The Nazi Seance: The Strange Story of the Jewish Psychic in Hitler's Circle

by Arthur J. Magida

World War I left Berlin, and all of Germany, devastated.  Charlatans and demagogues eagerly exploited the desperate crowds. Fascination with the occult was everywhere – in private séances, personalized psychic readings, communions with the dead – as people struggled to escape the grim reality of their lives. In the early 1930s, the most famous mentalist in the German capital was Erik Jan Hanussen, a Jewish mind reader originally from Vienna who became so popular in Berlin that he rubbed elbows with high ranking Nazis, became close with top Storm Troopers, and even advised Hitler.
Called “Europe’s Greatest Oracle Since Nostradamus,” Hanussen assumed he could manipulate some of the more incendiary personalities of his time just as he had manipulated his fans. He turned his occult newspaper in Berlin into a Nazi propaganda paper, personally assured Hitler that the stars were aligned in his favor, and predicted the infamous Reichstag Fire that would solidify the Nazis’ grip on Germany.
Seasoned with ruminations about wonder and magic (and explanations of Hanussen’s tricks), The Nazi Séance is a disturbing journey into a Germany as it descends into madness—aided by a “clairvoyant” Jew oblivious to the savagery of men who pursued a Reich they fantasized would last 1,000 years.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, World War II, Beach Reads

269 pages, Hardcover

First published November 22, 2011

About the author

Arthur J. Magida's new book, Code Name Madeleine: A Sufi Spy in Nazi-Occupied Paris, will be published by W.W. Norton in June 2020.
Advance readers call Code Name Madeleine "a thrilling spy story & a moving portrait of Noor Inayat Khan's courage" and "one of the finest & most affecting true stories of espionage I have read."
A former professor at Georgetown University and at the University of Baltimore and a consultant to several PBS documentaries, Magida has been a columnist for the on-line religion magazine, Beliefnet.com; a contributing correspondent to PBS's "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly;" editorial director of Jewish Lights Publishing; senior editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times; environmental reporter for National Journal; writer/editor for Ralph Nader; director of publications for an energy conservation project; & a reporter for Pennsylvania newspapers.
His op-eds have appeared in major newspapers around the country, he has free-lanced for such publications as Conde Nast Traveler, Travel & Leisure, Tikkun & Geo. amd he has appeared on Dateline, the CBS Early Show, Court TV's "Catherine Crier Live," "The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour," ABC's "World News Tonight," C-Span's "Booknotes," NPR's "Morning Edition" and an A&E documentary.

Reviews

[Hilary "Fox" · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book has a wonderful title, doesn't it? It titillates and intrigues, and coupled with the image on the cover it pretty much guarantees that anyone who sees it will want to pick it up. Nazis, the Occult, the very thought of a Jew being Hitler's psychic consultant for any amount of time? It's wondrous, and perhaps even more surprising, entirely true.

So why the two stars then, even if the rating is a rather high two star rating?

Unfortunately, it's for how much just isn't there.

Arthur J. Magida did an impressive amount of research, but unfortunately when it comes to his chosen topic there just isn't a lot that remains. Interviews he conducted with people who had met Hanussen, or had seen him perform, are sadly short and not very much referenced. There appear to be few surviving letters from the man, and thus the image that we are stuck with of him is second or third hand more often than not. Even the interview with his daughter is tinged with a bit of confusion. Hanussen himself has become something of the illusion he desired himself to be. We know bits and pieces, but most of what we are relying on are stories and legends, changed and made sense of. We have to go on what remains in the end.

The most intriguing section was towards the end in reference to Hannusen's prediction of the Reichstag fire, but nonetheless I am left a bit baffled by the book. Did Magida, like Hannusen's own daughter, end up believing he had something of the clairvoyant in him for true? So much is lost in mystery, and this book left me desiring rather a lot more than what it contained. The author chose a wonderful subject to be sure, I just wish there had been far more information and primary sources in these pages.

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whew.....what a strange book! The author follows the life of Jan Hanussen, a Czech Jew (Hermann Steinschneider) who captivated German society of the late 1920-30s with his "psychic" abilities while successfully hiding his Jewish identity from the rising Nazi party. Beginning with a minor circus troupe, Hanussen picked up tricks of the trade and became an expert manipulator of the audience and also an expert liar. And that is the problem with this book.....the author has trouble separating fact from the fiction that Hanussen created about himself and his life. Certainly he did become wealthy from his "psychic" readings and public shows, and he did socialize with Nazi leadership including Hitler himself. But did he have psychic powers or was it all just showmanship? Some of his tricks are exposed by the author but others are unexplained and unexplainable. An example which chills is the warning that Hanussen gave to a famous racing driver that he would be killed in the first lap of his next race.....and he was. And there were other predictions that were equally on target.....but did they actually happen or was it just part of Hanussen's myth? Regardless, it is an interesting subject although it leaves the reader with many questions.

