Nazi mysticism
Encyclopedia
Speculation about Nazism
and occult
ism has become part of popular culture
since 1959. Aside from several popular documentaries, there are numerous books on the topic, most notably The Morning of the Magicians (1960) and The Spear of Destiny (1972).
These books have been discussed by the historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke
as "the modern Mythology of Nazi occultism" or "the Nazi Mysteries". The recurring element of this "occult historiography" is the thesis that the Nazis were directed by occult agencies of some sort: black forces
, invisible hierarchies
, unknown superiors
or secret societies
. Since such an agency "has remained concealed to previous historians of National Socialism," Goodrick-Clarke and the German historian Michael Rissmann have described the genre as cryptohistory
. However, there also has been academic research on the potential influence of occultists and paganists on Nazism. This is part of an ongoing debate among historians and political scientists about the religious aspects of Nazism
.
's seminal work The Occult Roots of Nazism
. On nine pages, he here surveys the most influential books that have attempted to explain the rise of Nazism as the work of a "hidden power". That Goodrick-Clarke's book includes such an appendix is not without reason. The book's main subject is the racist-occult movement of Ariosophy
, a major strand of Esotericism in Germany and Austria
, and this movement's potential influences on Nazism. One specific difficulty of this topic lies in "a number of popular books [that] have represented the Nazi phenomenon as the product of arcane and demonic influence." In a new preface for the 2004 edition of The Occult Roots… Goodrick-Clarke comments that in 1985, when his book first appeared, "Nazi 'black magic' was regarded as a topic for sensational authors in pursuit of strong sales."
Consequently, Goodrick-Clarke comments on the popular literature in the Appendix of The Occult Roots…. He refers to the writers of this genre as "crypto-historians
", and as their possible motive he mentions a "post-war fascination with Nazism". For Goodrick-Clarke it is clear that the claims made by this literature are "wholly spurious."
In his 2002 work Black Sun, which was originally intended to trace the survival of "occult Nazi themes" in the postwar period, Goodrick-Clarke considered it necessary to readdress the topic. He devotes one Chapter of the book to "the Nazi mysteries", as he terms the field of Nazi occultism there. Other reliable summaries of the development of the genre have been written by German historians. The German edition of The Occult Roots… includes an essay "Nationalsozialismus und Okkultismus" ("National Socialism and Occultism"), which traces the origins of the speculation about Nazi occultism back to publications from the late 1930s, and which was subsequently translated by Goodrick-Clarke into English. The German historian Michael Rißmann has also included a longer "excursus" about "Nationalsozialismus und Okkultismus" in his acclaimed book on Adolf Hitler's religious beliefs
.
According to Goodricke-Clarke the speculation of Nazi occultism originated from "post-war fascination with Nazism"; The "horrid fascination" of Nazism upon the Western mind emerges from the "uncanny interlude in modern history" that it presents to an observer a few decades later. The idolization of Hitler in Nazi Germany, its short lived and brutal dominion on the European continent and Nazism's irrational and gruesome Antisemitism set it apart from other periods of modern history. "Outside a purely secular frame of reference, Nazism was felt to be the embodiment of evil in a modern twentieth-century regime, a monstrous pagan relapse in the Christian community of Europe."
By the early 1960s, "one could now clearly detect a mystique of Nazism." A sensationalistic and fanciful presentation of its figures and symbols, shorn of all political and historical contexts" gained ground with thrillers, non-fiction books and films and permeated "the milieu of popular culture
."
Some of this modern mythology even touches Goodrick-Clarke's topic directly. The rumor that Adolf Hitler had encountered the Austrian monk and anti-semitic publicist, Lanz von Liebenfels
already at the age of 8, at Heilgenkreuz abbey, goes back to Les mystiques du soleil (1971) by Michel-Jean Angbert. "This episode is wholly imaginary."
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. The most influential books were Trevor Ravenscroft's The Spear of Destiny and The Morning of the Magicians by Pauwels and Bergier.
In Ravenscroft's book a specific interest of Hitler concerning the Spear of Destiny
is alleged. 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. It was returned to Austria after the war.
ic influence on Hitler, Hermann Rauschning
's Hitler Speaks is brought forward as source, although most modern scholars do not consider Rauschning reliable. (As Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke summarises, "recent scholarship has almost certainly proved that Rauschning's conversations were mostly invented".)
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."
That Hitler (and also Stalin) were possessed by the devil
is also believed by some members of the Catholic Church. Father Gabriele Amorth
, an exorcist of the Vatican is "convinced that the Nazis were all possessed. All you have to do is think about what Hitler—and Stalin did. Almost certainly they were possessed by the Devil." There even are documents that state that Pope Pius XII
performed an exorcism
on Hitler at a distance, but supposedly failed every time.
An article "Hitler's Forgotten Library" by Timothy Ryback, published in The Atlantic (May 2003), mentions a book from Hitler's private library
authored by Dr. Ernst Schertel. Schertel, whose interests were flagellation
, dance, occultism, nudism and BDSM
, had also been active as an activist for sexual liberation
before 1933. He had been imprisoned in Nazi Germany for seven months and his doctoral degree was revoked. He is supposed to have sent a dedicated copy of his 1923 book Magic: History, Theory and Practice
to Hitler some time in the mid-1920s. Hitler is said to have marked extensive passages, including one which reads "He who does not have the demonic seed within himself will never give birth to a magical world." The quote was previously mistranslated as "a new world" in Ryback's article. An English translation of Magic is due June 2009.
Theosophist
Alice A. Bailey stated during World War II
that Adolf Hitler was possessed by what she called the Dark Forces. Her follower Benjamin Creme
has stated that through Hitler (and a group of equally evil men around him in Nazi Germany, together with a group of militarists in Japan and a further group around Mussolini in Italy) was released the energies of the Antichrist
, which, according to theosophical teachings is not an individual person but forces of destruction.
According to James Herbert Brennan
in his book, Occult Reich
, Hitler's mentor, Dietrich Eckhart (whom Hitler dedicates Mein Kampf
to), wrote to a friend of his in 1923: "Follow Hitler! He will dance, but it is I who have called the tune. We have given him the 'means of communication' with Them. Do not mourn for me; I shall have influenced history more than any other German."
as a precursor of the New World Order." With regard to Hitler's later ambition of imposing a National Socialist regime throughout Europe, Nazi propaganda used the term Neuordnung (often poorly translated as "the New Order", while actually referring to the "re-structurization" of state borders on the European map and the resulting post-war economic hegemony of Greater Germany), so one could probably say that the Nazis pursued "a" 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) is completely unfounded.
sought to contact Hitler during World War II. Despite several allegations and speculations to the contrary (e.g. Giorgio Galli) there is no evidence of such an encounter. In 1991, John Symonds
, one of Crowley's literary executor
s published a book: The Medusa's Head or Conversations between Aleister Crowley and Adolf Hitler, which has "definitely" to be understood as a literary fiction. That the edition of this book was limited to 350 also contributed to the mystery surrounding the topic. Mention of a contact between Crowley and Hitler—without any sources or evidence—is also made in a letter from René Guénon
to Julius Evola
dated October 29, 1949, which later reached a broader audience.
describes how Hitler "seemed endowed with even greater authority and charisma" after he had resumed public speaking in March 1927, the documentary states that "this may have been due to the influence" of the clairvoyant performer and publicist, Erik Jan Hanussen
. It is said that "Hanussen helped Hitler perfect a series of exaggerated poses," useful for speaking before a huge audience. The documentary then interviews Dusty Sklar about the contact between Hitler and Hanussen, and the narrator makes the statement about "occult techniques of mind control and crowd domination".
Whether Hitler had met Hanussen at all is not certain. That he even encountered him before March 1927 is not confirmed by other sources about Hanussen. In the late 1920s to early 1930s Hanussen made political predictions in his own newspaper, Hanussens Bunte Wochenschau, that gradually started to favour Hitler, but until late 1932 these predictions varied. In 1929 Hanussen predicted, for example, that Wilhelm II would return to Germany in 1930 and that the problem of unemployment would be solved in 1931.
René Kopp. In two articles published in the monthly esoteric journal Le Chariot from June 1934 and April 1939, he seeks to trace the source of Hitler's power to supernatural forces. The second article was titled: "L'Enigme du Hitler". In other French esoteric journals of the 1930s, Hakl could not find similar hints. In 1939 another French author, Edouard Saby, published a book: Hitler et les Forces Occultes. Saby already mentions Hanussen and Ignaz Trebitsch-Lincoln. Hakl even hints that Edouard Saby would have the copyright on the myth of Nazi occultism. However, another significant book from 1939 is better known: Hermann Rauschning
's Hitler Speaks. There it is said (in the chapter "Black and White Magic"), that "Hitler surrendered himself to forces that carried him away. (…) He turned himself over to a spell, which can, with good reason and not simply in a figurative analogy, be described as demonic magic." The chapter "Hitler in private" is even more dramatic, and was left out in the German edition from 1940.
Goodrick-Clarke examines several pseudo-historic "books written about Nazi occultism between 1960 and 1975", that "were typically sensational and under-researched". 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". 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'". Books debunked in Appendix E of The Occult Roots of Nazism
are:
These books are only mentioned in the Appendix. 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:
, National Socialism and Adolf Hitler have become a recurring subject in history documentaries
. Among these documentaries, there are several that focus especially on the potential relations between Nazism and Occultism, such as the History Channel
's documentary Hitler and the Occult
. 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
. 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". A much more plausible reason for Hitler's suicide (that does not involve the paranormal) is that the Russians had already closed to within several hundred meters of Hitler's bunker
and he did not want to be captured alive.
