One of my original intentions when I started this blog was to write about Felix Kersten. As you can see it has taken me over a year to finally publish this post. Felix Kersten’s story is extraordinary, almost unbelievable and I am very excited to share it. He was a real hero in the Second World War, yet surprisingly not many people know of him.
He was the massage therapist to the Nazi Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler because he was the only person who could relieve Himmler’s debilitating stomach pain. Kersten’s “magic hands” gave him considerable influence over Himmler. He soon realized he could bargain for the lives of Jewish prisoners as payment for each healing.
John H. Waller recounts in his book The Devil’s Doctor how by the end of the war Kersten had saved the lives of more than 60,000 Jews in concentration camps by persuading Himmler to defy Hitler’s direct order to kill them all. Kersten also convinced Himmler to resist Hitler’s plan to enslave 8 million Dutch and Flemish citizens, thus saving many lives.
Kersten writes in The Memoirs of Doctor Felix Kersten:
“Himmler, particularly, learned to depend on me and to confide in me. I used these revelations to further my own ends, which happened to be that of checkmating the Nazis, cheating them of their many victims so sparing humanity much suffering. My advice, even, was occasionally asked by this man who rarely took advice from anyone. Eventually Himmler depended so much upon my treatments and valued them so highly that he though he could not survive without me and was willing to do almost anything to keep me by his side. I used my power over him to save the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people and to ward of disaster, persecution and imprisonment from as many others.”
Before the war, Felix Kersten was an accomplished healer with a lucrative practice in The Hague. His clientele consisted of nobles and the Dutch royal family, including Prince Henry of the Netherlands. Most of his memoirs are about the war and not his healing methods, but I did find this description of his work:
“My treatment is a form of massage which affects the vital nerve centers. By pressure applied in the right place I can cause nerves that have ceased to function to resume their normal functioning.”
I am in awe of Felix Kersten: his healing abilities, emotional clarity, intelligence and bravery. Check out the video (about 45 minutes) and I think you will also be inspired by his story.