The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology

Book Description

If anyone still questions the power which myth exercises over the human mind, he should read The Occult Rules of Nazism."
—Anthony Storr

"An extensive survey of . . . theosophy, astrology, and `ariosophy' (Aryan-racist-occult theories) . . . An intriguing study of apocalyptic fantasies."
—Times Literary Supplement

Nearly half a century after the defeat of the Third Reich, Nazism remains a subject of extensive historical inquiry, general interest, and, alarmingly, a source of inspiration for resurgent fascism in Europe. Goodrick-Clarke's powerful and timely book traces the intellectual roots of Nazism back to a number of influential occult and millenarian sects in the Habsburg Empire during its waning years. These sects combined notions of popular nationalism with an advocacy of Aryan racism and a proclaimed need for German world-rule.

This book provides the first serious account of the way in which Nazism was influenced by powerful millenarian and occult sects that thrived in Germany and Austria almost fifty years before the rise to power of Adolf Hitler.

These millenarian sects (principally the Ariosophists) espoused a mixture of popular nationalism, Aryan racism, and occultism to support their advocacy of German world-rule. Over time their ideas and symbols, filtered through nationalist-racist groups associated with the infant Nazi party, came to exert a strong influence on Himmler's SS.

The fantasies thus fueled were played out with terrifying consequences in the realities structured into the Third Reich: Auschwitz, Sobibor, and Treblinka, the hellish museums of Nazi apocalypse, had psychic roots reaching back to millenial visions of occult sects. Beyond what the TImes Literary Supplement calls an intriguing study of apocalyptic fantasies, this bizarre and fascinating story contains lessons we cannot afford to ignore.

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding.......2005-10-24

Great book. Well researched and sheds light on how myths can be so powerful. Unfortunately it was misused power!

The Occult Roots of Nazism........2004-06-03

_The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology_ by Nicholas Goodrick-Clark is an intriguing academic study on the pre-Nazi occult scene in Germany. The cover features a rather threatening Thule Gesellschaft symbol: a sword and swastika wrapped in laurels and a halo of emanating light. Many of the occult practices described in this book--palmistry, crystals, secret orders, hidden knowledge, spirit guides, channeling, tarot cards, fortune telling, astrology--have retained their popularity today in the New Age movement. What's particularly interesting about Goodrick-Clarke's work is he compares the Ariosophists List and Lanz to the ancient duelist philosophies of Gnosticism and Manicheanism in their extreme division of reality into two eternally conflicting forces of good (Aryans) and evil (Jews). Goodrick-Clarke begins his discussion by going back to the writings of Madame Helena Blavatsky, her two books _The Secret Doctrine_ and _Isis Unvieled_, and her occult Theosophical Society. Her books propagated a form of anti-rationalism and anti-scientism, instead relying upon supposed revealed secret doctrines by hidden masters in Tibet. Blavatsky believed there was a series of seven "root races" that lived on earth, of which the Aryan race was the fifth. Other notables connected with the occult at this time included Annie Besant, Charles Leadbeater and Bulwer Lytton. Lytton wrote in his work _The Coming Race_ of a subterranean race that was to give mankind new enlightenment and psychic abilities. Ariosophy, the so-called wisdom of the Aryans, developed from theosophical ideas and the general occult subcultures of the time. The political and motivation for the rise of occultism in Germany and Austria was the situation of the Austro -Hungarian Empire and the Hapsburg monarchy. Prussia had permanently excluded Austria from a role in a united German state by Bismark's military victories before 1871. However the Austrian Empire encompassed not only Hungary but also many nationalities of Slavic, non-German descent, in addition to Jewish minorities. The status of Germans as a whole in Austria was tenuous and the conservative elements of the populace were more inclined to fall for unorthodox metaphysical beliefs that would allow them to fight against the tides of political liberalism in the Empire. Hitler, it is to be noted, was not actually born in "Germany" proper but in the Austro-Hungarian Empire near the German border. Goodrick-Clarke takes care to note that Hitler despised the Hapsburg monarchy, while his sectarian occultist predecessors admired it as a bastion of German mystical/mythical tradition. In Vienna, during the late 1800s and early 1900s before World War I, two radical German nationalists, Guido von List and Adolf Lanz (who self-styled himself with the aristocratic title of von Liebenfels) researched and published a considerable amount of literature dealing with Germany's so-called repressed history. List believed that ancient, pagan, pre-Christian Germany was a center of culture kept alive by a secret order of initiates, the Armanenschaft, who established a decentralized aristocratic hierarchy and kept the German race pure through eugenic practices. Oddly enough, their secret doctrine, according to List, was encoded and given to the Rabbis for safekeeping in the form of the Cabala, in order to preserve it from Christian destruction. Lanz, whose _Ostara_ pamphlets Hitler is likely to have read, was an ex-Cistercian monk who joined the pan-German movement. Lanz made an extensive study of ancient civilizations and the Old Testament and concluded that the ancestors of the German race lived on Atlantis, which sank, and spread to Northern Europe and the Middle East. The supposed Aryan Middle Easterners founded the great civilizations of Egypt and the Fertile Crescent, including the Hebrews. The Hebrew Scripture, according to Lanz's analysis, was a history of the attempt for Aryans to preserve their race. He interpreted the fall as the miscegenation between Aryans and lesser races. Lanz believed Jesus ("Frauja") was an Aryan savior and the medieval Christian character of Europe, with its monasteries and nobility, embodied the Aryan ideal. He believed Alexandria, known for its library and scholarship, was the center of gravity of ancient Ariosophy. The first bishop to convert the Germans to Christianity was Ulifas, an Arian bishop from Alexandria, thus Lanz equates "Aryanism" with the Christian heresy of "Arianism," or disbelief in the deity of Christ. The Ariosophists and pan-Germanists believed the only way to preserve Germany's Aryan past was to fight against modern liberal tendencies and take aggressive action against those corrupting Germany's traditional landscape: the Jews, communists and Slavs. Several quasi-Masonic lodges were founded throughout Germany and Austria before, during and after WWI. Among these were the Thule Society and the Germannorden. There is some speculation that the Thule Society, its membership being a collection of well-educated professionals and aristocrats, founded the German Workers Party (DAP) as an activist political party to attract a mass membership. Hitler was sent as a spy to the DAP to survey its activities. Hitler later joined this party, which eventually renamed itself the German National Socialist Party (NASDAP or Nazi Party). Although Hitler never mentioned Lanz by name in any of his recorded words, Goodrick-Clarke attributes this fact to Hitler not wanting to call attention to where he got his ideas during his formative years in Vienna. Although Hitler did not have much of an interest in actual occult practices, his chief of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, did. Himmler consulted a former mental asylum inmate, Karl Maria Willigut (a.k.a. Weisthor), who claimed to possess an ancient ancestral knowledge of the German race. Himmler constructed a "Nazi Vatican" at a castle in Wewelsburg where neo-pagan ceremonies for the Nazi SS were held. Goodrick-Clarke's final appendix to this study is an examination of the mythology Nazi Germany's meteoric rise and fall from an obscure party from the 1920s to a totalitarian government that had Europe from the English Channel to the Caucasus Mountains under its thumb (albeit briefly). A considerable amount of literature has been published in various countries about how the Nazi Party's rise to power was aided by supernatural and demonic forces.