From the perspective of academic history, these documentaries on Nazism, if ever commented, are seen as problematic because they do not contribute to an actual understanding of the problems that arise in the study of Nazism and Neo-Nazism. Without referring to a specific documentary Mattias Gardell
, a historian who studies contemporary separatist groups, writes:
Hitler and the Occult
includes a scene in which Hitler is seen as speaking at a huge mass meeting. While Hitler's speech is not translated, the narrator talks about the German occultist and stage mentalist Erik Jan Hanussen
: "Occultists believe, Hanussen may also have imparted occult techniques of mind control and crowd domination on Hitler" (see below). When historians have noted the existence of such "myths" as those about Erik Jan Hanussen, they have displayed nothing but academic contempt for their originators.
. The documentary describes it as "the most ambitious expedition" of the SS. This original video material was made accessible again by Marco Dolcetta in his series Il Nazismo Esoterico in 1994. An interview that Dolcetta conducted with Schäfer does not support the theories of Nazi occultism, neither does Reinhard Greve's 1995 article Tibetforschung im SS Ahnenerbe (Tibet Research Within the SS Ahnenerbe), although the latter does mention the occult thesis. Hakl comments that Greve should have emphasized the unreliability of authors like Berger and Pauwels or Angbert more. Ernst Schäfer
's expedition report explicitly remarks on the "worthless goings-on" by "a whole army of quacksalvers" concerning Asia and especially Tibet.
(Different editions have different episodes)
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
and occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
ism has become part of popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
since 1959. Aside from several popular documentaries, there are numerous books on the topic, most notably The Morning of the Magicians (1960) and The Spear of Destiny (1972).
These books have been discussed by the historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke
Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke
Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke B.A. , D.Phil. is a professor of Western Esotericism at University of Exeter and author of several books on esoteric traditions....
as "the modern Mythology of Nazi occultism" or "the Nazi Mysteries". The recurring element of this "occult historiography" is the thesis that the Nazis were directed by occult agencies of some sort: black forces
Black magic
Black magic is the type of magic that draws on assumed malevolent powers or is used with the intention to kill, steal, injure, cause misfortune or destruction, or for personal gain without regard to harmful consequences. As a term, "black magic" is normally used by those that do not approve of its...
, invisible hierarchies
Cabal
A cabal is a group of people united in some close design together, usually to promote their private views and/or interests in a church, state, or other community, often by intrigue...
, unknown superiors
Power behind the throne
The phrase power behind the throne refers to a person or group that informally exercises the real power of an office. In politics, it most commonly refers to a spouse, aide, or advisor of a political leader who serves as de facto leader, setting policy through influence or manipulation.The...
or secret societies
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
. Since such an agency "has remained concealed to previous historians of National Socialism," Goodrick-Clarke and the German historian Michael Rissmann have described the genre as cryptohistory
Pseudohistory
Pseudohistory is a pejorative term applied to a type of historical revisionism, often involving sensational claims whose acceptance would require rewriting a significant amount of commonly accepted history, and based on methods that depart from standard historiographical conventions.Cryptohistory...
. However, there also has been academic research on the potential influence of occultists and paganists on Nazism. This is part of an ongoing debate among historians and political scientists about the religious aspects of Nazism
Religious aspects of Nazism
Historians, political scientists and even philosophers have studied Nazism with a specific focus on its religious or semi-religious aspects.The most prominent discourse here is the debate whether Nazism would constitute a political religion, but there has also been research on the millenarianistic,...
.
Mythology of Nazi occultism
"The Modern Mythology of Nazi Occultism" is the title of Appendix E of the Oxford historian Nicholas Goodrick-ClarkeNicholas Goodrick-Clarke
Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke B.A. , D.Phil. is a professor of Western Esotericism at University of Exeter and author of several books on esoteric traditions....
's seminal work The Occult Roots of Nazism
The Occult Roots of Nazism
thumb|right|Cover of the 1992 editionThe 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. It is the "seminal work" on Nazi occultism and Ariosophy. The book also includes some...
. On nine pages, he here surveys the most influential books that have attempted to explain the rise of Nazism as the work of a "hidden power". That Goodrick-Clarke's book includes such an appendix is not without reason. The book's main subject is the racist-occult movement of Ariosophy
Ariosophy
Armanism and Ariosophy are the names of ideological systems of an esoteric nature, pioneered by Guido von List and Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels respectively, in Austria between 1890 and 1930. The term 'Ariosophy', meaning wisdom concerning the Aryans, was first coined by Lanz von Liebenfels in 1915 and...
, a major strand of Esotericism in Germany and Austria
Esotericism in Germany and Austria
This article gives an overview of esoteric movements in Germany and Austria between 1880 and 1945, presenting Theosophy, Anthroposophy and Ariosophy, among others, against the influences of earlier European esotericism.-Knights Templar and occultism:...
, and this movement's potential influences on Nazism. One specific difficulty of this topic lies in "a number of popular books [that] have represented the Nazi phenomenon as the product of arcane and demonic influence." In a new preface for the 2004 edition of The Occult Roots… Goodrick-Clarke comments that in 1985, when his book first appeared, "Nazi 'black magic' was regarded as a topic for sensational authors in pursuit of strong sales."
Consequently, Goodrick-Clarke comments on the popular literature in the Appendix of The Occult Roots…. He refers to the writers of this genre as "crypto-historians
Pseudohistory
Pseudohistory is a pejorative term applied to a type of historical revisionism, often involving sensational claims whose acceptance would require rewriting a significant amount of commonly accepted history, and based on methods that depart from standard historiographical conventions.Cryptohistory...
", and as their possible motive he mentions a "post-war fascination with Nazism". For Goodrick-Clarke it is clear that the claims made by this literature are "wholly spurious."
In his 2002 work Black Sun, which was originally intended to trace the survival of "occult Nazi themes" in the postwar period, Goodrick-Clarke considered it necessary to readdress the topic. He devotes one Chapter of the book to "the Nazi mysteries", as he terms the field of Nazi occultism there. Other reliable summaries of the development of the genre have been written by German historians. The German edition of The Occult Roots… includes an essay "Nationalsozialismus und Okkultismus" ("National Socialism and Occultism"), which traces the origins of the speculation about Nazi occultism back to publications from the late 1930s, and which was subsequently translated by Goodrick-Clarke into English. The German historian Michael Rißmann has also included a longer "excursus" about "Nationalsozialismus und Okkultismus" in his acclaimed book on Adolf Hitler's religious beliefs
Adolf Hitler's religious beliefs
Adolf Hitler's religious views are a matter of dispute. Raised by a skeptic father and a Catholic mother, Adolf Hitler ceased to participate in the Sacraments after childhood. In his book Mein Kampf and in public speeches he often made statements which affirmed a belief in Christianity...
.
According to Goodricke-Clarke the speculation of Nazi occultism originated from "post-war fascination with Nazism"; The "horrid fascination" of Nazism upon the Western mind emerges from the "uncanny interlude in modern history" that it presents to an observer a few decades later. The idolization of Hitler in Nazi Germany, its short lived and brutal dominion on the European continent and Nazism's irrational and gruesome Antisemitism set it apart from other periods of modern history. "Outside a purely secular frame of reference, Nazism was felt to be the embodiment of evil in a modern twentieth-century regime, a monstrous pagan relapse in the Christian community of Europe."
By the early 1960s, "one could now clearly detect a mystique of Nazism." A sensationalistic and fanciful presentation of its figures and symbols, shorn of all political and historical contexts" gained ground with thrillers, non-fiction books and films and permeated "the milieu of popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
."
Some of this modern mythology even touches Goodrick-Clarke's topic directly. The rumor that Adolf Hitler had encountered the Austrian monk and anti-semitic publicist, Lanz von Liebenfels
Lanz von Liebenfels
Adolf Josef Lanz aka Jörg Lanz, who called himself Lanz von Liebenfels was an Austrian publicist and journalist...
already at the age of 8, at Heilgenkreuz abbey, goes back to Les mystiques du soleil (1971) by Michel-Jean Angbert. "This episode is wholly imaginary."
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
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
, concerning, for example, the Vril Society
Vril
Vril, the Power of the Coming Race is a 1871 science fiction novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, originally printed as The Coming Race. Many early readers believed that its account of a superior subterranean master race and the energy-form called "Vril" was accurate, to the extent that some theosophists...
or rumours about Karl Haushofer
Karl Haushofer
Karl Ernst Haushofer was a German general, geographer and geopolitician. Through his student Rudolf Hess, Haushofer's ideas may have influenced the development of Adolf Hitler's expansionist strategies, although Haushofer denied direct influence on the Nazi regime.-Biography:Haushofer belonged to...
's connection to the occult. The most influential books were Trevor Ravenscroft's The Spear of Destiny and The Morning of the Magicians by Pauwels and Bergier.
