life when he found himself surrounded by thirty german soldiers. He pretended to be part of the french are convincing them that they were at risk of being killed by an approaching units unless they surrendered, which they did every last. One of them Sadly, while he was helping the resistance in saving lives, his father was captured by the gestapo and sent to our wits and nineteen forty four. He did not survive miguel and his brother alain had also

in their last name to avoid being found out as jews by the germans. They adopted this name of a general from the french revolution, a name that gal wound up keeping for the rest of his life the war ended. He was finally able to pursue his true passion. He joined a french theatre company and one apart in a show called baptist which earned him rave reviews. This success lead to more rules where he demonstrated his unique talents for a particular kind of performance, pantomime, its biggest and most popular came in nineteen, forty seven when he created a brand new character name bit. The clown, bibbs costume was comprised of white face paint, a striped shirt and a tall silk hat with a flower sticking out of the top from angle. It became signature. Look, he grew into a certified hit. Putting on sold out shows without ever saying a word. He called it. The art of silence and art that turn him into

household name. However, no matter how successful he became as mine marcel marceau would be known to dozens of jewish children and adults as marcel mangled, the young man who save them from the nazis, an unspoken and unspeaking here of world war two and proof that, even though it isn't the most respected art form out there, a mine is a terrible thing to waste hmm prison, often as a way of recent tureen ones, focus. After all, we spend your time in relative isolation detached from the outside world. The free time one has, with their mind, is oftentimes overwhelming. By that token, its surprise that numerous great minds when cast into this isolation-

turned out written works that have impacted the world for centuries, Marco polo recounted his travel while imprisoned by the genoa generations, oscar wilde penned de profundis after finally carrying writing materials from the prison warden. Then, of course, nelson mandela's conversations with myself, was composed during his twenty seven years in captivity and in terms of captivity. There are not many places that one would least want to find themselves then improve, And on the ship of pirates, because the thing with pirates is that they don't exactly have a governing principle, which makes their policy of imprisonment little loose, oftentimes cruel. maybe even a little brutal, and that was where Miguel found himself along with his little brother Rodrigo in the year. One thousand five hundred and seventy five Stowed away in the hold of an ottoman corsair ship imprisoned after a hard fought battle, say that miguel was not having the best of times recently he had been so brain from malaria, as well as a debilitating wound in his left arm and chest the former

which he would never fully recover from not to mention, He could not engage in his true passion writing. These captive brothers were ticketed for a life of servitude as slaves in algiers the center of the christian slave markets in the muslim world. That is if no ransom could be paid and given the fact that the brothers were relatively high born a fact. the corsairs relished, the ransom, would not come cheaply and, amazingly, the family did pay the ransom requested, but only for Rodrigo is they didn't have the money to afford their oldest son as well. So Miguel continued his time in captivity. Moving on to Istanbul, where he was forced into manual labor, however, Miguel did not lose himself to the despair of servitude. Instead, he made clear name for himself among the captive community for his strength and courage among fellow slaves, with numerous historical accounts from his peers, mentioning miguel, specifically, he attempted for escapes each one commended for

it's boldness and courage, but in the end, all would fail, leaving him right back where he started. It would take five more years to spring miguel from this fate, thanks in part to a truce signed between the holy league and the ottoman empire, his freedom in hand, Miguel was left to pursue his own ends back in spain, but he found the economic climate of his home country almost as taxing as captivity in north africa and Istanbul. He continuously struggled with employment, while his family, formerly of the middle class, had fallen with the rest of the spanish like them. Despite applying for worse positions in america, Miguel continued to find his future blocked by a sputtering spanish economy and a lack of opportunity. All the while Miguel continued to write while sustenance was nowhere to be found. He sold his first,

galatea in one thousand five hundred and eighty five earning him, a modest one thousand three hundred and thirty six spanish real, but, as is so often the case, one moderate success does not spell a lifetime of creative independence this might pending another twenty to thirty, plays miguel continue to move from post to post, winning the occasional poetry, competition or two, but never really finding the promised land that he sought. In fact, he found himself in worse financial footing than ever before, which landed him back in prison this time in the jail of seville, however, and not chained to the brig of a barbary ship, whatever form that captivity took- and he had plenty to choose from leave me. It led at his own admission to the creation of one of the greatest works in the history of literature, the story of foolish knights and his happy psychic. We just want.

A little more good in the world and if you haven't pasted altogether just yet. This miguel was indeed miguel de cervantes and the book don quixote I hope you enjoy today's guided tour of the cabinet of curiosities subscribe for free on apple pancake, or learn more about the show by visiting curiosities podcast dont come the show was created by me. Erin monkey in partnership with how stuff works I make Other award winning show called lore witches upon cast book series and television show, and you can learn all about it over at the world of lore dot com and until next time, stay curious.