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

by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product 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.

About the Author

Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke is the author of several books on ideology and the Western esoteric tradition, including Hitler's Priestess and The Occult Roots of Nazism, which has remained in print since its publication in 1985 and has been translated into eight languages. He writes regularly for European and US Journals and has contributed to several films on the Third Reich and World War II.

Product Details

• Paperback: 293 pages
• Publisher: NYU Press (September 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814730604
• ISBN-13: 978-0814730607
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #158,032 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Nazi Underground., March 24, 2001

By	New Age of Barbarism "zosimos" (EVROPA.) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This book chronicles some of the underground movements and popular delusions that existed in Germany and Austria before the Nazis came to power. It examines the influence these groups may have had on Nazi leaders in the SS, on Adolf Hitler, and on the thinking of Germans at the time. It is necessary to understand such extremist and occult groups in order to understand how the Nazis were able to take over Germany. Millenarian fantasies and a kind of cultural paranoia preoccupied the German mind, and these fantasies came to hold a unique place within various secret societies set up to propagate racist and occult doctrines (especially concerning the role of the "Aryan" race and it's existence in German prehistory). The author examines many eccentric German individualists, dreamers, and romantics and their role in occult societies. These include: Guido (von) List, who claimed to have rediscovered a Wotanist religion and was influenced by the Theosophist Helena Petrovna Blavatsky; Jorg Lanz von Liebenfels, who resurrected a sect based on the Knights Templars; the Ariosophists, who relied on a "theozoology" concerning the struggle of the Aryan race, and their secret societies, the Germanenorden, the Thule Society, and the Edda Society. The author also considers the influence of such individuals as Rudolf von Sebottendorf, Herbert Reichstein, and Karl Maria Wiligut on the SS (Himmler), and examines the role Ariosophical thinking might have played in the development of Adolf Hitler. The book includes several appendices, one of which deals with some of the sensationalist and "crypto-historical" literature that has sprang up around the occult and Nazism, which attributes a great role to the occult in the rise to power of the Nazis. This is an important book for understanding how collective delusions can arise in the mind of a country, particularly racist ideologies. The Nazis continue to exercise a fascination upon us, both for their brutality and for their nationalist mysticism. And, this book allows us to understand.

[If you are interested in this kind of thing, I can also recommend any of the works by Norman Cohn, who is cited repeatedly in this book. He deals mostly with the medieval period, but you'll notice that the same sort of delusions and fantasies keep on cropping up throughout European history.]

50 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Occult Roots of Nazism, August 5, 2002

By	Wyatt C. Kaldenberg "Wyatt Kaldenberg, 'Heath... (Bonsall, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ariosophism, November 7, 2001

By	Thad A. Burkhart (Lexington, NC United States) - See all my reviews

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