Karl Johannes Germer (22 January 1885 – 25 October 1962), also known as Frater Saturnus, was a German and American businessman and occultist. He served as the United States representative of Ordo Templi Orientis, and on the death of Aleister Crowley became his successor as the Outer Head of the Order (OHO) until his death in 1962. He was born in Elberfeld, Germany and died in West Point, California.
Early life
Germer studied in a university, worked as a military intelligence officer in the First World War and received first and second class Iron Crosses for his service. In 1923 he sold his Vienna property and founded the publishing house Pansophia Verlag in Munich. Germer stayed with his first wife at the Abbey of Thelema from the beginning of January until February 1926.
First visit to the United States: 1926–1935
In 1926, Germer got married for the second time and travelled to the United States, his wife being an American citizen. By 1927 Germer and his wife Cora Eaton were living in New York where Germer worked as a merchant of machinery. There, in his capacity of Grand Treasurer General of the O.T.O. Germer begun raising funds for the Order. Money was always a problem but Germer saw that Crowley must have it so that the work could go on and the books could be published. He raised funds for Crowley in one way or another, making donations of his own and contributing money from O.T.O members whom he could interest in donating it to the O.T.O.
By 1930, Germer and his second wife travelled to Europe had stayed with Crowley for a short while to raise funds for the exhibition of Crowley's paintings in Germany. Germer wanted to help Crowley to be published, and help promote Crowley's philosophy of Thelema via Crowley's artwork and by the distribution of Crowley's publications. Since Germer had business experience, he did well at this, even though he often had insufficient funds.
Holocaust and the aftermath: 1935–1940
Rise of Nazi Germany
Germer's US visa expired and he had to return to Germany in 1935. When Adolf Hitler came to power, Germer came under suspicion because of his association with Crowley and teaching Thelema in Germany. Martha Kuntzel, who enjoyed a high reputation in Germany amongst aristocrats, presented Hitler (of whom she thought highly before he came to power) with a copy of Liber AL, the Holy Book of Thelema. Kuntzel had been working for some years on translations of Crowley's works into German. Liber AL was known well enough in higher German circles after Kuntzel translated and introduced it to the German public. However, soon after the start of World War II, Hitler banned it in Germany, as well as many books on religion, qabala, astrology, esoteric studies and gematria.
Since Hitler knew enough about Thelema to ban Liber AL in Germany, Germer became his enemy when his religious beliefs became known. On Hitler's orders, Germer was arrested by the Gestapo on 13 February 1935 in Leipzig and incarcerated. He was first held at the Columbia-Haus prison in Berlin. There he was allowed to work a short time on an architect's office.
Esterwegen concentration camp
Having seen too much of Hitler's brutality at Columbia-Haus, Germer wrote to his wife, Cora, about it. At around the same time, Cora contacted the American Consulate in Berlin who pleaded for Germer's return to the US as his wife was a US citizen. This was seen as a crime by the Nazis and they punished Germer even further, deporting him to the Esterwegen concentration camp on the Dutch Frontier where thousands of Hitler's so-called political enemies were deported by the Nazis. Germer remained there for seven months, witnessing cruelties of various sorts on the Nazi side. His wife Cora now did not know where he was and could do nothing but return to America, where she again began her appeal to various US authorities. When they helped her to discover his location, she sent Germer a cable. Germer wrote a reply to her and it was read by the Nazis which resulted in Germer being placed in solitary confinement. He was no longer allowed to read and for six weeks, he never saw the day nor was allowed in the open air.