We present here an essay by Hans Thomas Hakl on a very controversial
topic, about which Evola also wrote a few years before his
death : 'Hitler and the Secret Societies'. It was first published -
translated from German into Italian - in Arthos (new series, issues
one and two, first and second quarters of 1997). Unpretentious,
rather dry, but informative and often judicious in its criticism, it
has the merit of setting out the field of enquiry clearly and
precisely.
It is divided into three parts, which we shall post one at a time
over the coming weeks.
National Socialism and Occultism : Demystifying the Myth.
A critical analysis of the following texts :
René Freund, 'Braune Magie? Okkultismus, New Age und
Nationalsozialismus' (Picus, Vienna, 1995)
Peter Orzechowski, 'Schwarze Magie - Braune Macht' (Peter Selinka,
Ravensburg, 1990)
E.R. Carmin, 'Das schwarze Reich : Okkultismus und Politik im 20.
Jahrhundert' (Edition Magus, Bad Münstereifel, 1994)
Detlev Rose, 'Die Thule-Gesellschaft : Legende, Mythos, Wirklichkeit'
(Grabert, Tübingen, 1994)
Giorgio Galli, 'Hitler e il nazismo magico : le componenti esoteriche
del Reich millenario' (Rizzoli, Milan, 1993, first edition 1989).
Ernesto Mila, 'Nazisme et ésotérisme' (Pardès, Puiseaux, 1990,
original edition : "Nazismo y esoterismo", Barcelone, s.d.)
Ken Anderson, 'Hitler and the Occult' (Prometheus Books, Amherst,
1995)
Structure of the essay
This work is divided into three parts. In the first we review the
aforementioned books, in addition to offering some more general
references. The second part is a brief study of the historical
literature concerning the most important groups and personalities
associated with occultism, in which we attempt to evaluate the real
value of their 'occult' claims. The third part offers a sketch of
origin of the myth of 'National Socialist occultism' on the basis of
the French and English literature of the 1940's. Here we show that
Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier did not create this myth in their
widely translated best-seller 'The Morning of the Magicians', as has
been widely thought, but that they were able to tap previous sources.
We should make it clear right from the start that the
expressions 'occult' and 'occultism' are used here in the sense
of 'secret' and especially concerned with supernatural forces. (...).
We propose to determine whether the claim can be sustained that
National Socialism is based on occult doctrines, and on contacts with
occult 'Orders', in the sense that the organisations of National
Socialism cultivated an occult culture and maintained close contact
with persons and groups associated with occultism. It is not a
question of establishing whether given representatives of National
Socialism - Heinrich Himmler or Rudolf Hess for instance - adhered to
some esoteric doctrine, but whether National Socialism as a whole
owed its rise and its power to these influences. If we can show that
the direct contacts with famous 'magicians' and occultists, and the
occult links, which are asserted by many authors, cannot be
demonstrated historically or are to be completely excluded, or that
the organisations of National Socialism and the supposed 'magical
orders', for instance the Thule Society, were essentially of a
profane and non-supernaturalist character, then the thesis of the
occult origin of National Socialism as a whole must therefore be
untenable.
1. Review
René Freund's book follows precisely the path of historical analysis
as we proposed it above, and may be praised for its moderation. He
shows at the outset the relationship between the theosophical
theories of Madame Blavatsky and the National Socialist doctrine of
race, but without making the mistake of imagining that theosophy lay
at the root of the National Socialist movement. Leon Poliakov in
his 'The Aryan Myth' (Basic Books, New York, 1974) showed that the
theory of race in the second half of the nineteenth century was
widespread and not restricted to the German-speaking area. Freund
also shows how some esoteric doctrines, such as that of the
annihilation of the ego, can easily have dehumanising effects.
The author focuses on the various movements and persons which are
usually presented as proofs of the links between National Socialism
and occultism. Thus, he discusses Aryosophy, the Thule Society,
Rudolf Sebottendorf, Karl Haushofer, and Hans Hörbiger, without
finding any proof of decisive occult influence ; far from it, the
occult links which are commonly asserted dissolve one after another
upon more precise examination. Nevertheless, the author mentions at
the same time a great deal of material - none of it, however, really
new - which shows how, behind the National Socialist movement, even
quite esoteric theories managed to find room for themselves here and
there. (...).
