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Since 1960 (the year Le Matin des Magiciens was published), there has been an interest in Nazi occultism in popular culture. Le Matin des magiciens was a book written by Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier in 1960 or in October 1959 Popular culture (or pop culture) is the Culture — patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance — Before that, there had already been several publications on this topic in the occult milieu in France and England. The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus (clandestine hidden secret referring to "knowledge of the hidden" The recurring motive of this literary genre is the thesis that the Nazis were directed by occult agencies of some sort: black forces, invisible hierarchies, unknown superiors, secret societies or even Satan directly. A genre (ˈʒɑːnrə also /ˈdʒɑːnrə/ from French "kind" or "sort" from Latin: genus (stem gener-) is a loose set Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German Satan, ( Standard Hebrew Satan'el, English accuser) is a term that originates from the Abrahamic faiths, being traditionally Since such an agency "has remained concealed to previous historians of National Socialism,"[1] they have dismissed the topic as modern cryptohistory. Pseudohistory is a term applied to texts which purport to be historical in nature but which depart from standard historiographical conventions in a way which undermines The actual religious aspects of Nazism, including the question of its potential occult and pagan aspects, are a different topic. Historians political scientists and even philosophers have studied Nazism with a specific focus on its Religious or semi-religious aspects

Contents

Nazism and occultism

"The Modern Mythology of Nazi Occultism" is the title of Appendix E of Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke's seminal work The Occult Roots of Nazism. The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology: The Ariosophists of Austria and Germany 1890-1935 is a book by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke On nine pages, the Oxford historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke here surveys the most influential books that have have attempted to explain the rise of Nazism as the work of a "hidden power". Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke BA ( Bristol) DPhil ( Oxon) is a Professor of Western Esotericism at University of Exeter and author of That Goodrick-Clarke's book includes such an appendix is not without reason. One of the difficulties of the book's subject (the racist-occult movement of Ariosophy, a major strand of Esotericism in Germany and Austria, and its potential influences on Nazism) lies in that it can be regarded "as a topic for sensational authors in pursuit of strong sales. Armanism and Ariosophy are the names of ideological systems of an Esoteric nature pioneered by Guido von List and Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels This article gives an overview of esoteric movements in Germany and Austria between 1880 and 1945 presenting Theosophy, Anthroposophy "[2] Some of this modern mythology even touches Goodrick-Clarke's topic directly. The rumor that Adolf Hitler had encountered Lanz von Liebenfels already at the age of 8, at Heilgenkreuz abbey, goes back to Les mystiques du soleil (1971) by Michel-Jean Angbert. Adolf Josef Lanz (aka Jörg Lanz) who called himself Lanz von Liebenfels ( July 19 1874 - April 22, 1954) was an Austrian "This episode is wholly imaginary. "[3]

Nevertheless, Michel-Jean Angbert and the other authors discussed by Goodrick-Clarke present their accounts as real, so that this modern mythology has led to several legends that resemble conspiracy theories, concerning, for example, the Vril Society or rumours about Karl Haushofer's connection to the occult. A conspiracy theory attributes the ultimate cause of an event or chain of events (usually Political, Social or Historical events or the concealment The Coming Race (original title also reprinted as Vril The Power of the Coming Race, is a novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, first published Karl Ernst Haushofer ( August 27, 1869 &ndash March 10, 1946) was a German geopolitician and General. The most influential books were Trevor Ravenscroft's The Spear of Destiny and Le Matin des Magiciens by Pauwels and Bergier. Le Matin des magiciens was a book written by Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier in 1960 or in October 1959

In Ravenscroft's book a specific interest of Hitler concerning the Spear of Destiny is alleged. The Holy Lance (also known as the Spear of Destiny, Holy Spear, Lance of Longinus, Spear of Longinus or Spear of Christ) is the name With the annexation of Austria in 1938, the Hofburg Spear, a relic stored in Vienna, had actually come into the possession of the Third Reich and Hitler subsequently had it moved to Nuremberg in Germany. The ( German: "link-up" also known as the, was the 1938 Annexation of Austria into Greater Germany by the Nazi The Holy Lance (also known as the Spear of Destiny, Holy Spear, Lance of Longinus, Spear of Longinus or Spear of Christ) is the name Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. It was returned to Austria after the war.