In Ravenscroft's book a specific interest of Hitler concerning the Spear of Destiny
Holy Lance
The Holy Lance is the name given to the lance that pierced Jesus' side as he hung on the cross in John's account of the Crucifixion.-Biblical references:The lance is mentioned only in the Gospel of John and not in any of the...
is alleged. With the annexation of Austria
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
in 1938, the Hofburg Spear, a relic stored in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, had actually come into the possession of the Third Reich and Hitler subsequently had it moved to Nuremberg in Germany. It was returned to Austria after the war.
Demonic possession of Hitler
For a demonDemon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
ic influence on Hitler, Hermann Rauschning
Hermann Rauschning
Hermann Rauschning was a GermanConservative Revolutionary who briefly joined the Nazis before breaking with them. In 1934 he renounced Nazi party membership and defected to the United States where he denounced Nazism...
's Hitler Speaks is brought forward as source, although most modern scholars do not consider Rauschning reliable. (As Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke summarises, "recent scholarship has almost certainly proved that Rauschning's conversations were mostly invented".)
Similarly to Rauschning, August Kubizek
August Kubizek
August Kubizek was a close friend of Adolf Hitler when both were in their late teens. He later wrote about their friendship.-Early life:...
, 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."
That Hitler (and also Stalin) were possessed by the devil
Demonic possession
Demonic possession is held by many belief systems to be the control of an individual by a malevolent supernatural being. Descriptions of demonic possessions often include erased memories or personalities, convulsions, “fits” and fainting as if one were dying...
is also believed by some members of the Catholic Church. Father Gabriele Amorth
Gabriele Amorth
Gabriele Amorth is an Italian Roman Catholic priest and an exorcist of the Diocese of Rome who claims to have cleansed tens of thousands of people of evil spirits. Controversially, he believes that practising yoga is satanic and leads to evil just like reading JK Rowling’s Harry Potter...
, an exorcist of the Vatican is "convinced that the Nazis were all possessed. All you have to do is think about what Hitler—and Stalin did. Almost certainly they were possessed by the Devil." There even are documents that state that Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
performed an exorcism
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
on Hitler at a distance, but supposedly failed every time.
An article "Hitler's Forgotten Library" by Timothy Ryback, published in The Atlantic (May 2003), mentions a book from Hitler's private library
Hitler's private library
Hitler's private library was Adolf Hitler's private collection of books, excluding books he purchased for the German state library.-History:The first description of his private collection was published in 1942. Hitler's private books that were kept in the Reich Chancellery in Berlin were...
authored by Dr. Ernst Schertel. Schertel, whose interests were flagellation
Flagellation
Flagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating or whipping the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails and the sjambok...
, dance, occultism, nudism and BDSM
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
, had also been active as an activist for sexual liberation
Sexual revolution
The sexual revolution was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world from the 1960s into the 1980s...
before 1933. He had been imprisoned in Nazi Germany for seven months and his doctoral degree was revoked. He is supposed to have sent a dedicated copy of his 1923 book Magic: History, Theory and Practice
Magic: History, Theory and Practice
Originally published in Germany in 1923 by Dr. Ernst Schertel, Magic: History / Theory / Practice, in its original German edition, was a hardcover book consisting of 154 pages....
to Hitler some time in the mid-1920s. Hitler is said to have marked extensive passages, including one which reads "He who does not have the demonic seed within himself will never give birth to a magical world." The quote was previously mistranslated as "a new world" in Ryback's article. An English translation of Magic is due June 2009.
Theosophist
Theosophy
Theosophy, in its modern presentation, is a spiritual philosophy developed since the late 19th century. Its major themes were originally described mainly by Helena Blavatsky , co-founder of the Theosophical Society...
Alice A. Bailey stated during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
that Adolf Hitler was possessed by what she called the Dark Forces. Her follower Benjamin Creme
Benjamin Creme
Benjamin Creme is a Scottish artist, author, esotericist, and editor of Share International magazine, a monthly non-profit magazine and website....
has stated that through Hitler (and a group of equally evil men around him in Nazi Germany, together with a group of militarists in Japan and a further group around Mussolini in Italy) was released the energies of the Antichrist
Antichrist
The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to a leader who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of Christ, while resembling him in a deceptive manner...
, which, according to theosophical teachings is not an individual person but forces of destruction.
According to James Herbert Brennan
James Herbert Brennan
J. H. "Herbie" Brennan is a lecturer and the author of over one hundred fiction and non-fiction books for adults, teens, and children.-Biography:...
in his book, Occult Reich
Occult Reich
Occult Reich, by J.H. Brennan, is a British account of occultism during the Third Reich. It is one of the most prominent books on the subject matter...
, Hitler's mentor, Dietrich Eckhart (whom Hitler dedicates Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf is a book written by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. It combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's political ideology. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926...
to), wrote to a friend of his in 1923: "Follow Hitler! He will dance, but it is I who have called the tune. We have given him the 'means of communication' with Them. Do not mourn for me; I shall have influenced history more than any other German."
New World Order
Conspiracy theorists "frequently identify German National Socialism inter aliaInter Alia
-Track listing:# Inter Alia# Outfox'd # Righteous Badass # The Altogether feat. Bix, Apt, UNIVERSE ARM and Cal# The Day-to-Daily# Trouble Brewing # The Prestidigitator# The Force...
as a precursor of the New World Order." With regard to Hitler's later ambition of imposing a National Socialist regime throughout Europe, Nazi propaganda used the term Neuordnung (often poorly translated as "the New Order", while actually referring to the "re-structurization" of state borders on the European map and the resulting post-war economic hegemony of Greater Germany), so one could probably say that the Nazis pursued "a" new world order. But the claim that Hitler and the Thule Society
Thule Society
The Thule Society , originally the Studiengruppe für germanisches Altertum , was a German occultist and völkisch group in Munich, named after a mythical northern country from Greek legend...
conspired to create "the" New World Order (as put forward on some webpages) is completely unfounded.
Aleister Crowley
There are also unverifiable rumours that the occultist Aleister CrowleyAleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
sought to contact Hitler during World War II. Despite several allegations and speculations to the contrary (e.g. Giorgio Galli) there is no evidence of such an encounter. In 1991, John Symonds
John Symonds
John Symonds was an English novelist, biographer, playwright and writer of children's books.- Early Life :...
, one of Crowley's literary executor
Literary executor
A literary executor is a person with decision-making power in respect of a literary estate. According to Wills, Administration and Taxation: a practical guide "A will may appoint different executors to deal with different parts of the estate...
s published a book: The Medusa's Head or Conversations between Aleister Crowley and Adolf Hitler, which has "definitely" to be understood as a literary fiction. That the edition of this book was limited to 350 also contributed to the mystery surrounding the topic. Mention of a contact between Crowley and Hitler—without any sources or evidence—is also made in a letter from René Guénon
René Guénon
René Guénon , also known as Shaykh `Abd al-Wahid Yahya was a French author and intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having written on topics ranging from metaphysics, sacred science and traditional studies to symbolism and initiation.In his writings, he...
to Julius Evola
Julius Evola
Barone Giulio Cesare Andrea Evola also known as Julius Evola, was an Italian philosopher and esotericist...
dated October 29, 1949, which later reached a broader audience.
Erik Jan Hanussen
When Hitler and the OccultHitler and the Occult
For the book by the same name by Ken Anderson see Hitler and the Occult Hitler and the Occult, produced by Bram Roos and Phyllis Cannon and narrated by David Ackroyd, is a 50-minute History Channel documentary regarding Nazi occultism....
describes how Hitler "seemed endowed with even greater authority and charisma" after he had resumed public speaking in March 1927, the documentary states that "this may have been due to the influence" of the clairvoyant performer and publicist, Erik Jan Hanussen
Erik Jan Hanussen
Erik Jan Hanussen, born Hermann Steinschneider , was an Austrian Jewish publicist and clairvoyant performer who lied about his origins. Acclaimed in his lifetime as a hypnotist, mentalist, occultist, and astrologer, Hanussen was active in Weimar Republic Germany and also at the beginning of Nazi...
. It is said that "Hanussen helped Hitler perfect a series of exaggerated poses," useful for speaking before a huge audience. The documentary then interviews Dusty Sklar about the contact between Hitler and Hanussen, and the narrator makes the statement about "occult techniques of mind control and crowd domination".
Whether Hitler had met Hanussen at all is not certain. That he even encountered him before March 1927 is not confirmed by other sources about Hanussen. In the late 1920s to early 1930s Hanussen made political predictions in his own newspaper, Hanussens Bunte Wochenschau, that gradually started to favour Hitler, but until late 1932 these predictions varied. In 1929 Hanussen predicted, for example, that Wilhelm II would return to Germany in 1930 and that the problem of unemployment would be solved in 1931.
Crypto-historic books on Nazi occultism
In the essay that is included in the German edition of the The Occult Roots…, H. T. Hakl, a German publisher of esoteric works, traces the origins of the speculation about National Socialism and Occultism back to several works from the early 1940s. His research was also published in a short book, Unknown sources: National Socialism and the Occult, translated by Goodrick-Clarke. Already in 1933 a pseudonymous Kurt van Emsen described Hitler as a "demonic personality", but his work was soon forgotten. The first allusions that Hitler was directed by occult forces which were taken up by the later authors came from French Christian esotericistEsoteric Christianity
Esoteric Christianity is a term which refers to an ensemble of spiritual currents which regard Christianity as a mystery religion, and profess the existence and possession of certain esoteric doctrines or practices, hidden from the public but accessible only to a narrow circle of "enlightened",...