Interestingly, Freund remarks that "allied propaganda had a big
influence on the birth of those stories about occultism" (p. 67). We
can gain some measure of this factor by reading Ellic Howe's 'The
Black Game : British Subversive Operations against the Germans during
the Second World War' (Michael Joseph, London, 1982). Although Howe
was a well known specialist in the history of esoteric organisations,
and a high-ranking collaborator of Sefton Delmer in the department of
secret propaganda set up to combat Hitler's Germany (PWE), he doesn't
mention any occult-oriented gambits, except for some falsified
excerpts from Nostradamus meant to 'prophesy' the fall of the Third
Reich and the assassination of Hitler. His book also shows a
reproduction of a faked German astrological review, which was
intended to deter U-boat crews from setting out on their missions.
Howe's department produced these fakes in order for the Secret
Service (SOE) to spread them among the people of Germany, or to have
them dropped from allied aircraft onto German territory. It can be
assumed that Howe knew the details of this enterprise, that is, the
subversion of National Socialism via occultism, of which his
department would have been in charge. And since Howe doesn't show any
consideration for British secrecy in his book, it is hard to see why
he couldn't have mentioned other instances of this, if they existed.
Therefore, we are inclined to favour another theory of the genesis of
the occult myth, namely that it originated among the authors and
esoteric groups which we shall discuss in the third part of this
analysis.
Peter Orzechowski's work, although it resembles that of René Freund
in structure, cannot, even with the best will of the world, be put on
the same level as far as reliability is concerned. Too often, his
wish to find something of interest to him exceeds the capacities of
his sources. Without showing much caution about them, he keeps
quoting authors like Hermann Rauschning (1), Joseph Greiner, and even
Trevor Ravenscroft, whose contradictions and historically impossible
affirmations are easy to expose. Besides, the author could have
learned to assess Ravenscroft more accurately from 'The Occult Roots
of Nazism' by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (Aquarian Press,
Wellingborough, UK, 1985).
Orzechowski detects a definite influence of occultism on National
Socialism, even though, to his credit, he has left aside the grossest
quackeries and questioned more than one occultist interpretation
(...).
E.R. Carmin's book (...), based in part on his previous 'Guru Hitler'
(Zurich, 1985), belongs entirely to the genre of 'conspiracy theory'.
One hundred and fifty pages deal with this theme, in which the Thule
Society is the key issue. The author offers a great many points of
reference, but doesn't make any distinction between serious
literature, based on the study of sources, and complete
fantasy. Historians like Werner Maser and John Tolland are dealt with
in the same way as authors like Bergier and Pauwels or Ravenscroft,
which are entertaining for the reader but scarcely trustworthy.
Utterly uncritical quotations from the omnipresent Rauschning are
used to add the final touch to the thesis of a global conspiracy of
demonic powers. Even a superficial study of the aforementioned book
of Goodrick-Clarke would have revealed the unreliability of most of
the quotations used by Carmin. It's a pity that a book written in a
compelling manner has to be read as a rather fanciful novel (or
possibly, according to my own judgment, it is just as well).
Detlev Rose's book, 'Die Thule-Gesellschaft', published by a house
well-known for its right-wing tendencies, is completely different.
Rose tries to command the attention of his readers by means of
objectivity and documented facts. He limits himself more or less to
the important central theme of the mythic Thule Society, but takes
into consideration - or claims to take into consideration - all the
source material so far known. Some interesting photographic material
and some facsimiles illustrate his exposition excellently. One is
drawn to the more or less indisputable conclusion that the Thule
Society was nothing but a racist, strongly anti-Semitic, völkish
society, whose main goal was to oppose the Republic of Munich. Rudolf
von Sebottendorf notwithstanding, nothing concerning occult exercises
or purposes can be found in the writings and reports of the general
meetings which have reached us. Johannes Hering, who, as leading
member of the Society, compiled the reports of the meetings of those
years, wrote, for example, on the 31st of August 1938 : "Address by
Sebottendorf on the pendulum - this entanglement with occultism has
been a put-off for me throughout my life. However, some of the less
reputable members of the Thule show interest in it from time to
time."
For Rose, the Thule Society was a "point of crystallisation which
united völkish and national resistance against revolution". He also
mentions that the Thule Society was not a secret organisation, but
acted as a cover in Bavaria for the Germanenorden, which actually was
a 'secret organisation'. To prove their faithfulness, new members had
to be introduced into the Thule Society before being able to join the
Germanenorden. However, for writers with a vivid imagination, 'Thule
Society' sounds much more 'mystical' than 'Germanenorden' - though in
reality, neither the one nor the other had any esoteric goals.