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

This slight book sketches the life of Erik Jan Hanussen (born Hermann Steinschneider in 1889), the Jewish fortuneteller/clairvoyant/magician/hypnotist who befriended the Nazis and was ultimately betrayed by them. His support of the movement went beyond mere friendships. Successful with his career in Berlin, he readily loaned out money, even his automobiles, to prominent SA officials, while publishing a weekly, then daily, newspaper promoting not only his own career, but also that of the National Socialists. The loans, however, became the problem. The Nazi seizure of power in 1933 offered them a chance to get out of debt, perhaps a last chance to disassociate themselves from a prominent Jew as it became increasingly evident that Hitler and his inner circle were really serious about removing all Jews from Germany. Hanussen, having become inconvenient, was murdered, his body dumped in the woods.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely one of the most interesting and unique reading experiences for me this year. The moment I saw the title of this book, I felt it would be an interesting one to read, and it did not disappoint. If you enjoy history, especially reading about lesser known topics or more obscure things, this may be a book for you. If you enjoy reading about performers, mentalists, clairvoyants, etc., this may be a good book for you as well as it does have some discussion of that trade as well, including quotes and comments from Teller (of Penn & Teller). And if you happen to be a World War II or Nazi Germany history buff, you may to grab this one. In other words, there is something to interest various folks.

The strength of the book is in the narrative. Magida writes this book as if it was a novel. And even if you know the fate of Erik Jan Hanussen, the psychic in question, you still want to read through it. There are moments when you feel sympathy for the guy and moments when you say, "what was he thinking? Is he really that blind?" Those moments in reading help show that Hanussen was a complex individual. True: he was swindler; he was very selfish (looking after numero uno, so to speak), and he was quite the charmer able to live off his wits. But the guy was also quite the performer struggling to move in a world that was collapsing around him. It is quite the tragic story. It is well written, and the pace just moves along.

In addition, the book is very well researched as evident from the extensive notes at the end of the book. Also, there are some revelations (well, maybe to some). For example, where the Nazis stood when it came to the occult. It is commonly asserted that the Nazis were big on it, yet this book argues that it varied: some Nazis were indifferent, others embraced it. Also fascinating to see was how the Nazis used the clairvoyant for more than just his abilities. Hanussen often lent them money and bailed them out of debts, something he thought he could use as leverage. That and the fact that he pretty much became a Nazi mouthpiece, at least until they turned against him, and by then, it was the end. This detail may make a lot of readers wonder: why did he not leave Germany when he could? How could he not see what the Nazis would do? So on.

Overall, this is an excellent book that I do recommend.

[Jennifer Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I found this book an interesting read it didnt live up to the expectations promised by it's title - that was just a hook to grab you, an illusion, along with the cover photo (not credited anywhere so who was in it, was it Hanussen himself?)
A lot of the story seems to be what the author thinks happened and it doesn't flow nicely with the research Magida has used to tell the story. I do understand what a difficult research topic this would have been, given the lack of documented evidence of Hanussen's early years then his reticence to tell the truth about himself in later years in case he shatters the illusion of his 'powers' and loses his big money making enterprise.
I'm glad I read it, just don't expect in depth documentation of seances with Hitler or any of Hitler's main flunkeys.

[Stacia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though the topic (Jewish mystic/advisor & friend to the Nazis, Erik Jan Hanussen) could have been interesting, it was rendered fairly dull in this book. That's a shame since the subject was supposed to have charisma & hypnotic abilities -- the book had neither. I suppose this is meant to be a biography, but the writing is a jumbled mess. The author jumps around, contradicts himself, inserts his opinion in various places, & goes off on tangents that don't really have a lot to do with the topic. The book is very unevenly & poorly written, as well as seeming under-researched. A disappointment, imo. Read the Wikipedia entry if you're curious about Hanussen -- it's more succinct & to the point.

[Tomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a really strange book. The author didn't seem to know exactly what his subject was...a Jewish clairvoyant? The Nazis? How to read minds? And, unfortunately, most of the book was based on conjecture. The truth about Erik Jan Haussen is unknown. He left very little factual evidence of his life and his autobiography is too fanciful to be the truth (the author admits it!). To base a book on "it could have happened" or "some people thought" just doesn't work.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story told in a bland, yet occasionally sensationalist matter. Erik Hanussen was a Jewish "mesmerist' in Berlin in the 20s and 30s. Born poor and Jewish, he escaped to join the circus, literally. After failed circus jobs, including lion taming, he became a hypnotist. One of the interesting parts of this book is when Megida explains the tricks of the mind reader and hypnotist. It mostly involves extremely close observation and then assistants who gather information and signal the hypnotist. Anyhow, Hanussen becomes famous, blows through money, makes connections and lives by his wits and bravados. When he sees the Nazis seeming to grow in popularity, he hitches his star and bankrolls the head of the SS, for potential future blackmailing purposes, and starts a newspaper extolling the virtues of the Nazi party. No one in the party knows he is a Jew until they do and, well, you can imagine what happens next.

Hannusen is an interesting, though not very sympathetic, character and Magida captures him well. But Magida's writing style leaves something to be desired. The early part of Hanussen's life is a bit of a lost chapter. Hanussen wrote a self-serving autobiography, but it has more than a bit of a fabulist bent. So Magida starts speculating, which he does quite a bit throughout. Things pick up during the second half as the walls start closing in.

It's not a terrible book. I just wish it was better written.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read. Hanussen tried to ingratiate himself with the Nazis; however, the attempt was ultimately doomed to failure as he was Jewish. Considering him to be a liability, the Nazis had him murdered. This is an interesting and well-researched study which held this reader’s interest for most of the work.

[Ralphz · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book but not what the title led me to believe.

I thought it was going to be about a psychic who conducted seances with and for Hitler, finding his way into the highest reaches of Nazidom.

But it was mainly the story of a charlatan in Germany, Europe and other places, how he became what he was, and how he tricked and turned on people.

He got close to one guy among the Nazis, the leader of the stormtroopers, and manipulated him. Finally, one day, he did a seance for another group, told of Hitler's victory, and, supposedly, let a few secrets out.

Next thing, he's arrested, and killed.

Not exactly earth-shaking, and not unexpected. He isn't a sympathetic character, because he was a Jew who turned a blind eye to all that was happening around him.

That's as close as he got to Hitler. A big letdown, to be honest.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book didn't quite live up to the expectations triggered by the title, subtitle and sensational cover photograph (for which, by the way, I was unable to find a source. Is this an actual picture of Erik Hanussen or just cover art?). The story of Erik Jan Hanussen, the stage name of Hermann Steinschneider, would undoubtedly be very interesting.... if more was known about it. He was born in a Jewish family of itinerant show people and after a varied career as a lion tamer, singer, comedian and what-have-you, settled on a stage career as a "mentalist". This involved mind-reading, clairvoyance, seances, stage shows as well as private counseling. He careened through Europe as a pretend Danish aristocrat, making and spending money, acquiring and discarding mistresses and wives. At one point during the early 1930s, he became friend and money-lending to Count Wolfgang Heinrich Von Helldorf, a mid-level Nazi. He gained entrance into Nazi circles and was credited with giving them occult advice. Then things started to go wrong : he was outed as being Jewish, and he committed a major indiscretion by hinting at a fire in a major Berlin building during a seance the night before the Reichstag burned down. Whether the Reichstag fire was the work of a single man, a communist conspiracy or a Nazi conspiracy, will probably never be known. What is unarguable, though, is that it was the point of no return : Hitler was given special powers by the ailing president Hindenburg, and from then on it was police state and repression all the way. Hanussen then compounded his goofs by trying to use the IOUs he held against Von Helldorf to manipulate the sale price of a major Jewish-owned publishing concern, and by threatening blackmail. And, like so many others in those troubled times, one day shortly after, he was met by two men, taken off in a car, and not seen alive.

Where the book fails, is to give a clear picture of how Hanussen was involved in the Nazi world. Did he actually meet Hitler or not? Many people believe that the Nazi leadership was superstitious to the point of silliness- was that actually true? Did Hanussen have a clear role in the Nazi propaganda machine or did he just aim to flatter the up-and-coming new political party? So the book ends up telling two parallel stories, that of Hanussen, and that of the rise of the Nazis. The intersection between the two narratives is actually small. As a matter of fact, apart from the intro, the reader has to wait until about the middle of the book before we hear of Hanussen's contacts with the Nazis. Up until then we mainly read about his chequered career, and even that seems to have been mostly copied, with appropriate scepticism, from his autobiography. All in all, this is a story that could have been told in a magazine article. There was not enough original research to sustain a book-length narrative.

