Hitler and the Occult (Hardcover)

by Ken Anderson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In this touching, if modest, memoir, Fuykschot recalls the daily problems her family endured during the WWII German occupation of Holland, which stretched from her 11th to her 15th year. She conveys the effect on the populace when Queen Wilhelmina fled to London?"We had lost our Queen, we were no longer a nation, we were nobodies..."?and the more devastating impact on the Fuykschot family when her father, an insurance inspector, was held in a hostage camp. After his release, the family suffered the increasing privation that was common across Holland: the absence of running water and electricity and the relentlessly diminishing food supply. During the grim winter of 1944-1945, children were sent into the countryside to beg for food at farmhouses. Fuykschot provides a dramatic account of the liberation of Utrecht by Canadian troops, who made such a favorable impression in ensuing weeks that scores of Dutch citizens ultimately moved to Canada ("Moving to Canada seemed to many like going to live with your big brother), including the author herself. Photos.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Some of the most persistent myths about Hitler connect him with mysticism, occultism, and the supernatural. Anderson provides much-needed debunking of these legends, tracing most of the longest-lived to their sources and refuting them. The members of the secret Thule Society may have had something to do with the early Nazi Party, Anderson grants, but Hitler suppressed it once he was in power. A supposed relic of the Crucifixion, the Holy Lance, may have helped inspire the Grail legends and others, but there is no evidence that Hitler ever saw it. The man presented as the fu{}hrer's favorite astrologer both by himself and the Allies never met Hitler, much less consulted him. Many Nazis (most notably, Himmler) were obsessed by occultist mumbo jumbo, but Hitler laughed it off. Und so weiter. Anderson's point is that Hitler was in the grip not of any supernatural force, but of his own twisted mind. He was an opportunist who exploited the superstition of others to further his own lust for power and destruction. Dennis Winters

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 244 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (April 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879759739
• ISBN-13: 978-0879759735
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,105,686 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Debunking the Bunk, July 26, 2000

By	Kurt Harding "bon vivant" (Boerne TX) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I have read a number of books on Hitler's supposed fascination with, mastery of, and belief in various occult doctrines. In Hitler and the Occult, Ken Anderson delivers a chapter-by-chapter debunking of many of the theories surrounding Hitler's occultic leanings and gives what appear to be logical explanations for some of his actions which have been taken by some to prove his involvement in the occult. Most of the book is spent deconstructing the theories of Trevor Ravenscroft and reinforcing this deconstruction by attempting to discredit Ravenscroft himself. I have read the main target of Anderson's scorn, The Spear of Destiny, and have to admit that some of Ravenscroft's assertions in that volume seem quite far-fetched and incredible. But between his wilder claims, Ravenscroft does offer the reader food for thought. Anderson dissects his more plausible assertions with the aplomb of an undertaker preparing his umpteenth corpse. The Spear of Longinus, Lanz von Lebenfels, and the Thule Society are all given short shrift. Although it is true that many top Nazis were involved in secret societies and occultic fantasies, that was not uncommon at the time so there is nothing particularly significant about it. Hitler was more of a realist and seems to have had little time for or little patience with such notions. Though one might be tempted to believe that Hitler was controlled by otherworldly forces with which he had made a Faustian bargain, I tend toward Anderson's view that that is all nonsense. Reading this book will help interested persons sort out contradictions in theories of an occultic Hitler and bring them back to earth with a more prosaic view of Hitler's actions and motivations.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars debunking only half the story, June 13, 2003

By	Frank Rella "savo158" (Flushing, New York United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's rather easy to show, as Anderson does, that some of Ravenscroft's claims are simply incredible. But it's also easy to show, as do several other books much more credible than Ravenscroft's Spear, that Hitler was certainly interested in theory of the occult, while not himself being a committed occultist in practice. This is not uncommon among highly intelligent but somewhat emotionally deranged persons. It's also rather hard to deny, when one reads the words of the man himself, in Mein Kampf and in Rauschning's non verbatim record of conversations, that Hitler was fascinated and influenced by concepts and beliefs which are identifiable with occult theory of history and race, and which can be traced from Blavatsky to Gurdjieff to Crowley. But he was not a follower, but a leader, not a theorist but a pragmatist, and his use and abuse of such ideas was peculiarly his own. No one however can claim that he was original in inspiration.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent point by point review, December 2, 2002

By	BillMah "billmah" (Madison, Connecticut USA) - See all my reviews

I purchased this book this last spring and was to busy to read it, so it sat on my shelf till this weekend. I was in the mood for a good read, I remembered this book, picked it up and didn't put it down till finished. When I bought it, I thought it would be a book that detailed the Nazi involvement with the Occult. As I read it, I began to realize that the book in large part takes issue with a single man's (Ravenscroft) work on the Nazi's and the occult. Ken Anderson does a nice, precise, point-by-point review of Ravenscroft, and his "evidence" about the Nazi involvement with the occult. Anderson points out that Ravenscroft details about his own personal involvement in a raid to kill Rommel in the Second World War were fictitious. From that Anderson builds a case against Ravenscroft's allegations that Hitler was driven by his contact with the "spear of destiny" - a spear that was used to make sure Christ had died. When I finished the book, I was amazed to find that with the substantial evidence in this book, I believe that Hitler was not "driven" by the occult. He was simply evil. Something his young niece realized when she was 17, and shot herself with his .32 Walther.

I have more than a working knowledge of WW2, the events and the history. Last summer I spent two weeks riding around Germany on a BMW motorcycle seeing the WW2 sites. I very much appreciate this book for detailing information I had not known before, and linking it with information that I am quite familiar with. The end result was my belief that Anderson's information is accurate and well told. If you're into the history, you'll love this book.