Additionally, this author corrects certain common historical
exaggerations, such as the story of the shooting of seven members of
the Thule Society in the Luitpold Gymnasium, which are found in
Sebottendorf's famous book 'Bevor Hitler kam' (Munich, 1933).
Rose's analysis of the links between some important personalities of
the future NSDAP and the Thule Society is particularly interesting.
First, he tries to establish who joined the Thule Society, and
manages to correct a series of accounts, such as that of Dietrich
Bronder, among others, which consider Hitler and Himmler to have been
members. Dietrich Eckart had positive contacts with the Thule
Society, but he had only the status of 'guest', he was not a member.
Rudolf Hess was a member, but any Thule Society influence upon him
after 1919 - long before the NSDAP came to power - seems unlikely.
There was certainly Thule Society contact with Alfred Rosenberg, but
we don't know of what kind. In any case, it can be assumed that the
influence of the Thule Society upon him was very minor. There was
also contact with Hans Frank and with Gottfried Feder, but no major
influence. However, Heinrich Himmler, the man who, of all the most
important members of the NSDAP, was most interested in occultism, had
no contact with the Thule Society. This is why the rôle of the Thule
Society in the pre-history of National Socialism can be described as
being of little importance. Rose goes so far as to say that, after
the Thule member Karl Harrer left the DAP (as the NSDAP was then
known), "there was no longer any Thule Society influence on National
Socialism" (p.157) (...).
Giorgio Galli, one of the most popular Italian political writers
(...) has also tackled this theme, in his book which we list at the
beginning of our essay. Something must be said straight away : this
book is a disappointment. This is likely due to the fact that Galli
doesn't base himself on first-hand sources, probably because he is
ignorant of the German language. Otherwise, the many spelling
mistakes of German (and sometimes even English) names and
organisations, and the erroneous translations of passages from
German, would be inexplicable. This is a substantial problem for the
exposition of this theme. Only very few non-German authors can read
German, in which most of the existing material is written. The fact
that the literature on occultism in French, English and Italian
produces such 'pearls' this comes as no surprise.
However, let us devite a little more attention to Gialli, whose open-
mindedness towards marginal currents must be praised, and whose vast
erudition is also apparent in this book. Given that Gialli's
reflections are based most of the time on highly untrustworthy
authors (such as Hermann Rauschning), the level of the conclusions he
draws from them cannot be expected to be more elevated than it is. No
one could deny that, in the Germany of the 1920's and 30's, occultism
boomed. Can we however infer from this that Hitler and National
Socialism must have occult roots? This remains faulty reasoning no
matter how many details from the occult panorama of the period are
superadded. Gialli's idea of postulating an esoteric reading of 'Mein
Kampf', as if it was 'The Divine Comedy', also seems rather odd.
It might be wondered why Gialli, who is to be praised for wanting to
give esotericism its due, doesn't trust the one esoteric author whom
he knows well, and whose knowledge of these matters he is unlikely to
deny. We are referring to Julius Evola, who had enough contacts with
National Socialism to form an accurate idea in situ regarding its
supposed occult blackground. Evola, in fact, disputed this background
(2), even though he didn't deny Hitler a certain mediumistic
capacity, above all in his speeches.
It may seem petty to draw attention to some of the spelling mistakes,
but the fact that the name of the English propaganda bureau,
the 'Psychological Warfare Institute', is given as 'Welfare
Institute', is unintentionally amusing (p. 62). In sum, although
Galli avoids the most extreme occult ramblings, he manifestly did not
bother to study the historical literature which already exists on
this theme, and which is based on documented facts (3).
Ernesto Mila doesn't try to give his book any scientific aspect
either. He thinks he can find within National Socialism a battle
between demonic forces and forces of Tradition in the higher sense ;
a battle in which the former finally gained the upper hand. Given
this aim, the work cannot be subjected to a pure historical
judgment ; after all, how can one speak, in a spiritual context, of
proof or disproof? But as soon as Mila tackles verifiable historical
facts, he shows, like many of our other authors, how scarce his
knowledge of them is. The Thule Society, for example, is given far
too prominent a position, and Professor Ernst Schäfer's expedition to
Tibet is considered in an erroneous light. Again, when he speaks of
esoteric exercises in the Thule Society, he is simply confusing the
issue with the private interests of Baron Rudolf von Sebottendorf.
Mila's reflections on a possible 'mythologisation" of Hitler,
inspired by those of the Italian medievalist Franco Cardini, are
worthy of note. If the essential historical documents dealing with
his life were to be lost over the course of the centuries, a great
many detached fragments could make Hitler into a mythological figure.