The Occult Roots of Nazism.......2002-08-06

This is a great book on the history of the movement. A lot of good info about Aryan Paganism in Germany at the start of the 1900s. I've known people who were involved with German Wotanism between the 1920s to 1945 and have books of and about that time period, but Mr. Goodricke-Clarke talks about alot of people I've never heard of before, and he gives new details about people I've read a great deal about. This book is the only source for a lot of this info.
His new book Black Sun is like part II of The Occult Roots of Nazism. He talks about the Pagan Revival after WWII and all the new ideas and people in the movement. These two books should be read together.

Ariosophism.......2001-11-08

The Occult Roots of Nazism by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke is a very well written study of the massive influence Aryan occultism and esoteric societies had upon Hitler and the theoriticians of the NSDAP. He is quite comprehensive in his coverage of Ariosophist philosophers and enigmatic volkish groups which blossomed in late ninteenth-early twentieth century middle Europe.

What makes this book worth reading to the student of Modern European History, is not only Goodrick-Clarke's ability to link these movements to Nazi philosophy, but his attention to detail. Further, he carefully explains the historical surroundings and mystical, sometimes ludicrous, beliefs held by members of the various Ariosophical societies.These explanations, coupled with what must have been very tedious research, enlighten these somewhat obscure and often forgotten influences on the NSDAP.

This book is well worth a read. However, its appeal is somewhat limited to those with particular interest in the occult

philosophy sub-genre of Nazi Studies. By no means is it a typical Shirer inspired playscript of the Reich.

TAB

my personal review.......2001-08-31

this was a well written book, if you have an interest in the history of nazi europe this is a must read!

The SS Brotherhood of the Bell: Nasa's Nazis, JFK, And Majic-12

Average customer rating:

The Nazis are still here??!!
good book
Full course dinner plus dessert
Amazing Connections
Revelations of a global conspiracy - truth or untruth?

The SS Brotherhood of the Bell: Nasa's Nazis, JFK, And Majic-12
Joseph P. Farrell
Manufacturer: Adventures Unlimited Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Occultism | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

History of Technology | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books

Reich Of The Black Sun: Nazi Secret Weapons & The Cold War Allied Legend
The Hunt for Zero Point: Inside the Classified World of Antigravity Technology
The Giza Death Star
The Vril Society
Hitler's Suppressed and Still-Secret Weapons, Science and Technology

ASIN: 1931882614

Book Description

In 1945, a mysterious Nazi secret weapons project code-named The Bell left its underground bunker in lower Silesia, with its project documentation, and the 4-star SS general Hans Kammler. Taken aboard a massive six engine Junkers 390 ultra-long range aircraft, The Bell, Kammler, and all project records disappeared completely, along with the gigantic Junkers 390 carrying them. It has been speculated that it flew to Argentina. As a prelude to this disappearing act, the SS murdered most of the scientists and technicians involved with the project, a secret weapon that, according to one German Nobel prize-winning physicist, was given a classification of decisive for the war -- the highest security classification. Offered here is a range of exotic technologies the Nazis researched, and challenges to the conventional views of the end of World War Two, the Roswell incident, and the beginning of MAJIC-12, the government's alleged secret team of UFO investigators.

Customer Reviews:

The Nazis are still here??!!.......2007-09-02

It starts with a rambling history of the Nazi experiments with levitation, atomic power, and zero point energy. I say rambling, because in contrast to the book that got me started on this subject was "The Hunt for Zero Point" by Nick Cook, which is a very grounded (no pun intended) and less fringy take on the subject. Very well written, too.

Now, back to the book by Farrell:
Okay, the Nazi scientists emigrated to the US to work on our space program. Okay, I buy that. He goes into a lot of speculation about stealth technology (again, see Cooks book for a better take) and the physics of levitation generated by Mercury spinning really really fast, which was mentioned in some ancient Sanskrit text... THEN, Farrell drops some hokey documents on our lap and says that the Nazis helped orchestrate the JFK assassination and, by the way, we may already have a base on the Moon and Mars.

Huh? You have to read it to follow the chain of information. It IS compelling, but it just makes the author sound like a maniac, who, in his acknowledgements, thanks his parents for letting him set up camp in their basement to write this book. Obviously a book meant for the subculture of people who are convinced the Chupacabra is the pet dog of the Grey aliens, and he got lost on his way to Bigfoot's house.

