Shortly before the U.S. joined WWII, the Onion Brothers were given their travel orders (Destination: Europe) with their new assignments (“Entertainment of foreign troops.”)

At this point in time, the USO was very strict about travel orders, so despite the fact that someone by the name of “Colonel Pussy” had struck out “Europe” and replaced it with “anywhere but here,” they found themselves cantonned in the small town of Trou-de-ma-Mer on the Brittany Coast.

And what a show they put on! It’s thanks to a young theater enthusiast that their performance was preserved on 16mm film. And what a performance it was…it has gone down in famy and has been cited by many comic luminaries.

From the viewpoint of the 21st century, their performance seems crude. But keep in mind that during WW2, there was no gas for the gaslights, and stages had been systematically disassembled, plank by plank, and shipped off so French soldiers could use them as weapons.

The Onion Brothers’ performance began with Karl walking to the center of the stage, where he stood for a good two minutes, until the crowd hushed down.

“You want magic?” he asked, flourishing a wand brought out from his right sleeve. “Then so you shall have!!!”

By some unknown effect, images of the dead from WW1 began to appear behind him on the screen, and at the same time, from his wand appeared a banner, “Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.”

Unfortunately, the German translator had made a mistake, and what the banner actually said was “Those who forget history are condemned to be jelly doughnuts.”

Luckily they were in France so no one noticed.

This is the only one of the pre-WW2 Onion Brothers’ performances that has survived until present.

-R