Description
The astonishing true story of Heinrich Himmler's masseur who used his influence over the S.S. commander to save the lives of over a hundred thousand people, including sixty thousand Jews.
'Remarkable' The Times
'Extraordinary and gripping' Mail on Sunday, Book of the Week
'Fascinating' Sunday Post
Oskar Schindler is well known for having saved a thousand Jews from Nazi extermination during World War II. Yet Felix Kersten, Heinrich Himmler's personal physician, remains almost unknown to this day.
Only Kersten was able to relieve the Reichsfuhrer of his crippling and chronic abdominal pains. Though despising the Nazis, he continued to work for Himmler throughout the war, using his position to pass intelligence to Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands, and demanding as payment from Himmler the liberation of victims sentenced to imprisonment or death.
Drawing on unseen archive material from Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands and Israel, Francois Kersaudy guides us in the footsteps of a man who exploited the politics of hatred and fear within the Third Reich to save the lives of over a hundred thousand people, including sixty thousand Jews.
About the Author
FRANCOIS KERSAUDY, OBE, FRSL, a former research fellow at Keble College, Oxford, and professor at the University of Paris I - Pantheon-Sorbonne. He speaks nine languages and is well known in France for his biography of Winston Churchill and his many books on Charles De Gaulle. His work published in English includes Churchill and De Gaulle and Norway, 1940.
Reviews
A remarkable story that should be better known -- James Owen * The Times *
Extraordinary and gripping -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * Mail on Sunday *
Extraordinary ... many more people would have perished under the Third Reich were it not for the healing hands of ... the little-known Felix Kersten * Strong Words Magazine *
Kersaudy shows the hidden Himmler, temperamental but inflexible, obstinate yet influenced by astrology, rational and irrational: a living contradiction. And Kersten used all his skills ... for good and for humanity * Le Point *
Francois Kersaudy has sifted for years through German, Dutch, Swedish and Danish archives to tell us the story of a hero ... grandiose in his actions, his goals and his results -- Roberto Roveda * L'Unione Sarda *
Book Information
ISBN 9781800699069
Author Francois Kersaudy
Format Paperback
Page Count 416
Imprint Mountain Leopard Press
Publisher Headline Publishing Group
Weight(grams) 280g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 128mm * 36mm