Erik Jan Hanussen

The most popular occultist of his day, Hanussen claimed to be descended from Danish nobility and billed himself as a preternaturally gifted seer with unique and otherworldly powers. But was he really the son of Jewish vaudeville artists from Vienna? And was his “psychic gift” only the perfection of the art of reading an audience?

By the time of his death in 1933, Hanussen was one of the richest entertainers in Europe. He could sell out theaters and had wealthy and influential people begging to have their fortunes told at his Palace of the Occult in Berlin. Not content with this, he had gotten into the newspaper game, launching a successful tabloid that combined mysticism with pro-Nazi propaganda.

Hanussen might even have aided senior Nazis — including Hitler himself — despite his alleged Jewish ancestry.

Causing a sensation when he “predicted” the Reichstag fire 24-hours before it broke out, Hanussen soon fell victim to the Nazi government that seized complete power on a wave of anti-communism, while the Weimar constitution expired with a whimper.