Louis de Wohl

Louis de Wohl was a German-born Hungarian astrologer and British citizen who became a key figure in Allied black propaganda during World War II. He was one of the most high-profile astrologers in the Western world, with admirers including Lord Halifax, Britain's Foreign Secretary, and the Duke of Alba, the ambassador from Spain¹.

De Wohl's mission in America, in the summer of 1941, was to elevate astrology into the realm of "astro-philosophy" and, more importantly, to influence American public opinion in favor of aiding Great Britain. His syndicated American column, "Stars Foretell," consistently emphasized the Nazi threat. Starting in June 1941, shortly after the Rudolf Hess affair, de Wohl's predictions became unusually specific and appeared to come true, such as his foretelling of a "strong collaborator of Hitler who is neither German nor a Nazi will go violently insane," which was followed by reports of Admiral Georges Robert, the Vichy High Commissioner of the French West Indies, going mad¹.

His escalating popularity led the Federal Communications Commission to lift its ban against astrologers and air an exclusive interview with him. He was also the first astrologer filmed for a U.S. newsreel. However, de Wohl's successful American career was a product of British Intelligence, specifically through its operational arm in America, the British Security Coordination Office. His so-called manager was none other than the spymaster William Stephenson, whom Winston Churchill famously called Intrepid. The American Federation of Scientific Astrologers and its 1941 convention had been fabricated by British Intelligence. The British spy agency would first feed information to de Wohl for his column, and then feed this bogus information to the U.S. press, which, unable to fact-check with Nazi Germany, would report it as real¹.

De Wohl's efforts were effective in swaying public opinion away from U.S. isolationist views. A declassified memo from Stephenson noted that "An ever-growing audience [is] becoming convinced of his supernatural powers"¹. This operation was coordinated with William Donovan, who would later head the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency¹. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the U.S. declared war on Japan, and Adolf Hitler declared war on the United States, de Wohl returned to England¹.

For the next few years, de Wohl was used by the Allies as a countermeasure to Heinrich Himmler's use of astrology and the occult. Under the direction of master propagandist Sefton Delmer, de Wohl wrote seemingly authentic astrology charts that predicted the demise of certain Nazi admirals and generals, and stated that Adolf Hitler would be betrayed by his inner circle. These fake star charts and horoscopes were included in near-perfect replicas of a banned German astrological magazine called Zenit, intended for underground distribution in Germany. However, these counterfeit magazines were seized by the Gestapo in Stettin, as detailed by Wilhelm Wulff in his memoir Zodiac and Swastika¹.