René Kopp. In two articles published in the monthly esoteric journal Le Chariot from June 1934 and April 1939, he seeks to trace the source of Hitler's power to supernatural forces. The second article was titled: "L'Enigme du Hitler". In other French esoteric journals of the 1930s, Hakl could not find similar hints. In 1939 another French author, Edouard Saby, published a book: Hitler et les Forces Occultes. Saby already mentions Hanussen and Ignaz Trebitsch-Lincoln. Hakl even hints that Edouard Saby would have the copyright on the myth of Nazi occultism. However, another significant book from 1939 is better known: Hermann Rauschning
Hermann Rauschning
Hermann Rauschning was a GermanConservative Revolutionary who briefly joined the Nazis before breaking with them. In 1934 he renounced Nazi party membership and defected to the United States where he denounced Nazism...
's Hitler Speaks. There it is said (in the chapter "Black and White Magic"), that "Hitler surrendered himself to forces that carried him away. (…) He turned himself over to a spell, which can, with good reason and not simply in a figurative analogy, be described as demonic magic." The chapter "Hitler in private" is even more dramatic, and was left out in the German edition from 1940.
Goodrick-Clarke examines several pseudo-historic "books written about Nazi occultism between 1960 and 1975", that "were typically sensational and under-researched". 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". 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'". Books debunked in Appendix E of The Occult Roots of Nazism
The Occult Roots of Nazism
thumb|right|Cover of the 1992 editionThe 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. It is the "seminal work" on Nazi occultism and Ariosophy. The book also includes some...
are:
- Louis PauwelsLouis PauwelsLouis Pauwels was a French journalist and writer.- Biography :Louis Pauwels was a teacher at Athis-Mons from 1939 to 1945 , Louis Pauwels wrote in many monthly literary French magazines as early as 1946 until the...
and Jacques BergierJacques BergierJacques Bergier , was a chemical engineer, member of the French-resistance, spy, journalist and writer...
, 1960, The Morning of the Magicians - Dietrich Bronder, 1964, Bevor Hitler kam
- Trevor Ravenscroft, 1972, The Spear of Destiny
- Michel-Jean Angbert, 1971, Les mystiques du soleil
- J.H. Brennan, 1974, Occult ReichOccult ReichOccult Reich, by J.H. Brennan, is a British account of occultism during the Third Reich. It is one of the most prominent books on the subject matter...
These books are only mentioned in the Appendix. 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:
- Wulf Schwarzwaller, 1988, The Unknown Hitler
- Alan Baker, 2000, Invisible Eagle. The History of Nazi Occultism
Documentaries on Nazism and the occult
More than 60 years after the end of the Third ReichNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, National Socialism and Adolf Hitler have become a recurring subject in history documentaries
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
. Among these documentaries, there are several that focus especially on the potential relations between Nazism and Occultism, such as the History Channel
The History Channel
History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...
's documentary Hitler and the Occult
Hitler and the Occult
For the book by the same name by Ken Anderson see Hitler and the Occult Hitler and the Occult, produced by Bram Roos and Phyllis Cannon and narrated by David Ackroyd, is a 50-minute History Channel documentary regarding Nazi occultism....
. As evidence of Hitler's "occult power" this documentary offers, for example, the infamous statement by Joachim von Ribbentrop
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...
of his continued subservience to Hitler at the Nuremberg Trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
. After the author Dusty Sklar has pointed out that Hitler's suicide
Death of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler committed suicide by gunshot on Monday, 30 April 1945 in his Führerbunker in Berlin. His wife Eva , committed suicide with him by ingesting cyanide...
happened at the night of April 30/May 1, which is Walpurgis Night
Walpurgis Night
Walpurgis Night is a traditional spring festival on 30 April or 1 May in large parts of Central and Northern Europe. It is often celebrated with dancing and with bonfires. It is exactly six months from All Hallows' Eve.-Name:...
, the narrator continues: "With Hitler gone, it was as if a spell had been broken". A much more plausible reason for Hitler's suicide (that does not involve the paranormal) is that the Russians had already closed to within several hundred meters of Hitler's bunker
Führerbunker
The Führerbunker was located beneath Hitler's New Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex which was constructed in two major phases, one part in 1936 and the other in 1943...
and he did not want to be captured alive.
Mattias Gardell
Hans Bertil Mattias Gardell is a Swedish scholar of comparative religion. He is the current holder of the Nathan Söderblom Chair of Comparative Religion at Uppsala University, Sweden....
, a historian who studies contemporary separatist groups, writes:
Hitler and the Occult
Hitler and the Occult
For the book by the same name by Ken Anderson see Hitler and the Occult Hitler and the Occult, produced by Bram Roos and Phyllis Cannon and narrated by David Ackroyd, is a 50-minute History Channel documentary regarding Nazi occultism....
includes a scene in which Hitler is seen as speaking at a huge mass meeting. While Hitler's speech is not translated, the narrator talks about the German occultist and stage mentalist Erik Jan Hanussen
Erik Jan Hanussen
Erik Jan Hanussen, born Hermann Steinschneider , was an Austrian Jewish publicist and clairvoyant performer who lied about his origins. Acclaimed in his lifetime as a hypnotist, mentalist, occultist, and astrologer, Hanussen was active in Weimar Republic Germany and also at the beginning of Nazi...
: "Occultists believe, Hanussen may also have imparted occult techniques of mind control and crowd domination on Hitler" (see below). When historians have noted the existence of such "myths" as those about Erik Jan Hanussen, they have displayed nothing but academic contempt for their originators.
Ernst Schäfer's expedition to Tibet
At least one documentary, Hitler's Search for the Holy Grail, includes footage from the 1939 German expedition to Tibet1939 German expedition to Tibet
The 1938-1939 German Expedition to Tibet was a May 1938 - August 1939 German scientific expedition led by German zoologist and SS officer Ernst Schäfer.- The origins of the expedition :...
. The documentary describes it as "the most ambitious expedition" of the SS. This original video material was made accessible again by Marco Dolcetta in his series Il Nazismo Esoterico in 1994. An interview that Dolcetta conducted with Schäfer does not support the theories of Nazi occultism, neither does Reinhard Greve's 1995 article Tibetforschung im SS Ahnenerbe (Tibet Research Within the SS Ahnenerbe), although the latter does mention the occult thesis. Hakl comments that Greve should have emphasized the unreliability of authors like Berger and Pauwels or Angbert more. Ernst Schäfer
Ernst Schäfer
Ernst Schäfer was a famous German hunter and zoologist in the 1930s, specializing in ornithology.-Biography:Schäfer is most famous for his three expeditions to Tibet in 1931, in 1934–1935, and in 1938–1939. The first two expeditions were led by the American Brooke Dolan II...
's expedition report explicitly remarks on the "worthless goings-on" by "a whole army of quacksalvers" concerning Asia and especially Tibet.
German
- Schwarze Sonne documentary by Rüdiger SünnerRüdiger SünnerRüdiger Sünner, born 1953 in Köln on the Rhine, is a German author and documentary film maker, most notable for his book and his documentary on the Schwarze Sonne.-Biography:1970 Abitur...
. Sünner also produced a book to accompany this documentary. - Hans-Jürgen Syberberg's Hitler – Ein Film aus Deutschland (Hitler, A Film From Germany), 1977. Originally presented on German television, this is a 7-hour work in 4 parts: The Grail; A German Dream; The End Of Winter's Tale; We, Children Of Hell. The director uses documentary clips, photographic backgrounds, puppets, theatrical stages, and other elements from almost all the visual arts, with the "actors" addressing directly the audience/camera, in order to approach and expand on this most taboo subject of European history of the 20th century.
English
- Nazis: The Occult ConspiracyNazis: The Occult ConspiracyNazis: The Occult Conspiracy, directed by Tracy Atkinson and Joan Baran, narrated by Malcolm McDowell, is an English language 1998 Discovery Channel documentary regarding Nazi occultism.-Soundtrack:...
(1998), directed by Tracy Atkinson and Joan Baran, Narrated by Malcolm McDowellMalcolm McDowellMalcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...
. - The Occult History of the Third ReichThe Occult History of the Third ReichThe Occult History of the Third Reich, narrated by Patrick Allen and directed by Dave Flitton, is a 1991 four-part History Channel documentary regarding the occult influences and history of Nazi Germany and early 20th century Germany.-Contents:...
, Narrated by Patrick AllenPatrick AllenJohn Keith Patrick Allen was a British film, television and voice actor.-Life and career:Allen was born in Nyasaland , where his father was a tobacco farmer. After his parents returned to Britain, he was evacuated to Canada during World War II where he remained to finish his education at McGill...
, Director: Dave Flitton (originally shown on The History Channel)- Adolf Hitler—Occult History Of The Third Reich
- The SS: Blood And Soil—Occult History Of The Third Reich
- Himmler The Mystic—Occult History Of The Third Reich
- The Enigma Of The Swastika—Occult History Of The Third Reich
- "Decoding the PastDecoding the PastDecoding the Past is a History Channel paranormal television series that "decodes" the past by looking for unusual, and mysterious things written about throughout history that may give clues as to what will happen in the future.-Episodes:...
