Hanussen: Hitler's Jewish Clairvoyant

by Mel Gordon

The first victim of the Holocaust also supported the Third Reich.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0922915687
• ISBN13: 9780922915682
• Release Date: November 2001
• Publisher: Feral House
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 1.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Had to Have This

After seeing the movie the Illusionist our curiousity was peaked. What a a great companion to the movie. Cover to cover it was well written and very engaging. I love the unusual and unique and this book certainly qualifies.

Sensational mix of politics and the supernatural

Jan Erik Hanussen was a con man. But was he also a true clairvoyant? This hair-raisingly sensational biography draws no conclusions on that point, but raises some compelling evidence. There has been very little printed in English about the enigmatic Hanussen; and some of the German sources are suspect, as Hanussen himself altered documents and the Nazis destroyed as much evidence about him as possible. But Mel Gordon has nonetheless come through with a splendid book. On one level it's a rag-to-riches tale of a poor Jewish boy named Herman Steinschneider who re-invents himself as Danish royalty and develops an act that makes him one of the biggest stars of the era. But it becomes a kind of political thriller when the closet Jew attracts the admiration of up-and-coming politician Adolf Hitler. Not only that: the star has made enemies on his climb to the top who now see an opportunity to exact revenge. The life of Steinschneider/Hanussen was every bit as dramatic as fiction. Parts of this book are disturbing, especially the harrowing scenes of his "training" a woman for a circus act that involved being run over and having a rock crushed on her. There are also scenes of Nazi sex orgies in which some of the participants are hypnotized. One of the most shocking things in the book is the plausible suggestion that Hanussen himself was responsible for the burning of the Reichstag by hypnotizing the ne'er-do-well communist Marinus van der Lubbe and commanding him to set the fire. This was the event that brought Hitler to power, resulting in World War II and the mass extinction of perhaps as many as six million Jews (with one of the first to go being Hanussen nee Steinschneider). This is a dynamite book. Its sensational story is supported by more than a hundred black-and-white photographs as well as translated reprints of contemporary newspaper and magazine articles. The book includes an index, bibliography and notes. Gordon's thought-provoking book is a formidable accomplishment in the literature about World War II. Outstanding.

Feral House's Master Piece

Hanussen is a the best history book written in the last ten years. You could argue this with me, but you'll get a haymaker to the ear! Herzog made a movie with Tim Roth as Hanussen, but, unfortunetly , I haven't seen that baby. Feral House, you are a great publisher -- put this out in paperback for christ's sake.

Fascinating Man

Jan Hanussen used simple conjuring tricks and an uncanny understanding of human nature to become the most celebrated and equally reviled psychic of the 1920-30's. Hanussen was the subject of numerous scandals and court cases, yet nevertheless managed to become so entrenched within the Nazi circle of political power that there was only one way out, his execution. Mel Gordon chronicles the life of this fascinating character. Though not the easiest read in the world, the players become so engaging that one truly wants to see how everything plays out. Did Hanussen have a latent gift? That will never be answered. The more interesting question, I think, is how did someone using his limited knowledge and informal training manage to capture the attention of an entire culture. I enjoyed the time I spent with this book and would like to have seen more of the "source materials" from which the author derived his conclusions. Those that were presented, I felt, were the gems of the book.