Hanussen: Hitler's Jewish Clairvoyant

Erik Jan Hanussen psychic, hypnotist, astrologer, amateur detective and publisher of tabloids was born Herschmann-Chaim Steinschneider in 1889 in a Viennese jail cell and murdered in Berlin in 1933 on the orders of SA officers who owed him money. His remarkable life is the subject of Berkeley professor Mel Gordon's Erik Jan Hanussen: Hitler's Jewish Clairvoyant, a fascinating account of Hanussen's many activities, many names and many lovers, supplemented by excerpts from Hanussen's writings and scores of illustrations (publicity posters, Hitler's astrological chart and advertisements for Hanussen's Sex Creme, for example). Hanussen's association with Hitler, which began when he predicted the future fehrer would rule Germany, was very brief, but Gordon does a good job of exploring this baffling alliance. ( Feb.)