" Episode: The Nazi Prophecies" by the History Channel - The Riddle Of Rudolph Hess/Himmler's Castle: Wewelsburg
- In 1994, Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
ran a Michael Wood documentary entitled Hitler's Search for the Holy Grail, as part of its "Secret HistorySecret historyA secret history is a revisionist interpretation of either fictional or real history which is claimed to have been deliberately suppressed, forgotten, or ignored by established scholars.-Secret histories of the real world:...
" series. - Unsolved Mysteries of World War II: Occult & Secrets, also known as Volume 3 in the series.
- Rudolf Hess (Occult)
- Hitler's Secret Weapons
- Enigma of the Swastika (Occult)
- Himmler's Castle: Wewelsburg (Occult)
- The Last Days of Hitler
- Decision At Dunkirk/Stalin's Secret Armies
(Different editions have different episodes)
Fictional accounts of Nazi occultism
The image of a connection between Nazism and the occult is a common theme in fantasy fiction. One could also ask whether The Morning of the Magicians should not be considered as fiction, since the authors fail to clearly state that it was supposed to be fact. Aside from such considerations, there are also many accounts of Nazi occultism that are clearly fictional.Literature
- Dennis WheatleyDennis WheatleyDennis Yates Wheatley was an English author. His prolific output of stylish thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling authors from the 1930s through the 1960s.-Early life:...
's novel They Used Dark ForcesThey Used Dark ForcesThey Used Dark Forces is a World War II fictional novel by Dennis Wheatley. It describes the involvement of a Satanic cult in the fall of Adolf Hitler....
. - Occult-obsessed Nazis have long been a staple of superheroSuperheroA superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
comic bookComic bookA comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s:- Neo-Nazis are recurring villains in Warrior Nun ArealaWarrior Nun ArealaWarrior Nun Areala is a manga-style American comic book character created by Ben Dunn and published by Antarctic Press. First appearing in Ninja High School #38 , she has since appeared in her own comic books beginning with Warrior Nun Areala Vol. 1 #1 in December 1994...
, most notably Dr. Frederick Ottoman, a mad scientist with fleets of Nazi-UFOs and spies in every government. - In the 1980s, DC ComicsDC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
writer Roy ThomasRoy ThomasRoy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
invented a retconRetconRetroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
to explain why SupermanSupermanSuperman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, the SpectreSpectre (comics)The Spectre is a fictional character and superhero who has appeared in numerous comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in a next issue ad in More Fun Comics #51 and received his first story the following month, #52...
, and the Justice Society of AmericaJustice Society of AmericaThe Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....
had been unable to defeat the Nazis: Hitler possessed the Spear of Destiny (Spear of Longinus) which gave him magical control over any superheroes who ventured into his territory. - In the Marvel ComicsMarvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
comic book series The InvadersInvaders (comics)The Invaders is the name of two fictional superhero teams in the . The original team was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Sal Buscema in The Avengers #71 . A present-day incarnation was introduced by writer Chuck Austen and artist Scott Kolins in The Avengers vol...
, ThorThor (Marvel Comics)Thor is a fictional superhero who appears in publications published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Journey into Mystery #83 and was created by editor-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and penciller Jack Kirby....
was summoned by Hitler to battle that superhero group; however, Thor soon realized he was being used, and returned to AsgardAsgardIn Norse religion, Asgard is one of the Nine Worlds and is the country or capital city of the Norse Gods surrounded by an incomplete wall attributed to a Hrimthurs riding the stallion Svadilfari, according to Gylfaginning. Valhalla is located within Asgard...
. - The HellboyHellboyHellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...
comic books and movies also portray the Nazis and the Thule SocietyThule SocietyThe Thule Society , originally the Studiengruppe für germanisches Altertum , was a German occultist and völkisch group in Munich, named after a mythical northern country from Greek legend...
as powerful occult figures; in that universe, Hitler lived until 1958 and waged a “secret war” from South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
after the collapse of the Third Reich. - David BrinDavid BrinGlen David Brin, Ph.D. is an American scientist and award-winning author of science fiction. He has received the Hugo, Locus, Campbell and Nebula Awards.-Biography:...
’s noveletteNoveletteA novelette is a piece of short prose fiction. The distinction between a novelette and other literary forms is usually based upon word count, with a novelette being longer than a short story, but shorter than a novella...
"Thor Meets Captain AmericaThor Meets Captain AmericaThor Meets Captain America is a science fiction novelette by David Brin. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 1987. The graphic novel The Life Eaters is based on the story.-Summary:...
" and graphic novelGraphic novelA graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
The Life EatersThe Life EatersThe Life Eaters is a 2003 science fiction graphic novel written by David Brin and art by Scott Hampton. It was published by Wildstorm. The story is based on Brin's Hugo-nominated novella Thor Meets Captain America, featuring an alternate history scenario where the Nazis won World War II.-Story:The...
center on this theme, as well. - The Danger GirlDanger GirlDanger Girl is an American comic book series created by J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell. The comic features a group of female secret agents led by a mentor named Deuce. The series follows the James Bond and Indiana Jones action-adventure formula, with the Danger Girls being an homage to the...
comic book features as its villains a modern-day Nazi group called 'The Hammer', which intends to use occult artifacts from AtlantisAtlantisAtlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
to establish a Fourth Reich.
- Neo-Nazis are recurring villains in Warrior Nun Areala
- James HerbertJames HerbertJames Herbert, OBE is a best-selling English horror writer who originally worked as the art director of an advertising agency. He is a full-time writer who also designs his own book covers and publicity.-Family:...
's novel, The SpearThe SpearThe Spear is a 1978 novel by British author James Herbert dealing with Nazi occultism and the Holy Lance.-Plot summary:The book deals with a neo-Nazi cult in Britain and an international conspiracy which includes a right-wing US general and a sinister arms dealer, and their obsession with and...
, deals with a neo-Nazi cult in Britain and an international conspiracy which includes a right-wing US general and a sinister arms dealer, and their obsession with and through the occult with resurrecting Himmler. - Katherine KurtzKatherine KurtzKatherine Kurtz is the author of numerous fantasy novels, most notably the Deryni novels. Although born in America, for the past several years, up until just recently, she has lived in a castle in Ireland...
’s novel Lammas NightLammas NightLammas Night is a fantasy novel by American-born author Katherine Kurtz, first published in paperback by Ballantine Books in December 1983. The first hardcover edition was issued by Severn House in 1986.-Plot summary:...
presents Nazis as powerful magicians who must be opposed by British witches. - The villains of Clive CusslerClive CusslerClive Eric Cussler is an American adventure novelist and marine archaeologist. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than seventeen times...
's novel Atlantis FoundAtlantis Found-Plot summary:In 7120 BC, a comet slams into North America, creating Hudson Bay, abruptly ending the last Ice Age and causing global geological and environmental upheaval. In 1858 AD, a whaling vessel discovers a 1770s merchant ship frozen in Antarctic ice. As with most of the novels in this...
are modern Nazis who operate out of a secret base in Antarctica who are linked to the ancient culture of AtlantisAtlantisAtlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
. - The Island of ThuleThuleThule Greek: Θούλη, Thoulē), also spelled Thula, Thila, or Thyïlea, is, in classical European literature and maps, a region in the far north. Though often considered to be an island in antiquity, modern interpretations of what was meant by Thule often identify it as Norway. Other interpretations...
is an important location in the Silver Age SentinelsSilver Age SentinelsSilver Age Sentinels is a superhero role-playing game published in 2002 by Guardians of Order, creators of Big Eyes, Small Mouth, an anime-themed RPG....
superheroSuperheroA superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
role playing game and collections of short stories based upon the game. It was raised from the Atlantic Ocean by Kreuzritter (“Crusader”), a Nazi superhuman who wears a mystical suit of armor made by a long-disappeared Aryan culture. - Kouta Hirano'sKouta Hiranois a Japanese manga artist born in Adachi, Tokyo, Japan, most famous for his manga Hellsing.- History :Starting his career first as a manga artist's assistant , and later an H manga artist, he went on to enjoy somewhat limited success with other relatively unknown manga titles such as Angel Dust,...
mangaMangaManga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series Hellsing features MillenniumMillennium (Hellsing)Millennium is a fictional Nazi organization from the manga series Hellsing by Kouta Hirano, they serve as the primary antagonists in the series. Its name is a reference to the "Thousand Year Reich" which Adolf Hitler sought to establish during World War II...
, a group of Nazis with the purpose of creating a reichReichReich is a German word cognate with the English rich, but also used to designate an empire, realm, or nation. The qualitative connotation from the German is " sovereign state." It is the word traditionally used for a variety of sovereign entities, including Germany in many periods of its history...
that will last a thousand years (in accordance with Hitler's vision). This organization is heavily mystical, including among its number a werewolfWerewolfA werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
, a catboyCatgirlA catgirl is a female character with cat traits, such as cat ears, a cat tail, or other feline characteristics on an otherwise human body. Catgirls are found in various fiction genres, and in particular Japanese anime and manga where they are more commonly referred to as Neko or Nekomimi , in...
, and an army of 1,000 vampireVampireVampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s known as the Letztes Bataillon ("Last Battalion"). It is led by a former SS officer whose true intention is the pursuit of absolute warAbsolute warThe concept of absolute war was a philosophical construct developed by the military theorist General Carl von Clausewitz. This concept was featured in the first half of the first chapter of his most famous book, On War...
