Episode 1: Letter for a Dead Man

Enter the true story of Nelly Benatar, Morocco's first female attorney, who rises to the challenge of saving lives in World War II. When Hitler's swift victories dash her plans to serve as a Red Cross ambulance nurse, the widowed mother feels powerless to help—until a strange delivery beckons her to an unexpected destiny. Over six episodes, follow Nelly's extraordinary journey from saving refugees in wartime Casablanca to confronting post-war humanitarian crises that echo into our present day. Episode 1 of 6 in The Magician of Casablanca limited series, elaborating on the real-life history dramatized by the classic film Casablanca.

Created and narrated by Matthew Abergel

Vocal talent provided by Joe Alkire, Chantal Baur, Bob Cooner, and Gil Sebastian

Produced by Mark Johnston ✦ www.constellationaudio.biz

As Casablanca swells with refugees fleeing Nazi Europe—everyone comes to Casablanca seeking safe passage—Nelly Benatar confronts Vichy Morocco's gruesome and even deadly deportation policies. The determined attorney rallies supporters and unlocks bureaucratic mysteries to save WWII refugees' lives—while dangerously attracting the Gestapo's scrutiny.

Created and narrated by Matthew Abergel

Vocal talent provided by Joe Alkire, Chantal Baur, Bob Cooner, Charlotte French, Ron Ranagan, Lenore Sebastian, and Gil Sebastian

Produced by Mark Johnston ✦ www.constellationaudio.biz

As the Gestapo closes in, Nelly Benatar draws upon both her French legal training and the ancient Jewish Moroccan culture of her community. In this episode, Casablanca itself becomes a main character, a colonial crossroads of ethnic and religious friends and foes in French Morocco, a Tower of Babel that defies easy categorization. While the wartime attorney hurries to weave red tape into lifelines for Europe's “undesirables,” World War II's darkening shadow advances across Europe.

Created and narrated by Matthew Abergel

Vocal talent provided by Joe Alkire, Chantal Baur, and Gil Sebastian

Produced by Mark Johnston ✦ www.constellationaudio.biz