Sarrasani

by Gustavo Bernstein

The story has two basic topics. On one side, a tale about a family of circus directors struggling to remain at the top of show business in the social context of Europe and South-America during the last century. On the other side, the epical facts of a colossal enterprise that survived the most transcendental political crisis, dealing –voluntarily or by force– with political leaders, dictators, bankers or businessmen from both continents. The Sarrasani Circus was founded in 1901, reaching a patrimony of 400 animals (not pets, precisely) and hiring a similar number of artists and technicians, hosting troupes from the most distant and exotic places: Chinese, Japanese, Javanese, Moroccan, Hindus, Sioux, Ethiopians, Gauchos, Europeans, etc. Within this complex megalopolis, the Circus managed to sail through turbulent periods of this century emerging miraculously unharmed. Among them: World War I, the 1930’s crisis, the Nazism, World War II, Stalin’s troops arriving to Eastern Germany, the z