Customer Reviews

Nazis and the Occult: The Dark Forces Unleashed by the Third Reich

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4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My first complaint about this book, is it is not written in a proper historical manner. There are no footnotes, no proof quoted the pages, just a half-narrative half laundry list of facts that are not justified in any way.

My second complaint about this book, is that the author posted a review of his own book on amazon. He ends his review with "No one can deny Paul Roland is a complete master of his subject." -Colin Wilson. Ignoring the pathetic fact that this is a published author arguing with people on the amazon messageboards, it also inflates the rating of the book. And that is pitiful.

All and all the book is okay. It provides a very introductory explanation to Nazi occult belief and practice, and an overview of lots of ideas. But don't read this if you're looking for an in-depth explanation of these ideas. Look through his bibliography and check out his source material. I would suggest "Unholy Alliance" by Peter Levenda.

Recently purchased this POS and doubt I shall finish it . An excerpt ;
''Both Theodor Reuss , a practitioner of Tantric sex Magick ,and Sar Peladan, the French writer on the occult , believe that Wagner was an intuitive magician''.
From this supposition he goes on to ensue Wagner with all types of Mystical powers ! Absurd !!
Roland has yet to back up any claim with evidence -only pure speculation .Roland CLAIMS to have read and studied still classified secret documents from WW2 yet has mentioned nothing save he has read them .
Poorly written and poorly researched.
I , somehow , finished this trash and it got worse every page !! The author claims Hitler was never impoverished and 2 chapters later says ''during Hitler's impoverished time '' he went to the woods with Stein by his side in search of the ''WALDSCHRAT''( a forest troll ) who had introduced him to the pleasures of Peyotl ....Going back to 1/2 price books and beg for a trade in .

I don't normally post reviews of my own books, but I felt compelled to set the record straight for those who might be considering purchasing my 'Nazis and the Occult' and who might be put off by Charles Levenson's misleading review as I consider this a very serious and psychological study of a subject which has been sensationalised and mythologised in the past. Mr Levenson may object to the look of the book, but no one could over look the fact that I make it very clear that Hitler and his circle were NOT magicians in the traditional sense but manipulators of the mass mind. I also make it clear that Ravenscroft and his Spear of Destiny yarn is just that - pulp fiction that makes for good copy but is certainly not to be taken as historical fact. To dimiss Hitler and his Henchmen as 'evil' or as pawns of a dark power is to take the easy option - we are all responsible for our actions and evil is man made.
I make the point in greater detail in what I consider to be the companion to this book, 'In The Minds Of Murderers - the Art of Criminal Profiling' which includes a lengthy psychological analysis of Hitler and a foreword by FBI Profiler Roy Hazelwood.
www.paulroland.net
'No one can deny Paul Roland is a complete master of his subject' (COLIN WILSON)

Beautiful book, full of interesting historical pictures. A good look at the driving forces behind the German war machine.

This book belongs alongside the incredible British television broadcast, THE OCCULT HISTORY OF THE THIRD REICH.
It shows the theosophical roots of Nazi ideas about the superiority of the Aryan Race and explains how a twisted
appropriation of Catholic symbols motivated the failed artists (who made up the upper echelon of those manufacturing
Nazi mythology) created a potent brew that captivated an entire nation.
In a world that today falls easy prey to myth over fact, this book provides a sobering lesson. It is prophetic!

I found this book as a quite deep, non-ordinary approach to understanding the psyche of the first half of last century Germany and its leaders. Even mere facts collected in this book could lead to insights into 'Zeitgeist', or the spirit of that time. The value of this book is not only in its clear, logical and metaphysical analysis of the origins of distorted development of one of the greatest nations and its particular individuals, but also in implying that any society might be susceptible to the influences, or forces acted in Nazi Germany.

It is easy to criticize this book - much more difficult to write one. I would recommend to the above viewers first to learn how to write even a short text without multiple errors and typos, not mentioning how to put words together for clear understanding.

I'll say this upfront - I bought this book in a bookstore because of 1) the title and 2) the pictures. The best I can say about this book is that the pictures are interesting, but I'm scratching my head over the content. The title is "Nazis and the Occult." But much of the books is spent REFUTING any connection between Nazism and the occult. What we're left with is a brief overview of the Third Reich -- and in some cases, an inaccurate one.

There is certainly enough written out there concerning the connection between Nazism and the occult -- the author himself provides a nice bibliography in the back of the book. Furthermore, those who had a front seat to the Reich of 1,000 Years from Albert Speer to William Shirer commented on Hitler's almost mesmerizing power and also discussed the Fuhrer's almost obsessive interest in Norse mythology and magick.

And the author starts the book off well enough, pointing out the reality of "magick," its theoretical underpinnings and whether or not Hitler was a master of such magick. That takes about 25 pages. The remaining 200-odd pages is then a big "never mind -- there were no occult forces unleashed during the Third Reich." Rather, Roland spends a good chunk of the book refuting works by Trevor Ravenscroft and Nigel Pennick.