Aside from this, there are also accounts of Nazi occultism that are clearly fictional. The best known example of them (Nazi occultism in popular culture) would be Indiana Jones. Dr (also Col Henry Walton Jones Jr, better known as Indiana Jones or Indy after his pet dog is a fictional Adventurer, Soldier In the first Indiana Jones movie, the hero fights Nazis who have discovered the Ark of the Covenant, which would supposedly grant victory to whatever army carried it into battle. The Ark of the Covenant (אָרוֹן הָבְרִית ʔārōn hāb’rīθ, Modern aron habrit) is described in the Bible as a sacred container wherein In the third film, the popular American movie character again battles Nazis over a religious artifact: the Holy Grail. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 Adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a story co-written by Executive producer According to Christian mythology, the Holy Grail was the dish plate or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper, said to possess miraculous powers [4] The motive of a Nazi search for the Holy Grail is not wholly fictitious: Otto Rahn, who worked at that time for a section of the RSHA department of the SS actually searched after "rumours" about the Holy Grail. Otto Wilhelm Rahn ( February 18, 1904 &mdash March 13, 1939) was a German Medievalist and a Obersturmführer Karl Maria Wiligut (alias Weisthor, Jarl Widar, Lobesam and Karl Maria Weisthor) ( December 10, 1866 - January 3

In 2001, video game publisher Activision released Return to Castle Wolfenstein, the plot of which focused on Himmler raising an army of zombies to take over the world. Activision Inc is an American Video game developer and publisher. Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a First person shooter Computer game published by Activision and originally released on November 19 zombie is a reanimated human corpse Stories of zombies originated in the Afro-Caribbean spiritual belief system of Vodou, which told of the people being controlled

Modern theories of Nazi occultism

By its very nature the study of occult influences on the Nazis attracts sensationalistic authors who often seem to lack the ability or the patience to conform to the scientific method of history. The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which Historians use Primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write history "There is a persistent idea, widely canvassed in a sensational genre of literature, that the Nazis were principally inspired and directed by occult agencies from 1920 to 1945". [5] Appendix E of Goodrick-Clarke's book discusses "The Modern Mythology of Nazi Occultism". [6] He refers to the writers of this genre as "crypto-historians". Pseudohistory is a term applied to texts which purport to be historical in nature but which depart from standard historiographical conventions in a way which undermines [7] As their possible motive he mentions a "post-war fascination with Nazism". [8] Mattias Gardell, a historian who researches a related field, points at another explanation:

"Occultists believe, Hanussen may also have imparted occult techniques of mind control and crowd domination on Hitler". —Hitler and the Occult
"Occultists believe, Hanussen may also have imparted occult techniques of mind control and crowd domination on Hitler". Mattias Gardell (b 1959 is a Swedish scholar of Comparative religion and recently appointed Nathan Söderblom Professor at Uppsala University Hanussen, also known as Erik Jan Hanussen ( 2 June, 1889, Vienna - after 25 March, 1933, Berlin) was a —Hitler and the Occult
In documentaries portraying the Third Reich, Hitler is cast as a master magician; these documentaries typically include scenes in which Hitler is speaking at huge mass meetings. For the book by the same name by Ken Anderson see Hitler and the Occult (book Hitler and the Occult, produced by Bram Roos and Phyllis Cannon [. . . ] Cuts mix Hitler screaming with regiments marching under the sign of the swastika. Instead of providing a translation of his verbal crescendos, the sequence is overlaid with a speaker talking about something different. All this combines to demonize Hitler as an evil wizard spellbinding an unwitting German people to become his zombified servants until they are liberated from the spell by the Allied victory after which, suddenly, there were no German Nazis left among the populace. How convenient it would be if this image were correct. National socialism could be defeated with garlic. Watchdog groups could be replaced with a few vampire killers, and resources being directed into antiracist community programs could be directed at something else. [9]

Gardell obviously refers to documentaries such as History Channel's documentary Hitler and the Occult. Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt in one fashion or another to " Document " reality History, formerly known as The History Channel, is a Satellite and Cable TV channel, with shows on historical events and persons&mdashoften For the book by the same name by Ken Anderson see Hitler and the Occult (book Hitler and the Occult, produced by Bram Roos and Phyllis Cannon [10][11] As evidence of Hitler's "occult power" this documentary offers, for example, the infamous statement by Joachim von Ribbentrop of his continued subservience to Hitler at the Nuremberg Trials. Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946 was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945 The Nuremberg Trials were a series of trials most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political military and economic leadership of Nazi Germany after [12] After the author Dusty Sklar has pointed out that Hitler's suicide happened at the night of April 30/May 1, which is Walpurgis Night, the narrator continues: "With Hitler gone, it was as if a spell had been broken". Walpurgis Night is a traditional religious holiday (celebrated by Pagans Roman Catholics and Satanists ref> About the Church of Satan alike celebrated A much more plausible reason for Hitler's suicide (that does not involve the paranormal) is that the Russians had already closed in on Hitler's bunker to about several hundred meters and he did not want to be captured alive.

