Eduard Alexander Felix Kersten (30 September 1898 – 16 April 1960) was the personalphysical therapist ofReichsführer-SSHeinrich Himmler.
Kersten was born in aBaltic German family inDorpat,Imperial Russia, now Tartu, inEstonia. During theFirst World War he fought in theGerman Army and arrived inFinland in April 1918 with the German forces that intervened in theFinnish Civil War. Kersten served for a while in theSuojeluskunta, was granted Finnish citizenship in 1920, and in September 1921 was commissioned as a2nd Lieutenant (vänrikki) in theFinnish Army.
After his return to civilian life, Kersten remained inHelsinki, where he studiedtherapy 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 therapeuticmasseur, Dr Ko,[1] 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 toTibet.
Kersten had a number of influential patients, among themPrince Hendrik of the Netherlands (after 1928) andBenito Mussolini's son-in-law, the ItalianForeign MinisterCount Ciano. Kersten acceptedHeinrich 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.[2]
During theSecond World War, Kersten was involved in organizing Himmler's visit to Finland in August 1942. During the visit, Himmler would have demanded that allFinnish Jews be extradited to theGestapo, according to Kersten.Risto Ryti, thePresident 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 toLatvia andPoland, 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.[3] Kersten also provided information to Abrams S. Hewitt[4] of the Stockholm desk of theOSS, predecessor of theCIA.
Towards the end of the war, Kersten arranged a meeting between Himmler andNorbert Masur, a member of the Swedish branch of theWorld Jewish Congress, in Hartzwalde, a few miles fromRavensbrück 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 theAllies.
In December 1945, the World Jewish Congress presented Kersten with a letter thanking him for helping to save Jewish concentration camp victims.
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In his postwar memoirs, Kersten took credit for saving the entirety of the Dutch population from being forcibly deported to Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe.[5] In January 1950, the Dutch monarchy awarded him theOrder of Orange-Nassau on the basis of his account.[5] However, a later investigation by Dutch historianLouis de Jong concluded that the mass deportation plan had not existed, as well as that many of Kersten's documents had been fabricated.[6]
The Swedish archives testify that Kersten was an intermediary between Himmler andCountFolke Bernadotte in the negotiations that led to the rescue operation 'The White Buses', saving hundreds of Norwegians and Danes from certain death in the last days of theThird 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.
After the war, Kersten lived in West Germany and Sweden, taking Swedish citizenship in 1953. He died inHamm, while he was visiting Germany, aged 61.[7]
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 byHugh Trevor-Roper.
Writer and journalistJoseph Kessel was the first to write about the life of Felix Kersten, in his bookThe man with the Miraculous Hands(1960).Woody Harrelson is set to portray Felix Kersten in theOren Moverman feature film adaptation of Joseph Kessel's novel.[8]
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,[9] and posted a podcast series about his findings.[10]
Felix Kersten is parodied in theWoody Allen bookGetting Even, in the chapter entitled "The Schmeed Memoirs", in which a fictional barber in wartime Germany describes his time as a hair stylist forAdolf Hitler and other high-rankingNazi officers.
Kersten also appears as a character in the filmHitler: a Film from Germany, directed byHans-Jürgen Syberberg and as the main character in the 2014 novelGods and Devils.[11]
Kersten is played by actorMartin Jarvis in the radio play by Neville WatchurstA Vital Flaw, about his work to help Heinrich Himmler's health. The play was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1994, then onBBC Radio 4 Extra on 5 September 2009.[12]
Claes Bang plays Kersten in the upcoming filmI is Another.[13]
Podcast series, released 2019:https://www.bookbeat.fi/hae?q=Kersten
