''Hitler and the Occult'', produced by Bram Roos and Phyllis Cannon, and narrated by actor David Ackroyd, is a 50-minute

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

documentary regarding

Nazi occultism The association of Nazism with occultism occurs in a wide range of theories, speculation, and research into the origins of Nazism and into Nazism's possible relationship with various occult traditions. Such ideas have flourished as a part of po ...

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.

Synopsis

The documentary correctly claimed that Nazi Party grew out of several occult groups such as

Thule Society The Thule Society (; ), originally the ('Study Group for Germanic Antiquity'), was a German occultist and group founded in Munich shortly after World War I, named after a mythical northern country in Greek legend. The society is notable chie ...

that sprang up in the late 19th century as a reaction to the advanced materialism and technology of the era. These groups spoke of the coming of a new Messiah that would save Germany. Hitler developed the notion that perhaps he was the chosen one to save the German people. In reality, the political parties created in the wake of the country's defeat in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

combined nationalistic sentiment to forge an image of a superior German people, a sentiment already present in German society. 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. The Messiah Hitler had been hoping for earlier, however was the

Antichrist In Christian eschatology, Antichrist (or in broader eschatology, Anti-Messiah) refers to a kind of entity prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before ...

also known as

Maitreya (Theosophy) In Theosophy, or is an advanced spiritual entity and high-ranking member of a reputed hidden spiritual hierarchy, the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom. According to Theosophical doctrine, one of the hierarchy's functions is to oversee the evolut ...

among satanists or

Dajjal Al-Masih ad-Dajjal (), otherwise referred to simply as the Dajjal, is an evil figure in Islamic eschatology who will pretend to be the promised Messiah and later claim to be God, appearing before the Day of Judgment according to the Islamic esch ...

among

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. Hitler appropriated Christian symbolism, such as the

Spear of Destiny A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to t ...

and the

Holy Grail The Holy Grail (, , , ) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miraculous healing powers, sometimes providing eternal youth or sustenanc ...

for his own purposes. He adopted the

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

, a transcultural symbol for the Sun. The original symbol turns clockwise symbolizing peace and good, whereas the appropriated Nazi one turns backwards symbolizing chaos and evil as to comply with

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche became the youngest pro ...

's ideology of Master-slave morality mentioned in his book,

On the Genealogy of Morality ''On the Genealogy of Morality: A Polemic'' (; sometimes also translated as ''On the Genealogy of Morals'') is an 1887 book by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It consists of a preface and three interrelated treatises ('Abhandlungen' in Ge ...

, which Adolph Hitler adopted many ideas and beliefs from. At the conclusion, author Dusty Sklar points out that Hitler's suicide happened during the night of April 30 – May 1, known as

Walpurgis Night Walpurgis Night (), an abbreviation of Saint Walpurgis Night (from the German language, German ), also known as Saint Walpurga's Eve (alternatively spelled Saint Walburga's Eve) and Walpurgisnacht, is the Vigil#Eves of religious celebrations ...

. The narrator continues: ''"With Hitler gone, it was as if a spell had been broken"''. Then

Joachim von Ribbentrop Ulrich Friedrich-Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician and diplomat who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. ...

's infamous statement of his continued subservience to Hitler at the

Nuremberg trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

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."'').

References

2000 films American documentary films History (American TV channel) original programming Documentary films about Adolf Hitler Occultism in Nazism 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language documentary films {{documentary-tv-film-stub

Television and DVD release

Synopsis

See also

References