Nazism - RationalWiki [Link]

org/wiki/Nazism

Nazism
“ The craziest of all political systems, the unique dictatorship, found
its earned end. History will note for eternity that the German
people were not able on their own initiative to shake off the yoke of
the National Socialists. The victory of the Americans, English and
Russians was a necessary occurrence to disrupt the National
Socialists' delusions and plans for world domination.
—Friedrich Kellner,
”
My Opposition, diary entry for May 1, 1945 The NSDAP emblem.

Nazism (the common English-language short form of the less-commonly used A lunatic Chaplin
full official name National Socialism) can refer to the political beliefs held by the imitator
Nazi Party (officially the "National Socialist German Workers' Party" — and his greatest fans
Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, commonly shortened to NSDAP) a Nazism
feature of German politics from after World War I (1914-1918) until the end of
World War II in 1945. Nazism resembled its contemporary doctrine of fascism in
many particulars, such as totalitarianism and ethnic nationalism, although it placed
a much stronger emphasis on race. The Nazi Party destroyed terrorized ruled
Germany from 1933 to 1945, during a period known as the "Third Reich". (In case
you were wondering, the Holy Roman Empire ranks as the first Reich, and the
First as tragedy
second Reich was the German Empire of 1871-1918. Despite lasting longer than
Hitler's "thousand-year Reich", the Weimar Republic — officially known as the ▪ Joseph Goebbels
"German Reich" — doesn't count in Nazi arithmetic.) ▪ Hermann Göring
In the 1920s and 1930s, Communists lumped all their authoritarian enemies ▪ Woden's Folk
together under the label of "fascist". Today, many people use the terms Nazi and ▪ Nazi Germany
fascist (or fash) interchangeably, continuing this usage. Since very few actual Nazis ▪ John Tyndall
remain alive (although there are quite a few neo-Nazi groups), the term often more ▪ Creativity Movement
generally refers to various authoritarians, especially those who focus on hate, Then as farce
racism, or grammar; though brandishing the word "Nazi" around in a haphazard
fashion when referring to anyone who disagrees with you somewhat diminishes the ▪ Institute for
atrocities committed by the Nazi regime. Historical Review
▪ Identity Evropa
Communists, and other socialists, have also encouraged the use of the term
▪ Rhetoric of Donald
"Nazism" over "National Socialism" for obvious reasons — they don't wish to be
Trump
conflated with it or tainted by the "socialism" part of the "national socialism"
moniker. "Nazi" is still technically a nickname — the NSDAP itself did not use the ▪ Brian Ruhe
term. Stalin's Soviet Union (1920s to 1953) preferred terms such as "Hitlerite" and ▪ Tara McCarthy
"Hitlerism" over "National Socialism". ▪ No Bullshit
v - t - e ([Link]
g/w/[Link]?title=Templat
e:Nazism&action=edit)
Contents
Origins
Support outside Germany
Gay Nazis?
End-Goal
Legacy
Nazis and occult craziness
On a political spectrum
Religion in Nazism
Allegations of US and church cooperation

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Nazism in the United States

Nazism in Europe today
In popular culture
See also
External links
Notes
References

Origins
The myriad influences leading up to the rise to power
of the Nazis are well documented, but many topics are
hotly debated. Oswald Spengler's historical determinist
book The Decline of the West is cited as an
"intellectual" influence. However, his work was later
banned by the Nazis because he dared to criticize them
and rejected anti-Semitism. Spengler also rejected
racism and found racial superiority laughable since the
work that the Nazis loved had eight dominant cultures
(called 'high cultures'), only two of which were actually
European.[note 1] Ironically, his other book,
Prussiandom and Socialism, provided a basis for
their view of socialism. Germanic romanticism and
national mysticism, as expressed in Wagner's operas, Nazi rally in Berlin, 1936.
the Wandervögel youth movement (which was
outlawed by the Nazis, too), and German occultist
movements like Ariosophy and the Thule Society are also cited as precursors. The Thule Society also took
influence from Theosophy and Helena Blavatsky's theory of "Root Races". More hotly disputed is the extent to
which Nietzsche may have been an influence, but his sister Elisabeth was an early and enthusiastic supporter
of Hitler and helped the Nazis to claim him as one, at least in name; some allege that certain potentially racist
turns of phrase found in current editions of his works (most famously, the "splendid blond beast of noble
race") were added by her after his death.

