"Hitler Hated Heathens"

"On the Jews And Their Lies", Martin Luther

Dr. Karl E. H. Seigfried is the man behind the wonderful "Norse Mythology Blog". He recently posted a brief article on facebook (link), in which he demolishes the whole idea that the Adolf Hitler was in any way influenced by or favorably disposed towards Heathenism.

Siegfried did not post this article on his blog because, in his own words, "I'm trying to keep my blog Hitler-free!" While such a desire is perfectly understandable, I believe that ultimately it is misguided. The Big Lie that the Nazis were somehow influenced by Paganism is ubiquitous in popular culture and even finds its way into scholarly publications. The only way to counter this drumbeat of propaganda is by responding to it head-on, in as direct and straightforward a manner as possible.

I also think it is important to explain that not only is there no real connection between Nazism and Heathenism, but that there is most undoubtedly a strong and clear connection between Nazism and Christianity. In fact, the whole "Nazi Pagan" meme is really nothing more than a fairly transparent effort to distract attention away from the real religion of the Nazis: Christianity.

And now without further preamble, below is the entire text of what Dr. Seigfried posted on facebook (and also look to the bottom of this post for other links of possible interest):

HITLER HATED HEATHENS

Monday's CNN article about the disgusting hate crimes of last Sunday quotes a 1998 Southern Poverty Law Center article stating that Odinism "was a bedrock belief for key Third Reich leaders, and it was an integral part of the initiation rites and cosmology of the elite Schutzstaffel (SS), which supervised Adolf Hitler's network of death camps."

The man arrested & accused of committing these awful murders is a great fan of Adolf Hitler. I wonder if this avowed white supremacist knows that (even as the Nazis used Nordic imagery for propaganda purposes) his hero Hitler thought those interested in the Old Way were moronic left-wing peaceniks?

In his memoirs, Nazi architect Albert Speer quotes Hitler on his disdain for SS leader Heinrich Himmler's interest in pagan mysticism & his own support for Christian Charlemagne's butchering of heathen Saxons:

"What nonsense! Here we have at last reached an age that has left all mysticism behind it, and now [Himmler] wants to start that all over again. We might just as well have stayed with the church. At least it had tradition. To think that I may some day be turned into an SS saint! Can you imagine it? I would turn over in my grave...

"Himmler has made another speech calling Charlemagne 'the butcher of the Saxons.' Killing all those Saxons was not a historical crime, as Himmler thinks. Charlemagne did a good thing subjugating Widukind and killing the Saxons out of hand. He thereby made possible the empire of the Franks and the entry of Western culture into what is now Germany."

Here are some key quotes from Hitler's "Mein Kampf" ("My Struggle," Hitler's autobiography & statement of beliefs), in which he clearly states what he thinks of those who follow the Old Gods.

On use of ancient terminology:

"It is entirely out of harmony with the spirit of the nation to keep harping on that far-off and forgotten nomenclature which belongs to the ancient Germanic times and does not awaken any distinct association in our age. This habit of borrowing words from the dead past tends to mislead the people into thinking that the external trappings of its vocabulary are the important feature of a movement. It is really a mischievous habit; but it is quite prevalent nowadays."

On scholars of mythology:

"I had to warn followers repeatedly against these wandering scholars who were peddling Germanic folk-lore and who never accomplished anything positive or practical, except to cultivate their own superabundant self-conceit. "

On those more interested in peacefully studying ancient practice than joining his anti-Communist fight:

"It is typical of such persons that they rant about ancient Teutonic heroes of the dim and distant ages, stone axes, battle spears and shields, whereas in reality they themselves are the woefullest poltroons imaginable. For those very same people who brandish Teutonic tin swords that have been fashioned carefully according to ancient models and wear padded bear-skins, with the horns of oxen mounted over their bearded faces, proclaim that all contemporary conflicts must be decided by the weapons of the mind alone. And thus they skedaddle when the first communist cudgel appears. Posterity will have little occasion to write a new epic on these heroic gladiators."