Well-known religious figures like Pope Pius XII and Pope Benedict XVI spoke about a demonic possession of Hitler; Pope Pius XII even performed an exorcism on Hitler at a distance, but supposedly failed every time[13][14]. Pope Pope Benedict XVI ( Latin: Benedictus PP XVI; Italian: Benedetto XVI; German: Benedikt XVI; born Joseph Alois Ratzinger Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately Exorcism (from Late Latin exorcismus, from Greek exorkizein - to adjure is the practice of evicting Demons or other evil For a demonic influence on Hitler, Hermann Rauschning's Hitler Speaks is brought forward as source,[15] although most modern scholars do not consider Rauschning reliable. Hermann Rauschning ( 7 August 1887 &ndash February 8 1982) was a German conservative and Reactionary who joined [16] (As Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke summarises, "recent scholarship has almost certainly proved that Rauschning's conversations were mostly invented". )[17] Similarly to Rauschning, August Kubizek, one of Hitler's closest friends since childhood, claims that Hitler—17 years old at the time—once spoke to him of "returning Germany to its former glory"; of this comment August said, "It was as if another being spoke out of his body, and moved him as much as it did me. August (Gustl Kubizek ( 3 August 1888 Linz &ndash 23 October 1956 Eferding) was a close friend of Adolf Hitler when both were in "[18]

In his later ambition of imposing a National Socialist regime throughout Europe, Nazi propaganda used the term Neuordnung (often poorly translated as "new order", while actually referring to "re-structurization" of state borders on the European map and the resulting post-war economic hegemony of Greater Germany),[19] so one could probably say that the Nazis pursued "a" new world order. New Order ( Neuordnung) is the name used to denote the political economic and social system which the Nazis hoped to establish in Europe in the 1930s and For the conspiracy theory see New World Order (conspiracy, for other uses see New World Order. But the claim that Hitler and the Thule Society conspired to create "the" New World Order (as put forward on some webpages)[20] is completely unfounded; the Thule Society did not have this impact on Nazism and Hitler never attended any of their meetings. New World Order refers to a Conspiracy in which a powerful and secretive group is plotting to eventually rule the world via an autonomous World [21]

Various conspiracy theory websites also claim that the infamous occultist Aleister Crowley sought to contact Hitler during World War II as well. The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus (clandestine hidden secret referring to "knowledge of the hidden" Aleister Crowley, born Edward Alexander Crowley (ˈkroʊli (12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947 was a British Occultist Writer, mountaineer [22][23]

Indeed, if Hitler (and also Stalin) or the Nazis in general, were the agents of Satan, or "'black forces', 'invisible hierarchies', 'unknown superiors' or any other 'discarnate entity'",[24] this would be a convenient explanation. Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party Explaining Hitler's rise to power, the Second World War and possibly even The Holocaust by the means of the paranormal seems to serve the function of protecting the authors and readers alike from having to deal with this rationally. Hitler's rise to power began with Hitler's NSDAP as a fringe political party within the government of the Weimar Republic. The Holocaust (from the Greek el ''ὁλόκαυστον'' (el-Latn holókauston holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt" also known as Paranormal is an Umbrella term used to describe unusual Phenomena or experiences that lack an obvious Scientific explanation In the Social sciences, specifically Sociology and Sociocultural anthropology, functionalism (also called functional analysis) is a Sociological The modern rationalist movement is a philosophical doctrine that asserts that the Truth can best be discovered by reason and factual analysis rather than Faith

"The truth, however, is that millions of ordinary German workers, farmers and businessmen supported the national socialist program. [. . . ] They were people who probably considered themselves good citizens, which is far more frightening than had they merely been demons. "[25]

Crypto-historic books on Nazi occultism

Goodrick-Clarke examines several pseudo-historic "books written about Nazi occultism between 1960 and 1975", that "were typically sensational and under-researched". Pseudohistory is a term applied to texts which purport to be historical in nature but which depart from standard historiographical conventions in a way which undermines [26] He terms this genre "crypto-history", as its defining element and "final point of explanatory reference is an agent which has remained concealed to previous historians of National Socialism". [27] Characteristic tendencies of this literature include: (1) "a complete ignorance of primary sources" and (2) the repetition of "inaccuracies and wild claims", without the attempt being made to confirm even "wholly spurious 'facts'". [28] Books debunked in Appendix E of The Occult Roots of Nazism are:

