Biography

Erik Jan Hanussen was born on June 2, 1889 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was an actor and writer, known for Hypnose (1919), Der rätselhafte Tod (1921) and Hanussen: Hitler's Astrologer (1988). He died on March 25, 1933 in Berlin, Germany.

Mentalist, real name Herschel Steinschneider, known as the "Magician of Berlin". Claimed to be a clairvoyant and telepath. Charged with a number of nefarious activities, including fraud, in Germany and Czechoslovakia. Befriended a high-ranking member of the Nazi Party, Count von Helldorf, obtaining political favors for money. Changed his religion from Judaism to Protestantism in order to join the Nazi Party and became an anti-Semitic propagandist. Claimed to foresee the burning of the Reichstag. Eventually became a liability to the Nazis and ended up killed - shot twelve times - in a shallow grave in woods outside Berlin.