. - James TwiningJames TwiningJames Twining is a British thriller writer.- Life :Although born in London, Twining spent most of his childhood in France after his family moved to Paris when he was four...
— The Black SunThe Black Sun (James Twining)The Black Sun is a 2005 historical novel by British author James Twining dealing with Nazism and occultism, Die Glocke and stolen Jewish art.... - James RollinsJames Rollins* For the American baseball pitcher, see Jim Czajkowski* For the American baseball shortstop, see Jimmy Rollins* For the 19th century American politician from Missouri, see James S. Rollins...
— Black OrderBlack Order (James Rollins)Black Order is a 2006 novel by James Rollins. The novel centers on Nazi mysticism and features the Schwarze Sonne and Wewelsburg.-Plot summary:... - Charles StrossCharles StrossCharles David George "Charlie" Stross is a British writer of science fiction, Lovecraftian horror and fantasy. He was born in Leeds.Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera...
features the fictitious Ahnenerbe activities in his The Atrocity ArchivesThe Atrocity ArchivesThe Atrocity Archives contains two stories by British author Charles Stross, consisting of the short novel The Atrocity Archive and The Concrete Jungle, which won the 2005 Hugo Award for Best Novella.The stories are Lovecraftian spy thrillers involving a secret history of the 20th century,... - Daniel Easterman's 1985 novel, The Seventh Sanctuary, features the Ahnenerbe and a Nazi city in the Saudi desert, where the Ark of the Covenant has been discovered, and from which it is planned that a Fourth Reich will be created.
- Nazi occultism plays a large role in several of the stories in the Rook Universe written by Barry ReeseBarry ReeseBarry Reese is a librarian and American writer. He is best known for his work on The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe for Marvel Comics, D6 Space: Fires of Amatsumara Worldbook for West End Games and the Rook Universe series of novels...
- Barbara Hambly's Sun-Cross books feature poor wizards in a parallel universe who inadvertently travel through a wormhole to Nazi Germany and are forced to magically assist Hitler's Reich.
- Mack BolanMack BolanMack Bolan, alias The Executioner, is a fictional character who has been serialized in over six hundred novels with sales of more than 200 million, according to Amazon.com. Created by Don Pendleton, Bolan made his first appearance on the printed page in 1969's War Against the Mafia...
draws the wrath of the Order of Thule by stealing a Nazi holy artifact in The Devil's Guard by Mark EllisMark Ellis (writer)Mark Ellis is an American novelist and comic-book writer who under the pen name James Axler has written scores of books for the Outlanders paperback novel series and other books, as well as numerous independent comics series....
. - Mister by Alex KurtagićSupernal MusicAlex Kurtagić , born 1970 and residing in the United Kingdom, is a radical traditionalist, racial-realist, elitist, pro-White activist and author on the Alternative and New Right author, artist, musician, publisher, translator, interviewer, blogger, movie and book reviewer, prolific writer,...
involves an underground Esoteric Hitlerist cult secretly conspiring to overthrow the system in a dystopian future Europe. In this future, the Esoteric Hitlerists are said to have established secret bases in Antarctica. They are also responsible for freeing a fictional Kevin MacDonaldKevin B. MacDonaldKevin B. MacDonald is a professor of psychology at California State University, Long Beach, best known for his use of evolutionary psychology to inform his study of Judaism as being a "group evolutionary strategy."...
, who in the novel had been incarcerated and becomes the world's number one fugitive. - The radio drama "Ritual of the Stifling Air" by Paul A Green, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 1977, depicts a modern group of Neo-Nazi occultists attempting to contact the ghost of the Fuehrer.
Film
- Nazi occult-hunters have been featured in Steven Spielberg's Indiana JonesIndiana JonesColonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
films. The AhnenerbeAhnenerbeThe Ahnenerbe was a Nazi German think tank that promoted itself as a "study society for Intellectual Ancient History." Founded on July 1, 1935, by Heinrich Himmler, Herman Wirth, and Richard Walther Darré, the Ahnenerbe's goal was to research the anthropological and cultural history of the Aryan...
organization was the basis for the Nazi archaeologist villains in these movies. They involve several plots related to Nazi mysticism, especially as related to archaeologyNazi archaeologyNazi archaeology refers to the movement led by various Nazi leaders, archaeologists, and other scholars, such as Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, to research the German past in order to strengthen nationalism...
. As one of the characters in Raiders of the Lost ArkRaiders of the Lost ArkRaiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
says, Hitler is "obsessed with the occult." Indiana Jones and the Last CrusadeIndiana Jones and the Last CrusadeIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third film in the Indiana Jones franchise. Harrison Ford reprises the title role and Sean Connery plays Indiana's father, Henry...
connects the Holy GrailHoly GrailThe Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers...
legend with Nazi occultism. - Blood Creek features a Nazi scholar attempting to gain immortality by drinking blood and soaking power from ancient VikingVikingThe term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
runes - Bulletproof MonkBulletproof MonkBulletproof Monk is a 2003 action film starring Chow Yun-fat, Seann William Scott and Jaime King. The film was directed by Paul Hunter. It is loosely based on the comic book by Michael Avon Oeming....
features a group of Nazis attempting to get the Scroll of the Ultimate, giving them unlimited power of good and evil. - Captain America: The First AvengerCaptain America: The First AvengerCaptain America: The First Avenger is a 2011 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Captain America. It is the fifth installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe...
deals with the Nazi "deep-science division", HYDRAHYDRAHYDRA is a fictional terrorist organization in the Marvel Universe.Despite the name's capitalization per Marvel's official spelling, the name is not an acronym but rather a reference to the mythical Lernaean Hydra...
, who use occult magic to power their machines. A brief mention is also made of Hitler "searching in the desertRaiders of the Lost ArkRaiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
" for something. - ConstantineConstantine (film)Constantine is a 2005 American action horror film directed by Francis Lawrence as his directorial debut, starring Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, with Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, and Djimon Hounsou...
features the Holy LanceHoly LanceThe Holy Lance is the name given to the lance that pierced Jesus' side as he hung on the cross in John's account of the Crucifixion.-Biblical references:The lance is mentioned only in the Gospel of John and not in any of the...
as a main plot point. It is found buried in Mexico, wrapped in a Nazi flag. - Dead SnowDead SnowDead Snow is a 2009 Norwegian horror film directed by Tommy Wirkola, starring Charlotte Frogner, Stig Frode Henriksen, Bjørn Sundquist, Ane Dahl Torp and Jenny Skavlan.- Plot :A woman, Sara, is being chased through the snows of Norway...
- Death ShipDeath Ship (1980 film)Death Ship is a 1980 horror film directed by Alvin Rakoff. The cast includes Academy Award winner George Kennedy, Richard Crenna, Sally Ann Howes, and Black Christmas actor Nick Mancuso.-Plot:...
- First SquadFirst SquadFirst Squad is a joint animation project of Japan's Studio 4°C and Russian authors with Molot Entertainment. It won the Kommersant newspaper's prize.-Plot:Set during the opening days of World War II on the Eastern Front...
Set during the opening days of World War II on the Eastern Front. Its main cast are a group of Soviet teenagers with extraordinary abilities; the teenagers have been drafted to form a special unit to fight the invading German army. They are opposed by a SchutzstaffelSchutzstaffelThe Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
(SS) officer who is attempting to raise from the dead a supernatural army of crusaders from the 12th-century Order of the Sacred Cross and enlist them in the Nazi cause. Most of the teenage crew die, except for the protagonist Nadia. She is taken to a secret Soviet lab that studies supernatural phenomena, especially contacts with the dead. Nadia's task is to dive into the world of the dead for reconnaissance. There, in the Gloomy Valley, she meets her dead friends and tries to persuade them to continue fighting. - Frostbite features an elderly Swedish nazi trying to create a master race from the blood of a girl vampire.
- Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of ShamballaFullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballais a 2005 Japanese animated film directed by Seiji Mizushima and written by Sho Aikawa, and acts as a continuation of the first Fullmetal Alchemist television series...
- HellboyHellboyHellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...
touches upon a fictional group of mysticist Nazis bent on summoning forces from other dimensions. - HellsingHellsingis a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano. It first premiered in Young King Ours in 1997 and ended in September 2008. The individual chapters are collected and published in tankōbon volumes by Shōnen Gahosha. As of March 2009 all chapters have been released in 10 volumes in...
features a surviving branch of the SS (fittingly dubbed "The Last Battalion") which were under the order of Hitler to create a battalion of 1000 vampire soldiers. The branch, officially named Millenium, went to hide in South America preparing for their revenge. - InvincibleInvincible (2001 film)Invincible is a 2001 drama film written and directed by Werner Herzog. The film stars Tim Roth, Jouko Ahola, Anna Gourari, and Max Raabe. The film tells the story of a Jewish strongman in Germany...
- Oasis of the ZombiesOasis of the ZombiesOasis of the Zombies is a 1981 film by cult film director Jesús Franco for French producer Marius Lesoeur....
- OutpostOutpost (film)-Plot:In a seedy bar in a town ravaged by war, scientist and businessman Hunt hires mercenary and former Royal Marine D.C. to assemble a crack team of ex-soldiers to protect him on a dangerous journey into no-man's land...
- Philadelphia Experiment IIPhiladelphia Experiment IIPhiladelphia Experiment II is a 1993 science fiction film. It is the sequel to the 1984 film The Philadelphia Experiment, but has none of the same cast or crew and only two of the same characters...
- Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge
- Puppet MasterPuppet Master (film)Puppet Master is a 1989 horror film written by Charles Band and Kenneth J. Hall, and directed by David Schmoeller...
- PushPush (2009 film)Push is a 2009 American science fiction thriller film directed by Paul McGuigan. The film stars Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle, Cliff Curtis, Joel Gretsch and Djimon Hounsou...
- SS Doomtrooper
- The BunkerThe Bunker (2001 film)The Bunker is a 2001 horror film directed by Rob Green, written by Clive Dawson and starring Jason Flemyng.-Plot:In late 1944 the remnants of a platoon of German Panzergrenadiers from the Großdeutschland Division are caught in an Ambush by American troops. In their retreat, they find a bunker,...
- The Devil's RockThe Devil's RockThe Devil's Rock is a 2011 New Zealand horror film directed by Paul Campion, written by Paul Finch, Paul Campion and Brett Ihaka and starring Craig Hall, Matthew Sunderland, Gina Varela and Karlos Drinkwater...
- The KeepThe Keep (film)The Keep is a 1983 horror film directed by Michael Mann and starring Scott Glenn, Gabriel Byrne, Jürgen Prochnow, Alberta Watson and Ian McKellen. It was released by Paramount Pictures. The story is based on the F...
- The Unborn
- They Saved Hitler's BrainThey Saved Hitler's BrainThey Saved Hitler's Brain is a 1969 science fiction film that was adapted for television from a shorter theatrical feature film, Madmen of Mandoras, directed by David Bradley. The film was lengthened with about twenty minutes additional footage shot by UCLA students at the request of the distributor...
- UnholyUnholy (film)Unholy is an independent film about Nazi mysticism starring Adrienne Barbeau and Nicholas Brendon. It was written by Samuel Stephen Freeman, directed by Daryl Goldberg, and produced by Sky Whisper Productions. Its release on DVD was on September 4, 2007...
- BloodRayne: The Third Reich
Games
- The computer game Return to Castle WolfensteinReturn to Castle WolfensteinReturn to Castle Wolfenstein is a first person shooter video game published by Activision and originally released on November 19, 2001 for Microsoft Windows. It was made available on Steam on August 3, 2007. The single player game was developed by Gray Matter Interactive and Nerve Software...
featured a plotline involving Nazi obsession with the occult. It portrays an organization (SS Paranormal Division) based on the Ahnenerbe practicing occult rituals and magic. The game drew themes of Nazi mysticism, among other things, from its predecessors, Wolfenstein 3DWolfenstein 3DWolfenstein 3D is a video game that is generally regarded by critics and gaming journalists as having both popularized the first-person shooter genre on the PC and created the basic archetype upon which all subsequent games of the same genre would be built. It was created by id Software and...
and its sequel, Spear of DestinySpear of Destiny (computer game)Spear of Destiny, often also called Spear, Wolfenstein 3D: Spear of Destiny or just SoD, is a 1992 first-person shooter computer game developed by id Software and published by FormGen Corporation, and is the prequel to id Software's Wolfenstein 3D...
, the latter of which also featured a storyline concerning Nazi mysticism. WolfensteinWolfenstein (video game)Wolfenstein is a science fiction first-person shooter video game co-developed by Raven Software, id Software, Pi Studios, and Endrant Studios and published by Activision. It is the sequel to Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and uses the id Tech 4 engine...
, for example, features a number of inspirations from the real-world Nazi regimes, but departs from historical reality in a number of ways. For example, the game aggrandizes the Kreisau CircleKreisau CircleThe Kreisau Circle was the name the Nazi Gestapo gave to a group of German dissidents centered on the Kreisau estate of Helmuth James Graf von Moltke. The Kreisauer Kreis is celebrated as one of the instances of German opposition to the Nazi regime...
to be “an extensive resistance network of paramilitary fighter and informants that aide and abets B.J. [the protagonist] in his exploits,” depicts the Thule SocietyThule SocietyThe Thule Society , originally the Studiengruppe für germanisches Altertum , was a German occultist and völkisch group in Munich, named after a mythical northern country from Greek legend...
(that Hitler formally disavowed while in power) as a “powerful nest of Nazis who disappear into the Black Sun and are deeply entangled in the Reich’s paranormal research efforts,” and goes beyond Himmler’s symbolic use of the Black Sun to make it a “limitless energy source that the Nazis are hell-bent on manipulating toward their own nefarious ends.” - The video game BloodRayneBloodRayneBloodRayne has received mostly mixed to positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Xbox version 73.53% and 76/100, the GameCube version 68.88% and 73/100, the PlayStation 2 version 68.87% and 75/100 and the PC version 65.78% and 65/100.-External links:*...
involves a plotline concerning the Thule society and its members, and features a lot of in-game Thule society imagery (especially the character High Priest Von Blut). - A fictional division of the AhnenerbeAhnenerbeThe Ahnenerbe was a Nazi German think tank that promoted itself as a "study society for Intellectual Ancient History." Founded on July 1, 1935, by Heinrich Himmler, Herman Wirth, and Richard Walther Darré, the Ahnenerbe's goal was to research the anthropological and cultural history of the Aryan...
, the Karotechia, has a prominent place in the mythology of the Delta GreenDelta GreenDelta Green is a setting for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game created by Adam Scott Glancy, Dennis Detwiller, and John Tynes, aka the Delta Green Partnership, of the Seattle gaming house Pagan Publishing...
setting for the role playing game Call of CthulhuCall of Cthulhu (role-playing game)Call of Cthulhu is a horror fiction role-playing game based on H. P. Lovecraft's story of the same name and the associated Cthulhu Mythos.The game, often abbreviated as CoC, is published by Chaosium.-Setting:...
, and stories based upon the setting. In it, the survivors of the Karotechia, a group founded to study occult tomes and conduct magical research, live on in South America, training sorcerers and cultists to found the Fourth Reich, all under the sway of Hitler's ghost (actually NyarlathotepNyarlathotepNyarlathotep, also known as the Crawling Chaos, is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos fictional universe created by H. P. Lovecraft. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem of the same name, he was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers and in the tabletop...
in disguise). - The role playing game Hollow Earth ExpeditionHollow Earth ExpeditionHollow Earth Expedition is a pulp 1930s role-playing game set in the fictitious Hollow Earth, published by Exile Game Studio. The game has been nominated for several Origins and ENnie awards since its release in 2006....
features a fictionalized Thule SocietyThule SocietyThe Thule Society , originally the Studiengruppe für germanisches Altertum , was a German occultist and völkisch group in Munich, named after a mythical northern country from Greek legend...
's attempts at infiltrating the Hollow EarthHollow EarthThe Hollow Earth hypothesis proposes that the planet Earth is either entirely hollow or otherwise contains a substantial interior space. The hypothesis has been shown to be wrong by observational evidence, as well as by the modern understanding of planet formation; the scientific community has...
. The sourcebook, Secrets of the Surface World, further expands the efforts of Nazis to discover and use occult relics. - In the game Indiana Jones and the Emperor's TombIndiana Jones and the Emperor's TombIndiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb is an action video game developed by The Collective and published by LucasArts in 2003 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Macintosh and Windows. It features cover art by Drew Struzan. The game is a new adventure of fictional archeologist Indiana Jones. The story is set in...
there is a castle in PraguePraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, in which there are GestapoGestapoThe Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
agents searching for items of Occult value. - The PlayStation game Medal of Honor Underground featured a mission where the main character had to infiltrate Wewelsburg Castle. The intro video and end video for the mission described occultism in the SS. In the mission the character had to retrieve the Knife of Abraham, fight knights, and eventually ended up in a run with the Black Sun found on the floor, where the Nazis planned to bury their leaders: codename Valhalla.
- The Xbox 360 game Operation DarknessOperation DarknessOperation Darkness is a tactical role-playing game for the Xbox 360 developed and published by Japanese studio Success on October 11, 2007 in Japan. A North American version was released on June 24, 2008 by Atlus...
features supernatural British commandos (werewolves etc.) fighting Nazi vampires, zombies, and other monsters conjured by Hitler. - In Call of Duty: World at WarCall of Duty: World at WarCall of Duty: World at War is a first-person shooter video game developed by Treyarch and published by Activision for PC, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360. It is generally considered to be the fifth mainstream game of the Call of Duty series and returns the setting to World War II. The game was...
and Call of Duty: Black OpsCall of Duty: Black OpsCall of Duty: Black Ops is a first-person shooter video game developed by Treyarch, published by Activision and released worldwide on November 9, for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii consoles, with a separate version for Nintendo DS developed by n-Space. Announced on April 30, 2010,...
, there is a multiplayer feature where players fight Nazi zombies. These zombies were created through secret German experimentsDie GlockeDie Glocke was a purported top secret Nazi scientific technological device, secret weapon, or Wunderwaffe. First described by Polish journalist Igor Witkowski, it was later popularized by military journalist and author Nick Cook as well as by writers such as Joseph P. Farrell...
with the use of Element 115UnunpentiumUnunpentium is the temporary name of a synthetic superheavy element in the periodic table that has the temporary symbol Uup and has the atomic number 115....