The author refers here to the obscurity of his origins, as well as to
that of his death, which took place within a true 'twilight of the
gods', to his promise of a thousand year Reich, his meteoric career,
and his reputation of being a loner without friends or women. When we
recall that, just after his death, Miguel Serrano described him as
the 'Last Avatar', it makes us wonder.
In this connection a facsimile document provided by Wilfried Daim
absolutely must be mentioned. It is a report "for the Führer's eyes
only" about the "unconditional abolition of all religious faiths
after the final victory ... with, at the same time, the proclamation
of Hitler as the new messiah". Verbatim : "The Führer should be
presented as a combination of Redeemer and Liberator". Further
down : "By means of an adequate propaganda, the origin of the Führer
should be hidden even more than it has been so far, just as his
future departure should take place in the most complete obscurity
(the return to the Castle of the Grail)". In addition to this, there
is a note by Hitler: "This is the first project which can be used!
Refer to Dr Göbbels (sic!) for the final version". This report comes
from the Müllern-Schönhausen collection, and could be a fake, as
Daim, who himself believes in the authenticity of this document,
admits.
Ken Anderson's work can be seen as a step in the opposite direction
to the myth of National Socialist occultism. First, he mentions the
opinions of some authors who believe in the occult origin of National
Socialism, then he sets about criticising them. Unfortunately he has
to work with insufficient means. As a matter of fact, anything which
is not written in English seems to be obscure for him (here, again,
there are many spelling mistakes of German names). (...). Moreover,
Anderson is under the strong influence of 'legends' which have been
going around for a long time. Thus, we hear, on the basis of the two-
volume biography of Karl Haushofer by Hans-Adolf Jacobsen (Boldt,
Boppard am Rhein, 1979), that Haushofer certainly never travelled to
Tibet, and, therefore, cannot have met Gurdjieff - whose own journey
to Tibet cannot be verified.
The most interesting and original contribution of Anderson's book is
its attempt to follow the trail of Trevor Ravenscroft, and to find
out something about the genesis of his widely translated book, 'The
Spear of Destiny' (Neville Spearman, Jersey, 1973), as well as
something about the life of its author. Among other things, he
mentions an interview with Ravenscroft's brother, by which the
historicity of this influential book is much shaken. Ravenscroft's
brother speaks of his financial trouble, which could
have 'stimulated' his creative capacity.
It's a matter of verifable fact, at least, that the biographical
notes on Ravenscroft found on the cover of the American edition of
his book do not match with what Anderson has been able to determine.
In addition to this, there are the numerous nonsenses and
impossibilities in Ravenscroft's work, to which Anderson continuously
and happily refers. The last part of the book, based on Ellic Howe's
work, deals with the relations between astrology and National
Socialism. It ends on an ironic note. Anderson informs us that there
are more historical references to the involvement of Winston
Churchill in occult societies than there are to that of Hitler.
Brief notes on the 'serious' Literature concerning the Persons and
Groups associated with occultism within National Socialism.
Our aim here is simply to evaluate the supposed occult links of
certain persons and groups within National Socialism using the
existent real sources.
Adolf Hitler
It is interesting to note that Hitler, in 'mythical-occult'
literature, is never the great Führer - the one who, as 'magician'
and strong man, pulls the occult strings - but rather he is the one
who is 'seduced', who is subject to the influence of higher secret
powers, or, at least, of lovers of black magic or of 'orders',
whether those figures are Karl Haushofer, Dietrich Eckart, the Thule
Society, the Vril, or even the Order of the Green Dragon.
Naturally, there are innumerable biographies of Hitler. Here are
some universally known ones : J.C. Fest, 'Hitler' (Franco-Forte,
1973) ; W. Maser, 'Adolf Hitler : Legende, Mythos, Wirklichkeit'
(Munich, sixth edition, 1974) ; J. Toland, 'Adolf Hitler' (New York,
1976) ; A. Bullock, 'Hitler : Eine Studie über Tyrannei' (Düsseldorf,
1969). None of them allude to any occult activities. Friedrich
Heer's 'Die Glaube des Adolf Hitler' (Munich, 1968) is closer to our
theme, its ninth chapter being called 'Political-Religious
Manicheanism : Hitler, Lanz, Trebitsch', to which an additional and
more extensive excursus on Lanz von Liebenfels is added. However,
this author doesn't inform us of any occult intellectual heritage in
its characterisation of the goals of Hitler, but of a much more
profane "struggle between a divine race and a dirty rabble of
subhumans".