Yeah. He also acknowledges David Hatcher Childress, who... well, just do a search for the books he is attached to to see where HE is coming from. Fringe-o-philes...

Interesting pile of ideas in here to fuel some comic book writer somewhere. If taken for what it is, it reads like a weird espionage alternate history sci-fi. For that point along, I give it three stars.

good book.......2007-08-23

If you are interested in weird ideas about world war II, this book is definitely worth the read.

Very little in this book seems to be supported by hard evidence, and yet the information is useful.

This book is NOT just a list of usupported claims like many books about the weird side of the Nazis are.

Full course dinner plus dessert.......2007-07-13

This book is one big meal of a read. I read it a few years back and it remains one of my favorite in the field of alternative technologies and history. Not only is it well written (I enjoy Farrell's writing...see Giza Deathstar series) but it keeps the mind buzzing. If you have a feeling there is more to history than what you got in high school this is a great place to start an investigation. I would feel confident in offering an expanded review once I reread the title to refresh my memory so for now, trust me, this is a great book. Not for summer reading unless this is what you usually read. Not for the light hearted.

Amazing Connections.......2007-02-26

Where the author of this book has had to take some venturous assumptions on, he uses a lot of very well documented 'finds' to substantiate them - amazing finds that will astound those unfamiliar with how far really the Reich was able to go before the war's end in 1945.

The logical conclusions Joseph Farrell comes to, and the amazing substantiated technology that a secret few in the brotherhood were privy to gives you a wide open door for any UFO researcher, armchair or otherwise to be better equiped in debunking possible alien myths, and/or truths we are living in these very days.

Be spellbound, entertained and gripped by this amazing book. Where it has a ton on what was going on 'back then'(and therefore fills in a lot of blanks our history books left us), you will find it relates to everything going on today, right now, right before your very eyes!

Joseph Farrell shares his expertise in the science world giving the reader a huge leg up on how these events relate to modern science/phenomena; the findings in this work clearly interleaves well with other researchers who have written about the 'spiritual side' of our political world and their unique attachments to the 'other side'.

An excellent read and I heartily recommend it - some of it is 'open minded', and after you see what he is writing about, you can understand how it all fits! The rest is pure 'connect the fact-dots!' and you definately get the same picture...

Revelations of a global conspiracy - truth or untruth?.......2007-01-09

Joseph P. Farrell's The SS Brotherhood of the Bell continues the author's work - brought out in the so-called Giza trilogy and the "Reich of the Black Sun" - advocating that the general public has been deceived by its leaders for the better part of the 20th Century, and that the deception has been exacerbated in the new century. Mr. Farrell's contention is that there is an alternative doctrine of physics that - if studied and understood by experts and laymen - provides a general set of explanations for a variety of "mysteries" in our world such as UFOs. At the risk of grossly mis-stating the author's explanation, it seems to me that this "ether physics" is based broadly on the notion that our very environment is alive with energy rather than objects within the environment being the source of energy. The most notable result of this theory is that an object would be able to move through the environment by creating shifts in the ether. Call it whatever you wish, but this caused me to simplify the theory down to magnetic power...

Central to his premise is also the need to accept that - if ether physics are valid - then there has been a systematic and prolonged effort by those in power to hide this information from us. And, further accepting the credo that "knowledge is power" as the justification for such actions, one is directed by the author towards the conclusion that a worldwide entity larger than any single government is manipulating our lives.

Farrell contends that while ether physics is not a new theory. In fact, in his earlier books on the pyramids at Giza being sources of ether-physics-related power, this science is virtually antediluvian. It was, however, Nazi Germany and its links to the occult that caused resurgence in experimentation into ether physics in terms of its military potential. While discussing various technologies - as he did in his earlier book Reich of the Black Sun - the center-piece of this book is an alleged experiment that is more-or-less eponymous with the title of this book.

The bare details are this: the Germans were experimenting with high speed magnetic rotation of various elements. The results of these experiments are mysterious, deadly and, in some cases, contradictory, depending upon references. Core to this part of the story is published material from a Polish research named Igor Witkowski. He claims to have accessed documents that were held in the former German Democratic Republic but are now being accessed with the collapse of Communism. It is Witkowski's work - also cited heavily in Nick Cook's The Hunt for Zero Point - that is the basis for the bell-related information in Farrell's book.

All concerned conclude their stories with the scientific equipment and records being taken by SS Obergruppenfuehrer Hans Kammler, a real person who had virtual total control of the German secret programs in the 1944/1945 timeframe. But, with Witkowski and Cook are somewhat vague about what happened with the end of World War two, Farrell is adamant in his belief that Kammler and other former regime members were able to cut deals with all the allied powers and, in doing so, were able to establish themselves as an extra-national entity that operates to this day. This entity has been able to maintain itself by nefarious actions that, Farrell implies, may have included the assassination of John F. Kennedy!

As part of this startling allegation, Farrell continues on to presents his view that the entity that is controlling and manipulating the post-modern world is dominated by a "next-generation" Nazis who have taken over the older more established behind the scenes New World order groups such as the Illuminati, the Council and Foreign Relations and Skull and Bones. Thus, the author states that Bush, pere and fils, along with John Kerry are either willing accomplices or subjugated dupes.

What is true and what is not true in this book is a matter of personal choice. While one can say, "You cannot make this stuff up!" it is also clear that one could. In light of this, The SS Brotherhood of the Bell falls into the same literary/historical niche as such events as The Philadelphia Experiment and Roswell, where it is certain something happened but the details and the actual accuracy of those details is extremely unclear.