These books are only mentioned in the Appendix. The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology: The Ariosophists of Austria and Germany 1890-1935 is a book by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke Louis Pauwels (born in Belgium, 2 August 1920 &ndash 28 January 1997) was a French journalist and Writer Jacques Bergier (born Yakov Mikhailovich Berger (Яков Михайлович Бéргер ( Odessa, August 8, 1912 - Paris, Le Matin des magiciens was a book written by Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier in 1960 or in October 1959 J H "Herbie" Brennan (born Ireland, 1940 began his career as a Journalist at the age of 18 Occult Reich by JH Brennan is a British account of occultism during the Third Reich. Otherwise the whole book by Goodrick-Clarke does without any reference to this kind of literature; it uses other sources. This literature is not reliable; however, books published after the emergence of The Occult Roots of Nazism continue to repeat claims that have been proven false:

Neopaganism

The use of runic symbology and the existence of an official Nazi government department for the study of the Germanic ancestral heritage (including paganism) have lent some credence to the idea that there was a pagan component to Nazism. As early as 1940, the occult scholar and folklorist Lewis Spence identified a neopagan undercurrent in Nazism,[36] for which he largely blamed Alfred Rosenberg, and which he equated with "satanism". James Lewis Thomas Chalmbers Spence ( November 25, 1874 - March 3, 1955) was a Scottish journalist whose efforts as a compiler of Neopaganism or Neo-Paganism is an Umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements particularly those influenced by historical For other uses of the word see Satanism (disambiguation. Satanism can refer to a number of belief systems depending on the user and context He further connected Nazism to the Illuminati. "Illuminata" redirects here For the 1998 John Turturro film see Illuminata (film. [37]

Occultist or neopagan authors like Stephen McNallen, Stephen Flowers and Michael Moynihan (Flowers and Moynihan being translators of The Secret King) argue however that the Nazis' occult and runic pretensions amounted to a distortion and misrepresentation of the ancestral religion, Odinism. Stephen A McNallen (born October 15, 1948) is an influential Germanic Neopagan leader and Writer. Stephen Edred Flowers (born 1953 is an American Runologist and expert on Occultism and Germanic mysticism. Michael Moynihan (b January 17 1969, Boston Massachusetts) is an American journalist publisher and musician The Secret King, subtitled Karl Maria Wiligut Himmler's Lord of the Runes, published in 2005 documents the life [38] Thus McNallen denounces "the lie that 'Hitler was a pagan' or that 'Asatruar trace their roots to Nazi Germany'". is Ásatrú ( Icelandic for " Æsir faith" auːsatruː in Old Norse; Norwegian Åsatru, Swedish Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers [39] In an article entitled "The Wiligut Saga" featured in The Secret King, Adolf Schleipfer points out the differences between Wiligut's beliefs and those generally accepted within Odinism. Armanism and Ariosophy are the names of ideological systems of an Esoteric nature pioneered by Guido von List and Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels Flowers, who is also a scholar of Germanic religious history, contends that

The Ahnenerbe and the Totenkopf Orden made more practical use of Judeo-Christian and Manichean techniques and ideas in their magical traditions and organizational principles. The Ahnenerbe was a Nazi German Think tank that promoted itself as a "study society for Intellectual Ancient History Manichaeism (in Modern Persian fa-Arab آیین مانی Āyin e Māni; Chinese zh 摩尼教 was one of the major Gnostic Religions originating . . . One brief glance at a book on ancient Germanic and old Scandinavian culture and religion will show the massive degree to which the Nazis perverted the egalitarian systems of the ancients into a totalitarian scheme . . . just as the Christian evangelists would employ old pagan symbols (such as the cross) to convert the heathens and then gradually infuse those venerable symbols with a contrary significance, so too did the Nazis employ old Germanic symbolism (which was very popular at that time) and infuse it with non-Germanic concepts for manipulative purposes. [40]