I don't have a problem with the author drilling holes in what Ravenscroft and Pennick write. What I DO have a problem with, however, is that the content doesn't really fit the title. I'm in the "writing biz" myself, so I understand that sometimes titles may be out of the author's control. Publishers sometimes coin titles to better sell books.

Furthermore, what Roland leaves behind after refuting any kind of connection between magick/occultism and the Third Reich is a somewhat watered-down explanation and brief overview of Nazism, and not a very good one at that. For example, Roland's description of the Lebensborn is way off base. The Lebensborn wasn't an SS stud farm as Roland suggests, but rather, a program to assist Aryan women who had gotten pregnant through willing assignations with SS members. Certainly the idea behind Lebensborn was correct: To foster the Aryan race. But there weren't stud farms involved. Also, how do you paint a picture of propaganda without more mention of Leni Riefenstahl? There is a brief mention of her -- at the very end of the book. In the afterward.

I did, however, like the graphics included with this book. There were some interesting photos, including those of Hitler in his earlier years. I found it interesting that Hitler, when not in his uniform, seemed to lose some of his mystique. This would have been an interesting point to make -- that Hitler (and his henchmen) were able to manipulate through standardization of uniforms (such as the SS and SA uniforms). But this really wasn't touched on.

In short, this is a very good example of why it's important NOT to judge a book by its cover, or its title. The book was okay (with some inaccuracies) and the pictures interesting. But don't be fooled in thinking this will be a specific treatise on Nazism and the occult.

I would not reccomend anybody to buy any book of this author.

"No one can deny Paul Roland is a complete master of his subject." (Colin Wilson) It must be a joke.

The author sets out to debunk other writers who have linked the Nazis to direct reliance on the occult. Fine. He did a nice job of that. But hes seems to have a world view that prevents him as seeing Hitler and his ilk as being possibly demon possessed makes the "new" material he presents as having no historical anchor. I found his writing to be rather circuitous at best. The book really lacked organization. As one other negative reviewer mentioned, there was a lack of historical background. That might seem unfair, but the historical background was too random and unorganized for me. The historical background of the Nazis was probably lost on the readers who never studied the inter-war period in schools. Sorry, but this book did not live up to my expectations.

If you read deeply about Hitler and Stalin,they are quite similar,rather than different.Hitler was a christianized pagan ,as was Stalin.Yet,Stalin throw away every bit of christianity and paganism,he could.Stalin believed that the christianized pagan peasants,would embrace cheap western world values,and this would lead to a carass life of worthless ideals.Hitler believe the christianized pagans were fools,that foolishly followed the whims of jewish bankers.Hitler felt that the 'jewish conspiracy',wanted to use Stalin as a 'plough-horse',against European pagan workers.Hitler saw Stalin as muscleman stooge,enforcing jewish doctrines against the working class people.Stalin saw Hitler as a sentimental pagan,who yearned for the simpler times of his heathen ancestors.Enough of Stalin.This book is about Hitler and how he was influenced by nordic pagan occultism.Hitler was also interested in the writings of the French christianized jewish soothsayer,Michel Nostradamus.Hitler was made aware of the German successes,followed by German failures and defeat.Hitler had the quatranes tailored to fit him owm propaganda dogmas.Hitler dappled in 'occultism',yet it was Heinrich Himmler who was a die-hard magical occult.Himmler was a skilled college trained chicken-poultry specialist.Sadly,he was also put in charge of the concentration camps for jewish termination.This is not the best book on the occult basis for nazism.Hitler saw National Socialism as a way of destroying christianity,once and for all.Hitler rallied the masses of peasant workers,not to be fooled by the jewish bankers,like the donkey chasing the carrot-stick.Hermann Goering saw the Nazi parti,as a pro-German Roman catholic labor movement.It's quite possible Goering knew about von Staffenberg's Valkerie plot and passed word on to Benito Mussilini himself.Goering had probably dismissed Von staffenberg already for being a part of the 'Edelschaft',the non-skilled blue-blood idle 'Noble class'.Hitler was proud to say his SS,were all 'atheists'.Maybe Hitler believd himself to be a living god,sent from the heavens,to provided direction and providence to the Aryan germanic people.Hitler committed suicide on 'Walpergis-nacht',the twilight battle of the gods,romantically turned into an opera by Richard Wagner.Stalin turned May-day into a 'labor-celebration of the worker',yet it's basis is a 'pagan celebration of the heathen peasant,welcoming the return of the fertile spring'.Was Nazi Occultism a failure? Hard to say.The cold war Soviet Union tried to stamp out Russian pagan occult beliefs,through detention and murder.Only to end in failure.This was an interesting book,yet could have been more in-depth.Still worth reading.