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Djin Regular user 191 Posts |
There is a book on Amazon titled "Triumph of the Will?" It is about the lives and work of two hypnotists who (according to the description) impacted Hitler and there for impacted the world. Those hypnotists were Dr Edmund Forster and Erik Jon Hanussen. Now, the description sounds like it may be a bunch of hype. It occurs to me that here in the Café there are some who know a great deal more than most about Hanussen. Can any here opine from the description if this book might be worth reading or does this look like it's pure wind? Case in point, the description has Hanussen teaching Hitler how to hypnotize groups. I've never heard that anywhere else. That casts a doubt on the research done, in my opinion. Am I right? Or is this a book that might have research I just haven't seen before?
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Philemon Vanderbeck Inner circle Seattle, WA 4694 Posts |
I'm skeptical. Sounds pretty far-fetched to me.
You might want to read some other biographies of Hanussen: "Erik Jan Hanussen: Hitler's Jewish Clairvoyant" by Mel Gordon "The Nazi Seance: The Strange Story of the Jewish Psychic in Hitler's Circle" by Arthur J. Magida
Professor Philemon Vanderbeck
That Creepy Magician "I use my sixth sense to create the illusion of possessing the other five." |
Jerskin Inner circle 2497 Posts |
I've read a lot about him and even have an obscure poster of his framed in my dining room.
I've never this before.
GrEg oTtO
MUNDUS VULT DECIPI |
Djin Regular user 191 Posts |
Quote:
On Jan 24, 2020, Philemon Vanderbeck wrote: It does sound far fetched. The book came up while I was ordering Gordon's book. |
Djin Regular user 191 Posts |
I should have put a link in the first post. https://www.amazon.com/Triumph-Will-Hypn......3&sr=8-1
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Slim King Eternal Order Orlando 18012 Posts |
OK... I ordered it ... I'll put it on my list to read after the next two books.
THE MAN THE SKEPTICS REFUSE TO TEST FOR ONE MILLION DOLLARS.. The Worlds Foremost Authority on Houdini's Life after Death.....
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Djin Regular user 191 Posts |
Thanks for biting the bullet.
I've done a little research. I'm still no closer to knowing if this is good scholarship or hype. On the one hand, the author is a PhD. That indicates a certain level of rigor may be expected from his work but it doesn't guarantee it. Also, he did make several trips to Europe to research this book. If there are any documents to back up the assertions, they are in Europe. On the other hand, there are some problems I come across when I dug (not even deep) for info on Forster. Forster was not an entertainer, he was a medical doctor and a clinical hypnotist. Without going down the rabbit hole of history that has nothing to do with performance, the basic premise in the book description comes from an unverifiable source who had a reason to stretch the truth. So, do we have new info about one of mentalism's enigmatic forebearers? Maybe, but the info on the clinical hypnotist is suspect so the info on Hanussen may be hype too. The author is an intellectual, but no one is infallible. So..... I don't know. Looking forward to your impression. I might buy it before then too. |
Slim King Eternal Order Orlando 18012 Posts |
I also Purchased the Nazi Seance book.
THE MAN THE SKEPTICS REFUSE TO TEST FOR ONE MILLION DOLLARS.. The Worlds Foremost Authority on Houdini's Life after Death.....
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landmark Inner circle within a triangle 5194 Posts |
Amazon lists it under the category "genre fiction"...
Click here to get Gerald Deutsch's Perverse Magic: The First Sixteen Years
All proceeds to Open Heart Magic charity. |
Djin Regular user 191 Posts |
Quote:
On Feb 1, 2020, landmark wrote: I hadn't seen that! Wow. When I googled it to see what others had said about it I didn't find much, but what little is out there didn't scream deliberate fiction. |
Slim King Eternal Order Orlando 18012 Posts |
Reading it now!!!!!! It looks well documented.
THE MAN THE SKEPTICS REFUSE TO TEST FOR ONE MILLION DOLLARS.. The Worlds Foremost Authority on Houdini's Life after Death.....
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Philemon Vanderbeck Inner circle Seattle, WA 4694 Posts |
Quote:
On Feb 1, 2020, Slim King wrote: Citations needed.
Professor Philemon Vanderbeck
That Creepy Magician "I use my sixth sense to create the illusion of possessing the other five." |
santlerconjurer Veteran user 364 Posts |
I'm about halfway through the book. It seems to be well documented, but I'm keeping track of the book's notes and citations and may have more to say once I've finished.
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Djin Regular user 191 Posts |
@Slim King and @santlerconjurer, did you read the book? What are your thoughts?
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candlestick New user 36 Posts |
I haven't read the book but I know a little about Hanussen. It seems that he didn't exactly teach Hitler how to hypnotise people but he did assist him with some public speaking lessons and strategies. The Nazis didn't know he was Jewish for a long while. His downfall really started after the Reichstag fire which may well have been started by the Nazis themselves. Hanussen got a bit carried away during a performance by predicting the fire. In other words talking too much saying things that he shouldn't say. He probably picked up the information from his talking to top Nazis who tipped him off. That was the start of his downfall along with the fact that it leaked out that he was Jewish. He was also owed a lot of money by some top Nazis, particularly Count Helldorf who was quite powerful. After all this he was deemed harmful to the regime and one day the chickens came home to roost when some SS men took him away and murdered him.
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santlerconjurer Veteran user 364 Posts |
Okay, I finished the book. Finally. Here are some thoughts...
First, the scholarship is (in my humble opinion) sketchy at best. Material that normally would be given a few rather casual citations is embarrassingly over-footnoted. Other rather controversial material appears with little or no documentation. Nobody really knows whether Hanussen was ever in the same room as Hitler, much less whether he tutored Hitler’s public speaking techniques. |
candlestick New user 36 Posts |
Actually Dr Walter C Langer and the Office of Strategic Services knew all about this.
Dr.Langer, a psychoanalyst, prepared a psychological profile of Hitler for the Office of Strategic Services in 1943. The profile included a reference to Hanussen: "... during the early 1920s Hitler took regular lessons in speaking and in mass psychology from a man named Hanussen who was also a practicing astrologer and fortune-teller. He was an extremely clever individual who taught Hitler a great deal concerning the importance of staging meetings to obtain the greatest dramatic effect" |
Djin Regular user 191 Posts |
Is the material re Dr Edmund Forster supposed hypnosis supported by anything? I find the implications a bit far fetched.
I probably ought to just buy the book. |
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