Editing Felix Kersten

{{Short description|Finnish physiotherapist to Nazis (1898–1960)}}
[[File:Felix-Kersten-1920.jpg|thumb|right|Felix Kersten {{circa}} 1920]]
'''Eduard Alexander Felix Kersten''' (30 September 1898 – 16 April 1960) was the personal [[Physical therapy|physical therapist]] of ''[[Reichsführer-SS]]'' [[Heinrich Himmler]].

==Early life==
Kersten was born in a [[Baltic German]] family in [[Dorpat]], [[Imperial Russia]], now Tartu, in [[Estonia]]. During the [[World War I|First World War]] he fought in the [[German Army (German Empire)|German Army]] and arrived in [[Finland]] in April 1918 with the German forces that intervened in the [[Finnish Civil War]]. Kersten served for a while in the [[Suojeluskunta]], was granted Finnish citizenship in 1920, and in September 1921 was commissioned as a [[2nd Lieutenant]] (''[[vänrikki]]'') in the [[Finnish Army]].

After his return to civilian life, Kersten remained in [[Helsinki]], where he studied [[therapy]] with the specialist Dr Colander, and after two years was awarded a certificate in physical therapy. He then left for Berlin, where he continued his studies and eventually became the pupil of a notable Chinese therapeutic [[massage|masseur]], Dr Ko,<ref>John H. Waller, ''Felix Kersten and the Secret Plot to Turn Himmler Against Hitler'' (2002), pp.9-10</ref> whom he had met at a dinner party. In 1925, Ko told Kersten "You have learned all I can teach you." He then turned his practice over to Kersten and retired to [[Tibet]].

Kersten had a number of influential patients, among them [[Hendrik of the Netherlands|Prince Hendrik of the Netherlands]] (after 1928) and [[Benito Mussolini]]'s son-in-law, the Italian [[Foreign Minister]] [[Galeazzo Ciano|Count Ciano]]. Kersten accepted [[Heinrich Himmler]]'s request to become his personal physical therapist, writing later that he feared for his safety if he had refused.

He was able to alleviate Himmler's severe stomach pains with his skills and gained his trust. Kersten used this trust to obtain pardons and the release of underground prisoners, labor camp inmates, homosexuals and others.<ref>[https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/himmler-s-healer-how-the-ss-chief-physiotherapist-saved-jewish-lives-1.5766993 Himmler's healer: The story of Felix Kersten], [[Haaretz]]</ref>

==Second World War==
During the [[World War II|Second World War]], Kersten was involved in organizing Himmler's visit to Finland in August 1942. During the visit, Himmler would have demanded that all [[History of the Jews in Finland|Finnish Jews]] be extradited to the [[Gestapo]], according to Kersten. [[Risto Ryti]], the [[President of Finland]], summed up in his diary that Himmler was “an extremely steep anti-semite”. Kersten, for his part, told Ryti about the situation of Jews in Germany: “Jews are sent a lot out of Germany to [[Latvia]] and [[Poland]], where they are massacred in cold blood,” and talked about “human slaughter”. This was possibly the first time President Ryti had heard of the massacre of Jews.<ref>Heikki Ylikangas: [http://www.helsinki.fi/~hylikang/varjopuo.htm ''Jatkosotaa varjonpuolelta.''] Report to the Prime Minister's Office in 2004. (in Finnish)</ref> Kersten also provided information to Abrams S. Hewitt <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100426223043/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol46no1/html/v46i1a04p.htm C.I.A. Sherman Kent Collection: John H. Waller: Reichsführer Himmler Pitches Washington]</ref> of the Stockholm desk of the [[Office of Strategic Services|OSS]], predecessor of the [[CIA]].

Towards the end of the war, Kersten arranged a meeting between Himmler and [[Norbert Masur]], a member of the Swedish branch of the [[World Jewish Congress]], in Hartzwalde, a few miles from [[Ravensbrück concentration camp]]. As a result, Himmler agreed to spare the lives of the remaining 60,000 Jews left in Nazi concentration camps days before their liberation by the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]].

In December 1945, the World Jewish Congress presented Kersten with a letter thanking him for helping to save Jewish concentration camp victims.

==Later life==
[[File:Felix Kersten (1948).jpg|thumb|Kersten (1948)]]
In his postwar memoirs, Kersten took credit for saving the entirety of the Dutch population from being forcibly deported to Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe.<ref name=Ilan>{{cite book | author = Amitzur Ilan | title = Bernadotte in Palestine | year = 1989 | publisher = St Martin's Press | pages = 40–42}}</ref> In January 1950, the Dutch monarchy awarded him the [[Order of Orange-Nassau]] on the basis of his account.<ref name=Ilan/> However, a later investigation by Dutch historian [[Louis de Jong]] concluded that the mass deportation plan had not existed, as well as that many of Kersten's documents had been fabricated.<ref>Louis de Jong, 1972, "Heeft Kersten het Nederlandse volk gered?". Reprinted in German translation: H-H. Wilhelm and L. de Jong. ''Zwei Legenden aus dem dritten Reich: quellenkritische Studien'', Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt 1974, pp. 79–142.</ref>

The Swedish archives testify that Kersten was an intermediary between Himmler and [[Count]] [[Folke Bernadotte]] in the negotiations that led to the rescue operation '[[White Buses|The White Buses]]', saving hundreds of Norwegians and Danes from certain death in the last days of the [[Third Reich]].

Kersten's claims of being instrumental in saving Finland's Jews from German hands may be exaggerated, but the Finnish government used his services in the hope of influencing Himmler.

