Hitler and the Occult
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For the book by the same name by Ken Anderson see Hitler and the Occult (book)
Hitler and the Occult, produced by Bram Roos and Phyllis Cannon and narrated by David Ackroyd, is a 50 minute History Channel documentary regarding Nazi occultism.
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[edit] Television and DVD release
The documentary was originally shown on television and subsequently released on DVD on February 8, 2000 by 'A & E Home Video'. It is in colour and in the English language. It is part of the In Search of History series.
[edit] Synopsis
The Nazi party grew out of several occult groups that sprung up in the late 19th century as a reaction to the advanced materialism and technology of the era[citation needed]. These groups spoke of the coming of a new Messiah that would save Germany[citation needed]. Young Adolf Hitler developed the notion that perhaps he was the chosen one to save the German people.
The political parties created in the wake of the country's defeat in World War I combined nationalistic sentiment and occultist practices to forge an image of a superior German people. Hitler's imprisonment after the failed 1923 Munich Beer Hall Putsch would make him a national hero for his defense of a strong German state, convincing him that he was the Messiah who could save Germany.
Hitler appropriated Christian religious symbols such as the Spear of Destiny and the Holy Grail for his own purposes. He adopted the swastika, which contained occult significance from earlier cultures. The swastika is also the symbol for peace and harmony, as in Budhism and Taoism. Therefore we cannot say that it is entirely occult; it just contains some occult significance, as the symbol of Nazi Germany. Adolf Hitler's rise was the product of forces and events connecting him, his associates and the occult. Was Hitler influenced by supernatural ideas or was he just the embodiment of pure hate and evil? Examine the importance of symbols of the occult, religion and astrology to Hitler's concept of world domination.
In the conclusion, after the author Dusty Sklar has pointed out that Hitler's suicide happened at the night of April 30/May 1, which is Walpurgis Night, the narrator continues: "With Hitler gone, it was as if a spell had been broken". Then Joachim von Ribbentrop's infamous statement of his continued subservience to Hitler at the Nuremberg Trials is taken as final evidence of Hitler's "occult power": ("Even with all I know, if in this cell Hitler should come to me and say 'Do this!', I would still do it.").