As I implied, it is up to each and every reader of this book to make his/her rational decision about whether or not to believe all or some of what is contained in this book.

Average customer rating:

Courageous Scholarship
A really insightful book

New Religions and the Nazis
K. Poewe
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Judaism | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

History | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming (and Environmentalism)
America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It

ASIN: 0415290244

Book Description

Karla Poewe illuminates an important but neglected part of Nazi history: the contribution of new religions to the emergence of Nazi ideology in 1930s Germany. Looking at traditional German occultism as well as the established Church, this book takes new religions founded in the pre-Nazi and Nazi years, especially Jakob Hauer's German Faith Movement, as indicators of how German fascism distilled aspects of religious doctrine into political extremism. It is researched from original documents, including the SS personnel files held in Berlin's Bundesarchiv.

Customer Reviews:

Courageous Scholarship.......2006-06-23

Inevitably claims that deny that Nazism was rooted in Christianity draw fire. As a scholar in modern and early modern Europe at the University of Victoria, I affirm this book as extremely well researched. The onus is on those who would disprove its assertions to do more thorough research--a daunting challenge indeed. The Nazis were as hostile to Christianity as to Judaism. The preparation for the ascendency of National Socialism provided by the advocates of new religions like Jacob Wilhelm Hauer is a sobering reality that needs to be understood more widely today.

A really insightful book.......2006-03-09

This is a wonderful book that I wish had been available when I was a student. There are things here that I have never seen anywhere else. Reading it one understands National Socialism much better. In particular the fact that the Nazis hated "Jewish-Christianity" which they saw as a form of "cultural imperialism" was a real insight to me. I strongly recommend this book to anyone intersted in the history of the twentieth century, cults and new religions, or the way politicians create and manipulate propaganda.

The Nazi State and the New Religions: Five Case Studies in Non-Conformity (Studies in Religion and Society)

Average customer rating:

An Excellent Contribution to Third Reich Studies
Steadfast in the face of Nazi persecution
Most revealing!

The Nazi State and the New Religions: Five Case Studies in Non-Conformity (Studies in Religion and Society)
Christine Elizabeth King
Manufacturer: Edwin Mellen Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Sociology | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0889468656

Customer Reviews:

An Excellent Contribution to Third Reich Studies.......2003-12-15

"The Nazi State and the New Religions: Fives Case Studies in Non-Conformity" by Christine Elizabeth King is a valuable resource for those studying how the Nazis handled minority religions. It will also be useful to those attempting to understand why some people can resist pressure and maintain their moral codes. The book describes how five smaller Christian sects handled the Nazis (Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, Christian Scientists, the New Apostolic Church, and the Jehovah's Witnesses). Of the five, only one--the Jehovah's Witnesses--resisted the Nazis (although passively). One out of every two Witnesses was imprisoned, and one in four lost their lives. Yet, they continued promote their faith even in the camps.

The book explains how the other religions compromised to survive in the Reich, and how the Reich viewed each. King also provides useful background on organizations in the police state associated with religious oppression, and explains how international pressure and ideological interpretations affected the Nazis' behavior towards each group.

The history of the Witnesses suggests that compromises towards evil eat at the core of good ethics. The Witnesses, in contrast, would not compromise: "Witnesses, on the whole, unless they were tortured to the stage beyond which human judgment fails, were not confused, were never vacillating. They knew what was happening to them and they believed they knew why it was happening: death held no fear. Their uncompromising and unflinching attitude had brought them into the camps but it was this that sustained them, once there." (Chapter VI)

The book has an excellent end-notes section and a bibiography, as well as several useful appendices.

Steadfast in the face of Nazi persecution.......2000-01-21

Contrary to the previous review, I think this book is full of excellent examples of how true Christians stood up to Nazi persecution. Many of these were given an opportunity by Nazi authorities to be released from the concentration camps, in return for a declaration to abandon their religion. However, most of those given this chance to escape chose to die with their beliefs rather than compromise. Additionally, there is excellent content on the silence of the Catholic church during the holocaust. This book is well worth the price.

Most revealing!.......1997-06-29

If you are are a so called Christian, and your religion should be one of those covered by the author, with the exception of one, then a deep inward search of ones faith may be in order. Compromise, not Biblical steadfastness to written truth is the order of the day with most of those mentioned in the publication. And what did they compromise on? The absolute major teachings of the Bible, to simply save their compromizing churches. The Nazi's just loved these churches.

The Nazi Economic Recovery 19321938 (New Studies in Economic and Social History)

Average customer rating:

Students, finally here is a book for you!
Quick, dirty, informative

The Nazi Economic Recovery 19321938 (New Studies in Economic and Social History)
R. J. Overy
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Economic Conditions | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Economic History | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Economic Conditions | International | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Business & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

War and Economy in the Third Reich
Economics and Politics in the Weimar Republic (New Studies in Economic and Social History)
The Great Crash 1929
The Cold War : A New History
Rethinking the Great Depression (American Ways Series)

ASIN: 0521557674

Book Description

This is a fully revised and updated edition of R.J. Overy's highly regarded survey of the Nazi economic recovery (first published by Macmillan in 1982). The performance of the German economy under the Nazi regime has been the subject of intense academic debate. Overy discusses the main areas of this debate, arguing that the war preparation that took place at this time was ultimately incompatible with long-term economic recovery, and that the German economic miracle did not occur until after 1945.

Customer Reviews:

Students, finally here is a book for you!.......2002-12-13

This is the model book, it is well written, very informative, basic, and easy to read. I find the description on the back cover of the book to be very accurate. From the back cover "The books, all written by a recognized authority in the subject, are intended for students approaching a topic for the first time, and for their teachers". As a matter of fact this book is one of a series of books titled New Studies in Economic and Social History. The author covers everything, though briefly, about the Nazi economic recovery and war on unemployment. Nazi work creation, rearmament, and control of the economy are examples of the topics that are covered in this book. Although it is short it does its job well and it earns its keep. If you are looking to go more in-depth Hitler's Economy: Nazi work creation programs, 1933-1936 by Dan P. Silverman covers the subject far better.

