Occultism in Nazism

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 popular culture since at least the early 1940s (during World War II), and gained renewed popularity starting in the 1960s. Historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke analyzed the topic in his 1985 book The Occult Roots of Nazism, in which he argued there were in fact links between some ideals of Ariosophy and Nazi ideology. He also analyzed the problems of the numerous popular occult historiography books written on the topic. Goodrick-Clarke sought to separate empiricism and sociology from the modern mythology of Nazi occultism that exists in many books which "have represented the Nazi phenomenon as the product of arcane and demonic influence".^[1] He evaluated most of the 1960 to 1975 books on Nazi occultism as "sensational and under-researched".^[2]

^ Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 218–225.
^ Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (1992) [1985]. "Appendix E: The Modern Mythology of Nazi Occultism". The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology. New York: New York University Press. p. 224. ISBN 9780814730607. Retrieved 13 October 2022. Books written about Nazi occultism between 1960 and 1975 were typically sensational and under-researched.

[1] Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 218–225.

[2] Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (1992) [1985]. "Appendix E: The Modern Mythology of Nazi Occultism". The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology. New York: New York University Press. p. 224. ISBN 9780814730607. Retrieved 13 October 2022. Books written about Nazi occultism between 1960 and 1975 were typically sensational and under-researched.

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