In Kersten's memoirs he discusses that Himmler confided in him that Hitler was interested in setting up a Burgundian Free State that the [[Burgundian State|old Burgundian possessions]], Artois, Hainault and Luxembourg; Lorraine, Franche-Comte and the old Duchy of Burgundy; Dauphine and Provence. It would have also included Picardy, including Amiens, and Champagne, including Rheims and Troyes with either Rheims and Dijon considered for the capitol. According to what Kersten said Himmler told him, "The Fuhrer is sick of the idea that France...Burgundy will acquire all the territory that France has annexed unjustly...The others can have the rest of France, which will be known as Gaul."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kersten |first=Felix |url=https://archive.org/details/the-kersten-memoirs-1940-1945/page/4/mode/2up |title=The Kersten memoirs, 1940–1945, London |access-date=March 19, 2024 |publisher=Hutchinson and Co. Ltd. |year=1956 |location=London |pages=184–185}}</ref>

After the war, Kersten lived in West Germany and Sweden, taking Swedish citizenship in 1953. He died in [[Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia|Hamm]], while he was visiting Germany, aged 61.<ref>[https://bbld.de/0000000109602890 Kersten, Eduard Alexander Felix.] BBLD – Baltisches biografisches Lexikon Digital.</ref>

Kersten's war memoirs were published in English translation in 1947 and a second edition was published in 1956 (''The Kersten memoirs, 1940–1945'', London 1956) with an introduction by [[Hugh Trevor-Roper]].

==In popular culture==
Writer and journalist [[Joseph Kessel]] was the first to write about the life of Felix Kersten, in his book ''The man with the Miraculous Hands ''(1960). [[Woody Harrelson]] is set to portray Felix Kersten in the [[Oren Moverman]] feature film adaptation of Joseph Kessel's novel.<ref>Elsa Keslassy: [https://variety.com/2021/film/global/woody-harrelson-the-man-with-the-miraculous-hands-1234940690/ Woody Harrelson to Star in Oren Moverman's ‘The Man With the Miraculous Hands’]. ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', March 20, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021.</ref>

Finnish Filmmaker Arto Koskinen, when in the process of making a film about Felix Kersten, came to find archival evidence about Kersten showing his memoirs to be highly unreliable among other things,<ref>{{cite web |title=Felix Kersten’s story has held director Arto Koskinen in its grip for 20 years |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2019/02/27/felix-kerstens-story-has-held-director-arto-koskinen-in-its-grip-for-20-years |website=yle.fi |access-date=24 July 2024 |language=en |date=27 February 2019}}</ref> and posted a podcast series about his findings.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Felix Kersten Files {{!}} Yle Areena |url=https://areena.yle.fi/podcastit/1-50072937 |website=areena.yle.fi |access-date=24 July 2024 |language=fi}}</ref>

Felix Kersten is parodied in the [[Woody Allen]] book ''[[Getting Even (Woody Allen)|Getting Even]]'', in the chapter entitled "The Schmeed Memoirs", in which a fictional barber in wartime Germany describes his time as a hair stylist for [[Adolf Hitler]] and other high-ranking [[Nazi]] officers.

Kersten also appears as a character in the film [[Hitler: A Film from Germany|''Hitler: a Film from Germany'']], directed by [[Hans-Jürgen Syberberg]] and as the main character in the 2014 novel ''Gods and Devils''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morgan |first=Jason |date=2014 |title=Gods and Devils |location=Australia |publisher=JJ&C Corporation |isbn=978-0-9925468-0-9 }}<!--|access-date=27 August 2014 --></ref>

Kersten is played by actor [[Martin Jarvis (actor)|Martin Jarvis]] in the radio play by Neville Watchurst ''A Vital Flaw'', about his work to help Heinrich Himmler's health. The play was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1994, then on [[BBC Radio 4 Extra]] on 5 September 2009.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mj27x | title=Neville Watchurst – A Vital Flaw | publisher=BBC | date=June 12, 2011 | access-date=March 27, 2012}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
Podcast series, released 2019: https://www.bookbeat.fi/hae?q=Kersten

* {{Cite journal |last=Ohry |first=A. |date=1999 |title=Dr. Felix Kersten: physiotherapist, mysticist and Righteous man |journal=[[Harefuah]] |issue=137 |pages=346–7}}

* {{Cite book |last=Buruma |first=Ian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/12/the-collaborators-three-stories-of-deception-survival-world-war-ii-by-ian-buruma-review-intriguing-study-of-the-frenemy-within |title=The Collaborators: Three Stories of Deception and Survival in World War II. |publisher=Penguin Press |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-83895-765-0}}

==External links==
*[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2261707123256837343&q=Felix+Kersten&total=1&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0 Documentary film in Finnish: Who Was Felix Kersten?]
*[http://www.javafilms.fr/spip.php?article7 Satan's Doctor] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081113093401/http://www.javafilms.fr/spip.php?article7 |date=2008-11-13 }} documentary (directed by Emmanuel Amara, produced by Sunset Presse).
*[https://archive.org/details/KlerkEnBeul_767 "Klerk en Beul"] (book)
*{{YouTube|DpHqk8F1gzI|Heinrich Himmler's private doctor}} clip containing footage of Kersten and Himmler.

{{Heinrich Himmler}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kersten, Felix}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1960 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Tartu]]
[[Category:People from Kreis Dorpat]]
[[Category:People of Baltic German descent]]
[[Category:German Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:People of the Finnish Civil War (White side)]]
[[Category:Finnish Army personnel]]
[[Category:People who rescued Jews during the Holocaust]]
[[Category:Finnish people of World War II]]
[[Category:Masseurs]]
[[Category:Personal staff of Heinrich Himmler]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of Sweden]]
[[Category:Finnish people of German descent]]
[[Category:German expatriates in Finland]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of Finland]]