Quick, dirty, informative.......1999-07-30

Overy has provided a very nice look at the Nazi economic recovery in the period from just before Hitler's coming to power to the beginning of Hitler's most aggressive foreign policy moves. I used this book as a minor source in research for a major 30+ page history paper on the Nazi economy and foreign policy. While too short to be something to rely upon, it is a fine introduction by an excellent historian. Good data is provided as well as some keen insight by the author. If you want to learn about the Nazi pre-war economy in quick fashion this work is perfect.

Average customer rating:

New Illustrated History of the Nazis

Manufacturer: David & Charles Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

The Third Reich Day by Day
New Illustrated History Of World War II: Rare And Unseen Photographs 1939-1945 (Illustrated History)
Illustrated History of the Third Reich
LIFE: World War II: History's Greatest Conflict in Pictures
The SS: Hitler's Instrument of Terror

ASIN: 0715321013

Book Description

This illustrated volume documents the history of the Nazis, from their roots in World War I and their rise to power in 1933 to the end of the Cold War era and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, using many previously unseen images of Nazi Germany and World War II.

Illustrated History of the Nazis traces the roots of the movement from the early days of the Weimar Republic, through the rise to power of the charismatic Adolf Hitler, the dramatic downfall of Germany in 1945. Extra material follows the aftermath of the war through to the fall of the Berlin Wall at the end of the Cold War, and examines the consequences of the Wehrmacht. Paying particular attention to the holocaust, the policy of "total war", the state of German society and the systematic use of propaganda and terror, this unique and fascinating book is an essential purchase for the history enthusiast.

Nazi Germany: A New History
Average customer rating:

Reverse David Irving

EXCELLENT GENERAL HISTORY

Readable one-volume account

There Is Something Severly Wrong With This Guy's Thinking!

Informative but disturbing

Nazi Germany: A New History
Klaus P. Fischer
Manufacturer: Continuum International Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
General | World | History | Subjects | Books
General | Germany | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil

The Soviet Colossus: History And Aftermath

The Proud Decades: America in War and in Peace, 1941-1960

America in White, Black, and Gray: The Stormy 1960s

The History of an Obsession: German Judeophobia and the Holocaust

ASIN: 0826409067

Customer Reviews:

Reverse David Irving.......2007-07-24

Much of what Fischer claims about Nazi Germany has been discounted by legitimate historians. For example, the Lebensborn program was not a stud farm for SS supermen and Nordic women to create a new master race, and Ilse Koch did not create lampshades and book covers from the skin of dead Jews.

Every significant figure in the Nazi regime, even those who ultimately had little to do with the persecution and destruction of the Jews in Europe, is portrayed as either a sexual deviant or a sociopath. I seriously doubt the most educated people in Europe would have tolerated such a regime long enough for it to plunge Europe into its most destructive war.

I guess surrendering historical objectivity is a small price to pay to make money and avoid being bullied by the ADL.

EXCELLENT GENERAL HISTORY.......2005-04-11

Perhaps Fischer's greatest achievment here is in how much he tells us in so short a book. He covers Nazi and German history from the 19th century to 1945 in under 600 pages!! He shows a special gift for writing the most with the (relatively) fewest words. Even those knowing much about the subject will learn a lot from this volume. And Fischer knows what should and should not be included in a book of this kind. This work will be a valuable addition to any historical library.

I particularly enjoyed the section on the Weimer Republic and the 20's. Most books skip over this period, saying only that the Republic was democratic and flawed, and that Hitler sought to destroy it. Fischer gives us an in depth look at this society, and explains how its insecurities contributed to the disaster to come.

I only wish the book had been a bit longer. There is only so much one can include in a one volume work, I know, but a few hundred more pages would have made it truly outstanding.

Readable one-volume account.......2003-04-14

For a comprehensive overview of the Third Reich, Fischer's book is one of the best single-volume works on the market. It's eminently readable on all aspects of Nazi society: the sham politics, the ruthless military ethos, the imposition of one man's psychosis on the policies of an entire nation. The opening chapter, "The Origins of Totalitarianism" is a cogent synthesis of the historical strains from which the darkest period of the 20th century emerged: Germany's anti-modernism, which stretched back to the Enlightenment; the economic breakdown, political instability, and unraveling of civil society which the Versailles Treaty wrought; and the scapegoating of two groups which Hitler believed were a mortal threat to the country--the Communists and the Jews.

There Is Something Severly Wrong With This Guy's Thinking!.......2002-03-04

Any author who thinks that Hindenburg was loyal to the Weimar Republic is out of his mind. There wasn't a German alive who liked it and to say that somebody was loyal to it is ludecrous. He also implies that Hitler outwitted Hindenburg to gain the chancellorship. That's also crazy. Hitler just got lucky that Papen underestimated him when he used him in his plot to try to gain the chancellorship for himself (which failed obviously). In fact I don't believe that Hitler and Hindenburg had any interaction at all on the subject (except of course when he was sworn in). The matter was proposed to Hitler through Papen. If Fischer could be so off base on such a basic concept, I shudder to think about how acurate the rest of the information in this book is.

NOTE: This is not an uninformed opinion. I have compared this book with others by Burleigh, Kershaw, Machtan, and Turner on similar subjects.

My recomendation is to forget about this book and get Kershaw's book Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris. It's actually more of a biography of Hiter's power. I found it to be a much more logical, coherent, and enlightening book.