On those who study folk-lore vs. those who fight for his vision of a German State:

"I have seen too much of that kind of people not to feel a profound contempt for their miserable play-acting. To the masses of the nation they are just an object of ridicule; but the Jew finds it to his own interest to treat these folk-lore comedians with respect and to prefer them to real men who are fighting to establish a German State. And yet these comedians are extremely proud of themselves. Notwithstanding their complete fecklessness, which is an established fact, they pretend to know everything better than other people; so much so that they make themselves a veritable nuisance to all sincere and honest patriots, to whom not only the heroism of the past is worthy of honour but who also feel bound to leave examples of their own work for the inspiration of the coming generation."

Other relevant posts from this blog:

• Joseph Campbell on "Permanent Human Values" (3/18/14)
• "Inextricably Interwoven": Christianity, Modernity, and Racism (11/23/13)
• Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke's 1997 Speech at the New York Open Center (9/6/12)
• "We need to start dismantling this notion of 'Tradition.'" (4/13/12)
• Traditionalism & Anti-Modernism: A Guide For The Perplexed Pagan (1/24/12)
• The Not-So-Occult Foundations of Nazism (11/10/11)
• C. G. Jung and the Nazis: notes on two specific allegations (10/28/11)
• Carl Jung & the Cowardly Blood Sport of Nazi-Baiting (10/6/11)
• Yet more on Pagans, Christians, and White Supremacists in the 21st Century (10/3/11)
• "And if we occasionally speak of Baldur ..." (9/29/11)
• The Wild Hunt versus Radical Traditionalism (9/28/11)
• Religion, Racism & the Right  (4/14/10)
• What Kind of Religion is Buddhism?, Continued (3/28/10)
• The Western Mystery Tradition(s): Factions and Fault Lines (1/13/10)

"Realistic to the point of being inhuman": Christoph Waltz is a Glourious Basterd, and so is Quentin Tarantino!

{ -->> significant spoilage may be contained in the following <<-- }

OK, we finally watched Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. It is a wonderful film, even glourious. I own very few movie DVD's, but two of them are Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, and I am sure that before long Inglourious Basterds will join them (the one we watched was a rental).

To be brutally honest, I wanted the movie to be even better. My own subjective experience was that it peaks during the basement-rendezvous-gone-wrong scene (more specifically during the brilliant King Kong "joke" scene) and then, well, kind of falls apart. But if Quentin Tarantino were not such a genius it would be literally inconceivable to find fault with this film!

But there is one aspect of Inglourious Basterds that was absolutely perfect: Christoph Waltz's performance as Standartenführer Hans Landa of the Nazi SS. Waltz himself had this to say about Hans Landa, in an interview with Hunter Stephenson of slashfilm.com:

he is realistic to the point where it is bordering the inhuman, you know. He really looks at the various layers of reality, and he understands that there is not just one thing, the world is many things at the same time. And they might appear to contradict each other, but that does not mean that they necessarily do. And it’s a very interesting subject for conversation and discussion, and that’s naturally the ideal outcome of something like this.

I suspect that with the passage of time, Inglourious Basterds will age quite well. The period of history that Tarantino has taken on persists in defying all efforts to "explain" it. Were the Nazis inhuman monsters, or were they ordinary human beings who did horribly evil things? If they were monsters, where do such monsters come from? If they were ordinary human beings, how do ordinary human beings do such horribly evil things? And how many Nazis were like Hans Landa, who was "just doing his job", and, in this fictional version of history, turns against his Fuhrer and helps to win the war for the Allies?

But, in reality, it was the "Jewish Vengeance" of Shosanna Dreyfus that was "really" responsible for decapitating the the Third Reich. What is Tarantino saying with that? What does Landa represent? Some dark malevolently amoral aspect of western culture that not only managed to survive the destruction of Nazism intact, but insidiously receives credit for helping to rid the world of fascism? And why is this evil piece of shit so fascinating, so charming, so intelligent and cultured and "realistic"?

And think about it. Hans Landa really did bring down the Third Reich, but not because the Inglourious Basterds needed his cooperation to bring off their plan. It was Landa who allowed Shosanna to live, and it was Shosanna who really pulled off the real "Operation Kino" . . . .

The more I think about it, the more exquisitely multi-layered the King Kong reference reveals itself to be. Could anyone seriously argue that the Third Reich was any more morally depraved than the societies that involved themselves in, indeed, become stinking rich from, the African Slave Trade, not to mention (and there are references to this as well) the Genocide of the Native Americans. But in that case all of our metaphysical head-scratching over how those evil Nazis could be so evil is rather cluelessly un-self-aware, no?