This is not only the opinion of occultists. Heinz Höhne, an authority on the SS, observes that in practice the organisation was modelled on Ignatius Loyola's Jesuit order and that "Himmler's neo-pagan customs remained primarily a paper exercise". Heinz Höhne (also Hoehne is a German journalist who specializes in Nazi and intelligence History. The ( German for "Protective Squadron" abbreviated SS - or ( Runic)- was a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler and the Saint Ignatius redirects here for other Saints see Ignatius. Ignatius of Loyola, also known as Íñigo Oñaz López de Loyola The Society of Jesus ( Latin: Societas Iesu, SJ and SI or SJ, SI) is a Catholic religious order [41]

Notes

  1. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 218
  2. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 2004: vi.
  3. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 224.
  4. ^ Rebecca A. Umland and Samuel J. Umland, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film: From Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings (Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture) (Greenwood Press, 1996. ), 167-171.
  5. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 1985, 217
  6. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 1985, 217-225
  7. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 1985, 218
  8. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 1985, 217
  9. ^ Gardell 2003, 331
  10. ^ The History Channel online Store: The Unknown Hitler DVD Collection
  11. ^ Another critique of Hitler documentaries: Mark Schone - All Hitler, all the time
  12. ^ "Even with all I know, if in this cell Hitler should come to me and say 'Do this!', I would still do it. " - Joachim von Ribbentrop, 1946
  13. ^ The Daily Mail newspaper. Hitler and Stalin were possessed by the Devil, says Vatican exorcist. Retrieved on August 2007
  14. ^ Vatican exorcist: Hitler Knew the Devil
  15. ^ Demonic Possession of World Leaders
  16. ^ Theodor Schieder (1972), Hermann Rauschnings "Gespräche mit Hitler" als Geschichtsquelle (Oppladen, Germany: Westdeutscher Verlag) and Wolfgang Hänel (1984), Hermann Rauschnings "Gespräche mit Hitler": Eine Geschichtsfälschung (Ingolstadt, Germany: Zeitgeschichtliche Forschungsstelle), cit. Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946 was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945 in Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (2003), Black Sun, p. 321.
  17. ^ Goodrick-Clarke (2003: 110). The best that can be said for Rauschning's claims may be Goodrick-Clarke's judgment that they "record . . . the authentic voice of Hitler by inspired guesswork and imagination" (ibid. ).
  18. ^ “Hitler and the Holy Roman Empire”
  19. ^ Safire, William. The New York Times. Retrieved on November,2007
  20. ^ Historic Results of Hitler's Thule Societies pursuit of the NWO
  21. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 201; Johannes Hering, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Thule-Gesellschaft, typescript dated June 21, 1939, Bundesarchiv, Koblenz, NS26/865. The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv ( BArch) are the National Archives of Germany
  22. ^ Illiminati-News: Aleister Crowley
  23. ^ Occult Symbolism: As American as Baseball at Alex Jones' prisonplanet.com
  24. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 1985, 218
  25. ^ Gardell 2003, 331,332
  26. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 224, 225. Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11 1974 is an American Paleoconservative radio host and documentary filmmaker
  27. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 218.
  28. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 225.
  29. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 219-220.
  30. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 221.
  31. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 221-223.
  32. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 224.
  33. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 221.
  34. ^ If The Unknown Hitler is quoted correctly in The Vril Society, the Luminous Lodge and the Realization of the Great Work, then this book makes false allegations about Karl Haushofer and G. I. Gurdjieff. Karl Ernst Haushofer ( August 27, 1869 &ndash March 10, 1946) was a German geopolitician and General. George Ivanovich Gurdjieff (Գեորգի Գյուրջիև Γιώργος Γεωργιάδης Георгий Иванович Гюрджиев (or Gurdjiev) January
  35. ^ Chapter 5 of the Free online version of Invisible Eagle is mainly based on Ravenscroft.
  36. ^ Spence, Lewis, Occult Causes of the Present War, 1940: p85.
  37. ^ Spence 1940.
  38. ^ http://www.runestone.org/RS32/books/index.htm, http://www.runestone.org/lep4.html, http://www.angelfire.com/wy/wyrd/odinvsnazi.html; "The Myth and Reality of Occultism in the Third Reich" lecture by S. E. Flowers, November 12th, 2006. http://www.woodharrow.com/lectureseries.html.
  39. ^ Review of The Secret King by Stephen A. McNallen, (http://www.runestone.org/RS32/books/index.htm).
  40. ^ Flowers 1984: 16.
  41. ^ Höhne 1969: 138, 143-5, 156-57.

Works Cited

List of books about Nazi occultism

See also

External links

Pages on the Nazis and the Occult that may not be reliable

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