Informative but disturbing.......2000-07-14

Klaus Fischer's account of Nazi Germany succeeds as a source of basic information, particularly regarding the early roots of the Nazi movement. Since this is its main purpose, it merits consultation by anyone seeking a solid basic grasp of those world-shattering events. However, the reader should be prepared to wade through some fairly archaic, and at times deeply disturbing, ideological baggage that pops up along the margins of the main historical narrative. First, Fischer's fleeting references to Marxism and Communism as historico-social phenomena are shallow, unsubtle and dismissive in a manner only possible for a scholar trained in America (as Fischer was), and thus saddled with that peculiar cultural blind spot of ours. However, this blind spot does not much compromise the narrative, beyond giving the misleading impression that the ideas of Marx are somehow "natural" (as opposed to historical and contingent) breeding grounds for totalitarianism. More disturbing by far is the extent to which Fischer's account of the psychological makeup and personal characters of Nazi party members echoes and reproduces some of the same archaic ideologies for which they themselves were so notorious. For example, Fischer makes frequent use of the term "deviance" to describe Nazi operatives, and explicitly includes under this rubric not only sadism but homosexuality! In his desire to paint the Nazis as twisted fiends, he ends up demonizing gays in much the same way that Jews were demonized by the Nazis. Equally archaic is his reference to facial physiognomy as evidence of criminal character among Nazis. Clearly, Fischer is unaware of the large body of literature (best represented by SJ Gould's The Mismeasure of Man) which documents the intellectual bankruptcy of such thinking. Both of these ideas played a role in the racist, homophobic thought complex which National Socialism inherited from the late nineteenth century and put to such deadly effect. That an historian writing in the 1990s could continue to use ideas that have been so thoroughly discredited by scientific research is unfortunate, and given Fischer's topic, gruesomely ironic. The problems noted here do not distort Fischer's account of matters of public record, but they do raise serious questions about his interpretive competence. In the end, some readers might not have the moral stomach to reap the factual rewards undeniably offered by Fischer's book.

When Biology Became Destiny: Women in Weimar and Nazi Germany (New Feminist Library)

Average customer rating:

When Biology Became Destiny: Women in Weimar and Nazi Germany (New Feminist Library)

Manufacturer: Monthly Review Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Feminist Theory | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Mothers in the Fatherland: Women, the Family and Nazi Politics
War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust (Critical Issues in History)
Women in German History: From Bourgeois Emancipation to Sexual Liberation
Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland
Between Dignity and Despair: Jewish Life in Nazi Germany (Studies in Jewish History)

ASIN: 0853456437

Hitler and the Vatican: Inside the Secret Archives That Reveal the New Story of the Nazis and the Church

Average customer rating:

Good Book Overall, But Not The Most Comprehensive
Another interesting theory about Pius XII
A balanced view
a caveat
I wish 0 stars were possible, for this litterary farce.

Hitler and the Vatican: Inside the Secret Archives That Reveal the New Story of the Nazis and the Church
Peter Godman
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Vatican | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

20th Century | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Hitler's Pope
Unholy Trinity: The Vatican, The Nazis, and The Swiss Banks
Pius XII and the Second World War: According to the Archives of the Vatican
Hitler, the War, and the Pope
A Moral Reckoning: The Role of the Church in the Holocaust and Its Unfulfilled Duty of Repair

ASIN: 0743245970

Book Description

For years, the policies of the Catholic Church during the rise and terribly destructive rule of the Nazis have been controversial. Pope Pius XII has been attacked as "Hitler's Pope," an anti-Semitic enabler who refused to condemn Nazism, much less urge Catholics to resist the German regime. The Church has been accused of standing by while the Nazis steadily revealed their evil designs. Yet all such arguments have been based only on sketchy evidence. The Vatican has kept its internal workings secret and locked away from scrutiny.

Until now. In February 2003, the Vatican opened its archives for the crucial years of the Nazi consolidation of power, up until 1939. Peter Godman, thanks to his long experience in Vatican sources and his reputation as an impartial, non-Catholic historian of the Church, was one of the first scholars to explore the new documents. The story they tell is revelatory and surprising and forces a major revision of the history of the 1930s. It is a story that reveals the innermost workings of the Vatican, an institution far more fractured than monolithic, one that allowed legalism to trump moral outrage.

Godman's narrative is doubly shocking: At first, the Church planned to condemn Nazism as heretical, and drafted several variations of its charges in the mid-1930s. However, as Mussolini drew close to Hitler, and Pope Pius XI grew more concerned about communism than fascism, the charge was reduced to a denunciation only of bolshevism. The Church abandoned its moral attack on the Nazis and retreated to diplomacy, complaining about treaty violations and delivering weak protests while the horrors of religious persecution mounted. As Godman demonstrates, the policies of Pius XII were all determined by his predecessor, Pius XI. The Church was misled not so much by "Hitler's Pope" as by a tragic miscalculation and a special relationship with the Italian government. Mussolini toyed with the Church, even proposing that Hitler be excommunicated. Yet in the end, when presented with further evidence of Nazi depredations, Pius XI could only comment, "Kindly God, who has allowed all this to happen at present, undoubtedly has His purpose."

Reproducing the key Church documents in full and quoting verbatim conversations between Pius XI and his bishops, Hitler and the Vatican is the most extraordinary look inside the secretive Vatican ever written.

Customer Reviews:

Good Book Overall, But Not The Most Comprehensive.......2007-08-08

John Cornwell sparked a massive controversy when he published "Hitler's Pope" in 1999, in which he criticized pope Pius XII and the Vatican for their conduct during Hitler's reign and the Holocaust. Ever since, a series of books have been written in defense of Pius XII and the Vatican, not only to exonerate, but to exalt the Papacy as heroic and courageous: for taking a stance against the Nazis and for saving hundreds of thousands of lives during the war.

