In 1935, the SS created a
special section called ''H'' (H-Sonderkommando, so named for the first letter
of the German word Hexe, meaning ''witch''). This section was looking for
documents on witchcraft, the occult, and the supernatural. They sought the
information among at least 260 libraries and archives. Their work took place
from 1935 to 1944. As a result, they accumulated the greatest concentrated
collection on witches and their persecution in medieval Germany. This was the
largest survey of witch-trial records to be found in the history of Europe.
Witches' Sabbath by Francisco de Goya. ( Public Domain )
Heinrich Himmler believed
that the power of the old occult masters would help the Nazis to rule the
world. He followed the Witch-Cult hypothesis, created by Margaret Murray, a
famous researcher in this field. He believed in a scientific point of view on a
witchcraft and with time he became obsessed with it. He trusted that the Celto-Germanic
Nature religion would bring him all that he desired - but the simple version of
purely traditional aspects was not enough for him. The Nazis created the
dirtiest and most corrupt version of ''witchcraft'' to have ever existed.
Himmler
thought that the actions of the Catholic church’s Inquisition were purposefully
trying to repress an indigenous German pagan nature-based religion, völkisch,
in a conspiracy against the Aryan race. He even tried to find proof for his own
magical roots, and according to biographers on Himmler, he discovered that one
of his ancestors was burned as a witch. His anger at these acts appeared in
anti-Christian propaganda. He began to hate Christianity and believed that he
owed his “successes” against it to the ones who were murdered for having a
knowledge of magic.
According to Georg Luck,
the cult which Himmler followed had its roots in late antiquity. In his book,
Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds , he described
the basis of the beliefs which became an important part of the political life
of Nazis. The cult worshiped the Horned God of Celts and a Greco-Roman
Pan/Faunus. It was a combination of gods which gave roots to a new deity, an
early conception of the Devil.
Himmler
is credited as a founder of '' Esoteric Hitlerism ''. He was also deeply
involved in astrology, and tried to construct a new pseudo-Germanic Neopagan
religion, based on a cult created in his imagination. He approved officially
pagan holidays and manipulated the facts connected with traditional pagan
cults.