A more apparent immediate precursor was the state of Germany after World War I, when the country
experienced hyperinflation and economic collapse during the Weimar Republic period and suffered under the
international sanctions imposed after the war, and many Germans were confused about the outcome of the
war. Wartime censorship led many to believe that the German Army was undefeated in WW1 until the day
they surrendered, seemingly out of the blue. Germany and Austria lost large amounts of territory, particularly
in Eastern Europe and Saarland and Alsace. Some of these areas had pockets of ethnic Germans and German
speakers, and these areas' (re)conquest was seen as a priority.

As well as philosophical and mystical influences, Nazism had diverse political roots. The most obvious would
include Prussian militarism and pre-existing German ultranationalism. It also took influence from
Mussolini's original Fascist movement (which coalesced earlier) and Communism (directly opposing it but
also copying certain elements such as its military cadres, youth movements, and red flag). Despite its mystical
roots, National Socialism also had a technocratic element and saw new technology as a means to subdue its
foreign enemies.

The predecessor to the NSDAP, a tiny group of a few dozen individuals calling themselves the "German
Workers' Party", was founded in 1919 by an unimaginative nobody called Anton Drexler. Hitler, at that time a
military man, was given the task of spying on this group, but decided to take it over instead. Because of
Hitler's charisma and the talent of many of his followers, the Nazis were able to mostly absorb the other right-
wing movements in Germany at the time, and with the help of Ernst Röhm, were able to mobilize them as a
brutal street fighting force all throughout Germany, significantly hindering any democratic processes. The
Nazis would find significant electoral success starting in 1930 and become the largest party in the Reichstag in

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1932. While the Nazis did use violence and intimidation to stack the deck in their favor in these two elections,
it is essential to remember that much of their support was legitimate, despite post-war hand-wringing. Less
than a year later, Hitler would be named chancellor after the Reichstag fire and quickly consolidated power
before abandoning the pretext of democracy entirely. The Nazis came to power promising to restore
Germany's "might" after this period of national pessimism and effectively manipulated the recent popularity
of Germanic romanticism to his advantage. They also offered an explanation for Germany's failure in WW1,
adopting the position that the Germans would have won the war if not stabbed in the back by Communists
and Jews (these two were often merged into one boogeyman Hitler termed Judeo-Bolshevism). This proved
irresistible to some segments of society who were quick to fall for demagoguery blaming "the Jews" and other
sinister forces for Germany's plight. The NSDAP's brand of "national socialism" was seen by conservatives
and business elites as a favorable alternative to Bolshevik communism, which they feared might overtake
Germany, as it had a strong following among the German working class. The influence of socialism within the
NSDAP is also hotly debated; there was a faction within the party, the Strasserites, that took the "socialism"
part of National Socialism seriously, but they were violently purged (with a few exceptions) from the party
soon after Hitler consolidated his power.

Support outside Germany

Nazism also gained some popularity outside Germany, most obviously in Austria. Ethnic Germans in other
countries were persecuted after WW1 and blamed for causing it. In some countries, non-Germans also
became sympathetic to the movement. Some non-German nationalists from Ukraine, Lithuania, Croatia, and
Brittany collaborated with the Germans to fight their cause. Franco was willing to use the Third Reich forces
to win the Spanish Civil War, although he wisely avoided joining WW2. In Austria, involvement with Nazism
was more complex — although Hitler was Austrian and Austrians became full citizens, the Anschluss or Union
between the two countries took place under pressure.

Further afield, Nazism found some support among the Afrikaner population, Hindu Nationalists, German-
Americans, and ethnic Germans in South America. While few Afrikaners actually fought for Hitler, Nazism
influenced the apartheid idea and white supremacism in South Africa.

Since World War II, forms of National Socialism usually on the German model have taken root elsewhere,
including countries that fought against Hitler — such as the United Kingdom, Norway, and Russia. One of
Russia's manifestations, the National Bolsheviks, manages to combine Nazism with some of the ideas of
Lenin.

Gay Nazis?
On the other hand, the claim of certain Religious Right nutjobs like Scott Lively and Soviet propaganda author
Maxim Gorky that Nazism emerged out of a homosexual subculture is almost universally discredited, except
among homophobes. Ernst Röhm was homosexual, as were numerous other leaders of the Sturmableitung
(SA). Many of the rank-and-file of the SA were also homosexual. However, the only causal link between
homosexuality and Nazism is that they were social outcasts; outcasts are always at risk of joining any group
that offers them a purpose and place in society. Privately, Hitler had promised Röhm that homosexuals were
to be protected despite Hitler's public rhetoric against homosexuality. However, as Röhm's sexuality was a
liability in the public eye and the fact that many of the early Nazi leaders were effectively rivals to Hitler
himself, the SA was more or less eliminated in Night of the Long Knives. Röhm had outlived his usefulness,
and life would only get worse for German homosexuals in the years to come.