Nevertheless, on one side of the fence you have your critics; James Carroll, Gary Wills, Daniel Goldhagen, Michael Phayer, and many others. And on the other side of the fence, you have your defenders; David Dalin, Ronald Rychlak, Margherita Marchione, and many others. Both sides claim to have the real story and the evidence to back it up. But when you have such conflicting views, who can you really trust? I suppose one could always read both sides of the argument, evaluate the evidence and form an objective opinion. But not everyone has the time to conduct so much research. Moreover, I'm sure that those faithful to Pius XII have very little interest in reading books like "Hitler's Pope." Likewise, critics of the Vatican can't be too thrilled about books like "Pope Pius XII: Architect for Peace," either.

Personally, I thought Susan Zuccotti's "Under His Very Windows" was one of the more balanced books on the subject. But even after reading Zuccotti's book, I still felt like I needed a bit more information, so I gave Godman's book a try. Although it's not as comprehensive as I would have liked it to be (the author does not write about the Vatican's conduct during WWII - a major disappointment), it is, however, fairly unbiased, and contains enough information to give the reader a better understanding of the relationship between the Vatican and The Third Reich during the 1930s.

The Vatican's relationship to The Third Reich, according to Godman's findings, was not as black and white as many critics and defenders tend to portray it. It was far more complex. To make his point, Godman illustrates the various religious, diplomatic and political dilemmas that faced the Vatican during the 30s. Although neither pope Pius XI nor Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (who later became pope Pius XII in 1939) shared Nazism's radical views on race and religion, they nonetheless signed a treaty with The Third Reich in 1933 - mainly to ensure Catholicism's place in Germany - as they had done previously with other European countries. The individual who orchestrated this controversial treaty (Reichskonkordat) was Cardinal Pacelli.

But as much as Pius XI and Pacelli deemed Nazi beliefs heretical, their efforts to make that clear to the public was very lackluster. If anything, the concordat between the two parties appeared more like some kind of a Vatican approval, which the Nazis fully exploited. Two years later, however, after realizing that terms of their agreement had been violated, the Vatican decided to draft a condemnation, which was later twice modified to include fascism and communism as well. However, instead of releasing this condemnation straight to the public, the draft was put on the shelves. Yet, even as the Vatican became increasingly more and more anti-Nazi, so to speak, they never visibly demonstrated it to the public. It's as though they kept everything to themselves. If the Vatican feared speaking out against the Nazis, then why would they even consider explicitly condemning anti-Semitism, for example?

So the question is: why did the Vatican remain in silence? After all, they weren't so silent with communism. And why not excommunicate Hitler - and idea that even the fascist Mussolini proposed? Was their fear of communism really that much greater than Nazism? Did the Vatican see the Third Reich as a potential ally in fighting communism? Were there hopes that things would work out through diplomacy? Perhaps yes on all accounts, but to what degree? If the Vatican so opposed the Nazis, but yet continually resisted to explicitly condemn them, then how on earth were Christians suppose to know about the Vatican's stance, especially when many clergymen, like, Bishop Alois Hudal, openly supported the Nazis? In fact, after WWII, many of those same clergymen, like Hudal, organized escape routes known as "ratlines" for war criminals, providing them with necessary documents to escape to countries like Syria and Argentina.

Pius XI (not to be confused with Pius XII) stated that anti-Semitism was inadmissible, but with very little emphasis. So little, that the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, didn't even bother publishing it. And what did his successor Pius XII do besides hiding in silence? Was silence forced upon them, or was it some kind of desperate diplomatic tactic? Whatever it was, it was not effective - not for anyone except for the Third Reich who took full advantage of it.

Perhaps then, we can understand the argument that Pius XII was "Hitler's Pope." His silence and lack of visible resistance against the Nazis made him Hitler's IDEAL pope: a pope that said too little and did too little. Yet at the same time, we can also understand the notion that Pius XII was an "Architect for Peace," that is: an overly cautious diplomat who did his best to avoid any kind of conflict that could potentially instigate further violence. Was this passiveness or optimism? Cowardice or heroism?

The one problem I found with this book is Godman's perplexing word association between Nazism and Neo-Paganism. Exactly what does the author mean when he calls Nazism a Neo-Pagan religion? Does he simply mean a new religion? Or literally a pagan religion? This doesn't make sense to me, considering the fact that The Third Reich emphasized on Positive Christianity. So where does this concept of Neo-Paganism come from? Roman Catholicism has many pagan elements within its religion, but no one calls it paganism. To me it seems like the author is trying to surreptitiously distance Nazism's affiliation to Christianity, which is uncalled for. Let's face it: no one in the Western World would attempt to distance Al-Qaeda's ties to Islam. Godman needs to elaborate on this whole neo-paganism etymology. Overall, however, this is a reasonable book. I just wish it was a bit more comprehensive.

Another interesting theory about Pius XII.......2004-05-03

All of a sudden it seems that a "cottage industry" of books on the subject of Pope Pius XII and the Nazis has arisen. There are the books that condemn him, and the Church by implication, for not doing more (or, in some books, anything) about the Nazi threat. There are others that state the Pope and the Church did all that it could, given the circumstances of the time. This book seems to fall somewhere in the middle, giving the reasons why more was not done, but also showing that, behind the scenes, many things were being planned that did not come to fruition. The reason for this appears to be that both Pius XI and his successor were concerned with the Concordat which had been signed by the Vatican and Nazi Germany, and they wished to avoid any action that might cause Hitler to abrogate it. While this may have made perfect sense to them, at this remove of time it appears to be rather short-sighted. It's difficult to condemn folks who acted more than 60 years ago, given what they knew of the situatuon in front of them. Hindsight is always 20-20, you know, so perhaps this book has the right approach, the middle ground necessary to allow us to see both sides of the questions before the Church leaders. It may not make them less suspect for their inaction, but it perhaps explains why they didn't do what we feel should have been done.