[Arash Farzaneh · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read about a mysterious and enigmatic Jewish psychic in Nazi Germany! I have been interested in Hanussen ever since I saw the 1988 film version by Istvan Szabo, and this book filled me in on a lot of gaps and inaccuracies from the film. The book's first half feels like a novel and is based mainly on what Hanussen tells us in his own writings, yet the author Magida reminds us to take everything with a grain of salt as Hanussen tends to exaggerate or embellish and change facts.

It is interesting to see Magida's own beliefs concerning the issue. He thinks that a lot of what Hanussen does is based on illusion and deception, yet there is interestingly a part of the author that does not entirely shut off the possibility of having supernatural psychic powers. I liked the fact that the author has humility (apart from his extensive knowledge)and that he chooses to show the different facets and colors of this flawed, but mysteriously enigmatic man.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is very well written. It gives a lot of insight into the personality of a man caught up in a very foreboding time period. The story seems very well researched and footnoted encouraging further reading on the subject. The notion of magic as charlatanism,spiritualism or accidental psychic sensibility hovers in the background and creates an interesting interplay between unfolding events, known history and human behavior. Character development is well done in the author's portrait of Erik Hanussen. Interesting photographs are included. I waited quite a while after finishing this book before writing this review. I wanted to see how the book faired in my mind over time. It has persisted; remained in my thoughts. I'd like to read some more by Arthur Magida.

[Lissa Quon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not very clearly written. The book opens up interestingly enough with a hook but then gets wrapped up in painting a picture of show business in 1930s Germany and chasing every little anecdote possible no matter how loosely related it is to the main subject.

I got to about the halfway point and we hadn't really gotten to his apparently involvement with the Nazi party. Just a lot of rambling and "this would in the future prove bad for him." Considering he's a jewish showman in soon to be Nazi Germany I already guessed what that meant and all this attempt at foreshadowing seemed pointless. Frankly I couldn't be bothered to continue reading to get to the Nazi point of the book or find out if I was right in assuming what horrible fate the author kept trying to indicate.

[Rayda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book drew me into another world. It was mesmerizing, it was hypnotic, it was engrossing! I am a huge history addict and I love to see how there are so many contradictions within history. This was one of the best. The wealth, power, and protection that this man attained---from the Nazis!!! It was just mind-boggling. I like to read a book straight through, if I can. I am impatient like that! It takes so much out of me to put a book down so that it lasts me longer. I had to do it with this one---it was so interesting, so I wanted it to last a bit. The writing flows wonderfully and the story itself is so absorbing.

[Scott Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the heels of reading "In The Garden of Beasts" this was a major disappointment. Very choppy and inconsistent...perhaps the historical reference material was slim on the subject, but Magida's presentation did little to draw me into the story and captured little of the tension or suspense of the era. Ultimately his claim of Hanussen's role/involvement at the upper level of the Nazi command seems mostly overstated.

[Eric Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The subject was a brilliant man, both swindler and talented in his field. His naivety was hard to believe. Did he really think his entertainment value would override his ancestry to his Nazi 'friends?" The writer is a journalist, not a trained historian. Thus the book reads well but some historical 'facts' are thrown about which a trained historian would have verified first.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells the story of Erik Jan Hanussen, who was a Jewish psychic, living in Germany during early years of the Nazi rise to power, and Hitler's rule. What was apparent to me was that the author didn't like his subject, and there wasn't a lot of material for the book, since there isn't a lot known about Hanussen's life.

[Fil · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at a little known figure connected to Nazi Party members. My one major gripe is that in the grand scheme of things Hanussen wasn't really a part of Hitler's circle. Yes, he did know and was owed favors by prominent members of the party but he didn't play a significant role in Hitler's actions. An interesting side bit of pre WW2 history but nothing more.

[JME · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an intrigue from start to finish, I definitely recommend it to readers who are interested in World War II-era history and the mystical (concerning predictive techniques such as the use of séances, mediums, predictors etc.).

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting read, both from a historical point of view & also because Erik Jan Hanussen wrote an excellent book about muscle reading which is still worth the read today. Yet he also worked as a psychic. A very interesting read.

[Michael Durant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Placing Hanussen/Steinschneider in "Hitler's circle" makes an exciting yet disingenuous title. Very readable.

[Ellen]

Review in The Denver Post 3/11/12

[Kaytlin]

I was so pumped for this book, but unfortunately the writing style and organization of the book was off-putting for me.

[Macy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was engaging, informative, and what a story!

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is a little misleading, but nonetheless this is a really interesting account of pre-war Germany with a cast of colourful characters.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read especially given the nature of the American government at this point in time.