End-Goal
National Socialism's ideological incoherence fuelled its virulence. There was no end goal of conquest or
purity: it focused purely on the twin processes of struggle and racial strengthening/cleansing. There could be
no peace, no acceptable measure of racial purity, no absence of enemies. Nazism was not, in this sense,
Utopian "because in a Utopia there are no enemies". Ultimately, every measure short of near-omnicide was a
mere tactical concession. The Nazis did not militarise their society and wage wars of conquest because they
feared weakness: they did it to be militaristic and conquer.[1]

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Legacy
The legacies of Nazism are many and complex. The flagrant way in which this complex legacy is often reduced
and simplified to score a cheap point has led to the necessity of Godwin's Law:

“ As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler
approaches one.[2]
”
The German Nazi Party and its subsidiary organizations were quickly dissolved under Allied occupation and
were illegal in the German Federal Republic, the German Democratic Republic, and Austria. With the
reunification of Germany, the ban on Nazi activities, symbols, and songs remains intact.

In terms of tangible things, it's telling that the Germany left behind by the Nazis had many of its cities reduced
to smoldering rubble, its industry and infrastructure systematically crushed, a large portion of its population
annihilated, and its land split apart and occupied by foreign forces, with the explicit goal of preventing
Germany from rising again for the foreseeable future. Food shortages were common in the early post-war
period, and Germany was entirely dependent on foreign help to recover. The Nazis, in other words, left behind
a legacy of little more than death and destruction of the very people they sought to elevate. Their thousand-
year Reich was destroyed in a scant 12 years.

Nazis and occult craziness

The Nazis were also proponents of Horbiger's Cosmic Ice theory, which held that the stars were made of ice.
They also imagined they had superior intelligence, which seems a bit at odds with the previous sentence.

They contended that the novel "Spring in Atlantis" ("Frühling in Atlantis")[3] by Edmund Kiß (or Edmund
Kiss ) was based on truth — that the Aryan race was descended from Atlanteans (or if they did not originate
in Atlantis, then it had to be something similar and northern called Thule), which was later overrun by
inferior races.[4] The Waffen-SS (the paramilitary wing of the NSDAP) employed a team of archaeologists
searching for proof of these theories, similar to that featured in the Indiana Jones films.

On a political spectrum
“ People who say "Hitler was a socialist cuz his party
included the word socialist" must be incredibly confused
that the titmouse is a bird
”
—@TheNewMeat[5]

Nazism is more complicated than fascism when trying to place it on a

political spectrum. The majority of scholars identify Nazism, in practice,
as a bizarre form of right-wing extremism.[6] Many Nazis were advocates
of third-positionism when it came to economics. This meant that they
were opposed to both socialism (especially communism) and capitalism,
despite many being advocates of the right to own private property (so
long as you were an Aryan... but that goes without saying). They differ
from capitalists (in economics) because they openly advocated a
symbiosis between the state and big business. The state would favor
certain companies (German-owned, of course) in return for them doing Anti-Semitic and anti-communist
favors to the state. Basically, the Nazis openly endorsed crony Nazi poster.
corporatism. Up until relatively recently, this economic nationalism was
shunned by mainstream conservatives. However, since the rise of ultra-
conservatism and right-wing populism in the West, these third-position policies have quickly become the
ethos of right-wing economic practices. For instance, Steve Bannon and the alt-lite's intellectual wing have
expressed explicit third-position economic policies. While not an economic isolationist like Bannon, Donald
Trump follows a model very similar to (but much, much older than) economic nationalism — the precursor to
capitalism, corporatism, and socialism: a crony 17th-century system known as mercantilism. Even populists

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on the economic "left" support economic nationalism, as many right-wing counterparts do. While they are
both protectionists, the only difference between the pure economic isolationism of the third position and the
mercantilism of the right is that the former is obligatory, and the latter is coercive via tariffs. However, they
both encourage state intervention when setting market prices.