A balanced view.......2004-04-20

The real issue is not whether one agrees with the Vatican and papal caution in not denouncing the Third Reich. The issue is simply whether the author has sufficent evidence to explain the topic that has aroused so much ire and defensiveness. There is no question that the work presented here does just that. It shows a rather mature understanding that the Vatican did not speak with one voice, that there were serious differences of opinion about what would be effective and what for the Church's future would be prudent. Whether Pius XII and his predecessor should have been more courageous publicly is another matter. For those seeking to understand the Vatican's hesitations, this volume is a well researched must.

a caveat.......2004-03-08

to the reviewer above. I've only glanced at the book, but I disagree that an encyclical and a denunciation from the holy office would have carried the same weight. While an encyclical does not have the force of canon law, the holy office denunciation would have declared, in no uncertain terms, that nazism constituted a heresy. It would have been quite a bit stronger, and might have even led to an interdict against Germany, stopping services and ministration, and would have therefore been a tremendous source of social unrest.

I wish 0 stars were possible, for this litterary farce........2004-03-05

"Godman has worked only with scant documents related to Pius XI's pontificate, how can he present a study on relations between the Vatican and Hitler?" The main thesis of Godman's book is that the Holy See did little against Nazism because the Holy Office and the Secretariat of State had divergent lines and lacked contact with one another. For those who know how the government of the Holy See functions, it is obvious that this is an absurd thesis. It is obvious that Godman has no idea how work is done in the Holy See. In expressing its opinion on such a delicate question as that of relations with the Nazi regime, how could the Holy Office not have first consulted the Secretariat of State? Moreover, Godman perhaps does not know that in those years the Pope also held the post of prefect of the Holy Office. Both Pius XI as well as Pius XII were "ex officio" prefects of the Holy Office.Initially, Pius XI declared himself in favor of the publication of a series of propositions against Nazism. In particular he sought to condemn totalitarianism, the idolatry of the Reich, the theories of race and blood and, even more so, policies contrary to the life of the weakest. Various schemes and plans of such condemnations were prepared by the Holy Office. At a given moment, the whole idea was shelved because Pius XI and Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli [the future Pius XII] began to prepare the encyclical "Mit Brennender Sorge" [against Nazism]. Pius XI and Pacelli thought the propositions were not very effective, so they decided that an encyclical was better. Godman deplores the fact that the condemnations of the Holy Office were not published. Again, in this case Godman shows that he does not know how the Holy See functions. Godman thinks that a series of proposals of the Holy Office were more important than an encyclical. But there is another aspect that shows how Godman does not even know well the history of those years. The publication of "Mit Brennender Sorge" was kept secret for security reasons. The Nazis discovered it only on the afternoon of Saturday, March 20, 1937, shortly before it was read and distributed in churches. The Nazis were informed by an employee of the press that was printing the copies of the encyclical. "Mit Brennender Sorge" was read and distributed in all churches during the Mass on Sunday, March 21, 1937. For a while, the Nazis considered intervening in the churches, but they would have run the risk of a civil war. The Hitler regime was caught totally unawares. French intellectual Robert D'Harcourt, who was in Germany at the time, wrote in Etudes/Revue Catholique d'Interet General, of May 5, 1937, that the publication of "Mit Brennender Sorge" was like a bomb.

The Catholic organization had not made a mistake; ... it succeeded in getting around the control of the Gestapo and had reached the churches.

On that occasion, the Catholic community also showed notable moral solidity. The people were happy and Hitler was furious. He ordered the confiscation of the presses that had printed the encyclical and the arrest of those responsible.

If it was so difficult to have the encyclical reach the population, how can Godman think that it would have been possible to send so many individual propositions of the Holy Office? The Holy See has always acted responsibly, considering all the possibilities. In every action, the pastoral concern was taken into account for the fate of the Catholic community, of the other communities, and of the population. Godman enormously underestimates the Nazi persecution against Catholics: arrested priests, destroyed churches, closed schools, arrested Catholic leaders sent to concentration camps. Between 1933 and 1937, in 36 months the Holy See sent more than 50 formal written protests to the Nazi regime, charging violations of the concordat. Hitler's government never responded. In Rome, protests were reported in three white books that were sent in a diplomatic bag to all the German bishops, to let them know what the Holy See was doing in defense of their faithful. All the protests of the Holy See were reported in a volume published in Germany in 1965: "Der Notenwechsel Zwischen dem Heiligen Stuhl und der Deutschen Reichsregierung - I. Von der Ratifizierung des Reichskonkordats bis zur Enzyklika 'Mit brennender Sorge.'" Bearbeitet von Dieter Albrecht. VKZ A 1, Mainz, 1965 [The Exchange of Notes Between the Holy See and the Government of the Federal Republic -- I. On the Ratification of the Federal Concordat of the Encyclical 'Mit Brennender Sorge'"]. Little is said about this aspect, but it is extremely relevant. It must also be for this reason that the German newspaper Die Welt, in the review of Godman's book, speaks about a decadent work and accuses him of having been negligent.

The Moral Imperative: New Essays on the Ethics of Resistance in National Socialist Germany, 1933-1945 (Widerstand, Dissent and Resistance in the Third Reich)
Average customer rating:
The Moral Imperative: New Essays on the Ethics of Resistance in National Socialist Germany, 1933-1945 (Widerstand, Dissent and Resistance in the Third Reich)

Manufacturer: Westview Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
General | Germany | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
Third Reich | Germany | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
Holocaust | Jewish | World | History | Subjects | Books
General | World | History | Subjects | Books
Ethics & Morality | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Human Rights | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Fascism | Political Doctrines | Political Science | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0813334667

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books