Heinrich Himmler
Even leaving aside the fact that, until the putsch against Röhm in
1934, Himmler had no real power, no one in any case claims that he
could have manipulated Hitler, or the NSDAP, or that he was
responsible for their rise. On the contrary, he is invariably
presented to us as the classical underling or assistant. His esoteric
inclinations were private matters to him and were never taken
seriously in influential political circles. Here, it is necessary to
mention a point which cannot be emphasised enough : for Hitler, as
for Hess, Rosenberg or Darré (whose occult-völkish tendencies are
seldom discussed), there is always one thing to remember above all :
politics always comes first!
That Himmler wished to structure the SS as an order, more or less
along Jesuit lines, has probably more to do with efficiency and
esprit de corps than with esotericism in any literal sense. We know
almost nothing about the so-called "occult meditations" of the
leading circle of the SS in Wewelsburg Castle, but they are not
likely to have been very important, since, at most, only three or
four of them were held each year. And if a conclusion could be drawn
from the documents which have reached us on the "highest cultural
points in the life of a member of the SS with no confessional link,"
it would be, to put it at its strongest, a matter of solemnities, but
of absolutely nothing occult.
Similarly, there was nothing occult about the Ahnenerbe, which, in
1935, on Himmler's wishes, started to devote itself to the study of
Germanic pre-history. Very quickly, scientific-naturalist studies
were added to the sciences of the spirit, above all in the context of
the doctrines of race and of medicine. The Ahnenerbe was also in
charge of agronomy, and it possessed an institute for military
research. (...) According to M.H. Kater in his 'Das "Ahnenerbe" der
SS : ein Beitrag zur Kulturpolitik des Dritten Reiches' (Stuttgart,
1974), the Ahnenerbe represented the "attempt of Himmler to expand
the political power of the SS to the field of spiritual life" (p.7).
Further relevant literature includes : B.F. Smith, 'Heinrich Himmler'
(Stanford. 1971) ; Josef Ackermann, 'Heinrich Himmler als Ideologue'
(Göttingen, 1970) ; Karl Hüser, 'Wewelsburg 1933 to 1945 : Kult- und
Terrorstätte' (Paderborn, 1982) ; and Stuart Russell-Jost and W.
Schneider, 'Heinrich Himmlers Burg : Bildchronik der SS-Schule Haus
Wewelsburg 1934-1945' (Essen, 1989). Particularly noteworthy in this
context is the work of Rudolf J. Mund, well-known in esoteric
circles, 'Der Rasputin Himmlers' (Vienna, 1982), which elucidates the
enigmatic figure of Karl Maria Wiligut, who contributed much to
the 'mythologisation' of Himmler.
Prof. Karl Haushofer
Haushofer's reputation probably derives from his expedition to Japan,
which lasted from 1908 to 1910. There is no proof that he visited
Tibet, contrarily to what is continually asserted. According to
Ravenscroft, Hitler must have been 'initiated' by Haushofer while he
was in Landsberg prison. Haushofer's visits, however, were
principally to Hess and, from a detailed register of the visits, it
is known that Haushofer spent only 22 days at Landsberg, which, as
Detlev Rose points out in the aforementioned work (p.177), "is not a
long time for so important an event". According to Hans-Adolf
Jacobsen, in his 'Karl Haushofer, Leben und Werk' (Boldt, Boppard am
Rhein, 1979, see above), "one cannot speak of any significant
Haushofer influence on the political behaviour of Hitler until 1941,
if only because Hitler knew of the Jewish origins of Martha Haushofer
(mother of Karl Haushofer)".
Notes
(1) In particular, his work 'Gespräche mit Hitler' (Hitler Speaks,
London, 1939 ; Voice of Destruction, New York, 1940), which has a
central importance in the occult mythologisation of Hitler, but
which, from an historical standpoint, is of dubious value. In fact,
it has been shown that those so-called "Conversations with Hitler"
are a fake, see Wolfgang Hänel, Hermann Rauschnings "Gespräche
mit Hitler - Eine Geschichtsfälschung (Veröffentlichung der
Zeitgeschichtliche Forschungsstelle Ingolstadt, Bd. 7, Ingolstadt,
1984).
(2) See 'Hitler e le società segrete', in 'Il Conciliatore', 15
October 1971, translated, more or less freely, in English at
http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/1404/hitlerengl.html . In this
article, Evola dismissed the assertions of Pauwels and Bergier,
Alleau, and Angebert, among others (Note of the Editor).
(3) In fact the establishment concerned was called the Political
Warfare Executive (PWE) (Note of the Editor).