. - In the game Uncharted: Drake's Fortune the main character Nathan DrakeNathan Drake (character)Nathan "Nate" Drake is the fictional protagonist of the Uncharted video game series, developed by Naughty Dog. He is a playable character in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, and appears in the motion comic prequel...
comes across a long-abandoned Nazi U-BoatU-boatU-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
stranded on a waterfall. On it, he finds that the crew are dead and mutilated and a map to a tropic island where the statue of El DoradoEl DoradoEl Dorado is the name of a Muisca tribal chief who covered himself with gold dust and, as an initiation rite, dived into a highland lake.Later it became the name of a legendary "Lost City of Gold" that has fascinated – and so far eluded – explorers since the days of the Spanish Conquistadors...
was taken to. Near the end of the game, Nathan finds himself in an abandoned German U-Boat base built into the island in which he finds that the Germans had sought for the power of the statue of El Dorado but too late learned that it carries a curse that had mutated them into monsters. - In Clive Barker's JerichoClive Barker's JerichoClive Barker’s Jericho is a supernatural horror-themed first person shooter video game with author Clive Barker providing the premise of the storyline...
, an entire chapter of the game throws the Jerichos into World War II, where they are to defeat undead Nazis and their occultist leader Hanne Lichthammer. - Tannhauser (board game)Tannhäuser (board game)Tannhäuser is a 2007 board wargame from Take On You which takes place in an alternate reality. Each player controls an elite team who are attempting to shift the balance of power in this stalemate between nations...
pits Allies against agents of the defeated Third Reich using occult powers. - Day After Ragnarok is a post-apocalyptic role-playing gameRole-playing gameA role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
by Kenneth HiteKenneth HiteKenneth Hite is a writer and role-playing game designer. He holds an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor's degree in Cartography from East Central University. He has been writing games since 1981 and full-time since 1995...
set in a devastated world following the Nazi's summoning of the world serpentWorld serpentWorld Serpent may refer to:*Jörmungandr, also known as the Midgard Serpent, is the serpent surrounding the Earth and grasping his own tail in Norse Mythology.*Shesha in Hinduism...
.
See also
- Adolf Hitler in popular culture
- Adolf Hitler's religious beliefsAdolf Hitler's religious beliefsAdolf Hitler's religious views are a matter of dispute. Raised by a skeptic father and a Catholic mother, Adolf Hitler ceased to participate in the Sacraments after childhood. In his book Mein Kampf and in public speeches he often made statements which affirmed a belief in Christianity...
- Esoteric NazismEsoteric NazismThe term Esoteric Nazism refers to semi-religious developments of Nazism in the post-World War II period. After 1945, esoteric elements of the Third Reich were developed into new völkisch religions of white identity. Examples of post-war Nazi mystical philosophies include Esoteric Hitlerism and...
- Esotericism in Germany and AustriaEsotericism in Germany and AustriaThis article gives an overview of esoteric movements in Germany and Austria between 1880 and 1945, presenting Theosophy, Anthroposophy and Ariosophy, among others, against the influences of earlier European esotericism.-Knights Templar and occultism:...
- German ChristiansGerman ChristiansThe Deutsche Christen were a pressure group and movement within German Protestantism aligned towards the antisemitic and Führerprinzip ideological principles of Nazism with the goal to align German Protestantism as a whole towards those principles...
- JulleuchterJulleuchterA Julleuchter or Turmleuchter , is a "small earthenware candlestick, about 4" square at the bottom, about 8" tall, and it is shaped kind of like a mountain or a tower." Modern Julleuchters have the Hagall rune and a heart symbol visible on all four sides. Other examples have an Algiz rune or a...
- Magic: History, Theory and PracticeMagic: History, Theory and PracticeOriginally published in Germany in 1923 by Dr. Ernst Schertel, Magic: History / Theory / Practice, in its original German edition, was a hardcover book consisting of 154 pages....
- Nazi archaeologyNazi archaeologyNazi archaeology refers to the movement led by various Nazi leaders, archaeologists, and other scholars, such as Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, to research the German past in order to strengthen nationalism...
- Nazi UFOsNazi UFOsIn science fiction, conspiracy theory, and underground comic books, stories or claims circulate linking UFOs to Nazi Germany. These German UFO theories describe supposedly successful attempts to develop advanced aircraft or spacecraft prior to and during World War II, and further claim the...
- Nazis: The Occult ConspiracyNazis: The Occult ConspiracyNazis: The Occult Conspiracy, directed by Tracy Atkinson and Joan Baran, narrated by Malcolm McDowell, is an English language 1998 Discovery Channel documentary regarding Nazi occultism.-Soundtrack:...
- Neofascism and religionNeofascism and religionNeo-fascism and religion refers to debates about the relationships between neo-fascism and various religions.Some scholars, using the term neo-fascism in its narrow sense, consider certain contemporary religious movements and groups to represent forms of clerical or theocratic neofascism, including...
- Neo-völkisch movementsNeo-völkisch movementsNeo-völkisch movements, as defined by the historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, cover a wide variety of mutually influencing groups of a radically ethnocentric character which have emerged, especially in the English-speaking world, since World War II...
- The Occult History of the Third ReichThe Occult History of the Third ReichThe Occult History of the Third Reich, narrated by Patrick Allen and directed by Dave Flitton, is a 1991 four-part History Channel documentary regarding the occult influences and history of Nazi Germany and early 20th century Germany.-Contents:...
- Positive ChristianityPositive ChristianityPositive Christianity was a slogan of Nazi propaganda adopted at the NSDAP congress 1920 to express a worldview which is Christian, non-confessional, vigorously opposed to the spirit of "Jewish Materialism", and oriented to the principle of voluntary association of those with a common...
- Protestant Reich ChurchProtestant Reich ChurchThe Protestant Reich Church, officially German Evangelical Church and colloquially Reichskirche, was formed in 1936 to merge the 28 regional churches into a unified state church that espoused a single doctrine compatible with National Socialism...
- Religion in Nazi Germany
- Religious aspects of NazismReligious aspects of NazismHistorians, political scientists and even philosophers have studied Nazism with a specific focus on its religious or semi-religious aspects.The most prominent discourse here is the debate whether Nazism would constitute a political religion, but there has also been research on the millenarianistic,...
- Walter Johannes SteinWalter Johannes SteinWalter Johannes Stein was an Austrian philosopher, Waldorf school teacher, Grail researcher, and one of the pioneers of anthroposophy.-Early life:...
Further reading
- Michael Rißmann. 2001.Hitlers Gott. Vorsehungsglaube und Sendungsbewußtsein des deutschen Diktators.. esp. pp. 137–172; Zürich, Munich. Pendo
- Nicholas Goodrick-ClarkeNicholas Goodrick-ClarkeNicholas Goodrick-Clarke B.A. , D.Phil. is a professor of Western Esotericism at University of Exeter and author of several books on esoteric traditions....
. 1985. The Occult Roots of NazismThe Occult Roots of Nazismthumb|right|Cover of the 1992 editionThe 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. It is the "seminal work" on Nazi occultism and Ariosophy. The book also includes some...
: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology: The Ariosophists of Austria and Germany, 1890–1935. Wellingborough, England: The Aquarian Press. ISBN 0-85030-402-4. (Several reprints.) Expanded with a new Preface, 2004, I.B. Tauris & Co. ISBN 1-86064-973-4 - Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke. 2002. Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity. New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-3124-4. (Paperback, 2003. ISBN 0-8147-3155-4)
- H. T. Hakl. 1997: Nationalsozialismus und Okkultismus. In: Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke: Die okkulten Wurzeln des Nationalsozialismus. Graz, Austria: Stocker (German edition of The Occult Roots of Nazism)
Other References
- Bruno Frei. 1980. Der Hellseher: Leben und Sterben des Erik Jan Hanussen. ed.: Antonia Gruneberg. Cologne: Prometh
- Mattias GardellMattias GardellHans Bertil Mattias Gardell is a Swedish scholar of comparative religion. He is the current holder of the Nathan Söderblom Chair of Comparative Religion at Uppsala University, Sweden....
. 2003. Gods of the BloodGods of the BloodGods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism is a book by Swedish scholar Mattias Gardell discussing Neopaganism and white separatism, neo-fascism and antisemitism.It was published by Duke University Press in May 2003....
: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-3071-4
External links
- The Occult Roots of Nazism by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke — Short article at www.lapismagazine.org
- Magic Realism – A book review by William Main of The Occult Roots of Nazism, taken from the December 1994 issue of "Fidelity" Magazine
- Nationalsozialismus und Okkultismus? Die Thule-Gesellschaft Article on an information page from the Swiss Reformed ChurchSwiss Reformed ChurchThe Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...
- NARANational Archives and Records AdministrationThe National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
Research Room: Captured German and Related Records on Microform in the National Archives: Captured German Records Filmed at Berlin (American Historical Association, 1960). Microfilm Publication T580. 1,002 rolls, including among, others, files of the Ahnenerbe and the Nachlass of Walter Darré. - Hitler and the Occult: Nazism, Reincarnation, and Rock Culture
- White Blood, White Gods: An Assessment of Racialist Paganism in the United States—A Senior Honors Thesis by Damon Berry in June 2006.
- "Hitler and the Secret Societies" by Julius EvolaJulius EvolaBarone Giulio Cesare Andrea Evola also known as Julius Evola, was an Italian philosopher and esotericist...
(from Il Conciliatore, no. 10, 1971; translated from the German edition in Deutsche Stimme, no. 8, 1998)