Notable Americans try to push Nazism to the other side of the political spectrum or deny that Nazism was
truly right-wing. While it's evident that Nazism is entirely different from the politics of their own party's
establishment (in that Nazism is much further to the right with its advocacy of anti-Semitism, genocide,
misogyny, etc.), that does not automatically discount their right-wing elements. However, its odd form of
right-wing politics is removed from today's mainstream conservatism (neoconservatism should tell you that
quite blatantly). Many on the right refuse to accept this, as they are unable to comprehend three basic
notions: that "right and left" are both simplistic and arbitrary concepts depending on the context of the time
and place (for instance, laissez-faire capitalism, which is now generally seen as being right of center, was once
as radical in 1790 as socialism is seen today); that both wings incorporate countless individual schools of
thought, and are not indicative of singular and universal ideologies; and that fascism is actually a lot closer to
far-leftism than conservatism is to fascism. The exact same thing applies to the left. Communism and pure
state socialism are far more comparable to Nazism than modern progressivism. Partisanship is an entirely
separate issue, as, though it is not as common anymore due to polarization, there can exist left-leaning
Republicans (though that is generally no longer the case) and right-wing Democrats (such as the Clintons and
Jimmy Carter... not to mention that the political spectrum, which was once a contextually simple concept, has
been made more complicated than it even should have been in the first place. The most extreme ideology of
right-wing thought is, by definition, monarchism, to which mainline fascism like that of Italy in the 1920s and
30s was very similar.

However, in contrast to standard fascism, Nazism is far more complicated as a system. Besides technically not
being fascist,[citation needed] the hierarchy was determined more by race than the aristocracy. As it is
understood today, the idea of race did not come about until globalization began before the Age of
Enlightenment. Despite Nazism generally being considered a right-wing ideology for the case of simple
taxonomy, as it is very similar to the extreme-right ideology that is fascism, stating that it is the epitome of
far-right politics or that it is firmly right-wing is simply not true. In some ways, it bears nearly or just as many
similarities to the extreme left as it does to the extreme right, meaning that it is really both and neither the
right and/or left. In terms of its basic ideological ethos and reactionary foundations (racism, patriarchy,
expansionism, hyper-cultural traditionalism, etc.), it is undoubtedly right-wing. Organizationally, however, it
had more left-wing features. The best example would be that Nazi society was collectivistic, supported
eugenics (which, in the 1930s, was widely a leftist notion)[note 2], anticlerical,[note 3] and did not support
individualism. It is very similar to the modern alt-right phenomenon, both socially far-right (for the same
reasons as the OG Nazis) and organizationally collectivistic. They are generally considered a constituency of
the American right; however, due to their history of association with the GOP and, more recently,
paleoconservative and populist movements, Donald Trump being a great example of the latter (although
Trump seems to hold views more in line with monarchism than Nazism, which, in some ways, is even worse).
"Alt-right" is a term originally coined by the Nazi cosplayer Richard Spencer to describe an ideology that was
an alternative to traditional right-wing thought, particularly conservative, hence "alternative to the right", as
he put it.

So both economically and socially — Nazism gives you the worst of both worlds. It's almost like the system
was a contradictory, incoherent mess cobbled together based on the increasingly insane and drug-addled
rantings of a failed artist.

In any case, Nazism was primarily concerned with Aryan racial purity and territorial conquests. Racism and
imperialism were its defining features. Like most imperialist regimes, conquests were made to benefit the
imperialist power's population; in this case, the German volk. Lebensraum existed for fear that Germany was
on the brink of starvation and needed resources. German motives for invading Poland, Russia, etc., were
equally racist and imperialist. The need for Germany to expand was commonly defended by Germans with the
belief that Slavs and Jews were destined to be serfs for Aryans, and the extermination of Slavs and Jews was
defended by Germany's perceived need for land and resources.[7] It cannot be stressed enough that this type
of thinking was frighteningly common among other Western powers. Only their aggressive pursuit of war and
genocide made them unique. In terms of economic policy, the Nazis were unremarkable and very much inside
the mainstream. Therefore, if someone does not aggressively support war and genocide, no matter what side
of the political spectrum they're on, they shouldn't be compared to the Nazis.

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Religion in Nazism
The role of religion in the ideology of the NSDAP has been a much-
discussed and controversial question. Hitler distinguished between
"master religions" and "slave religions." According to Hitler, master
religions would help the Aryan master race dominate other races.
Religions that preached love and tolerance would hinder the master
race from dominating others:

“ Hitler extended his rationalizations into religious

doctrine, claiming that those who agreed with and Somehow, we don't think Jesus would've
taught his 'truths' were 'true' or 'master' religions been down with this .
because they would 'create mastery' by avoiding
comforting lies. Those that preach love and tolerance,
'in contravention of the facts,' were said to be 'slave' or
'false' religions. The man who recognizes these
'truths,' Hitler continued, was said to be a 'natural
leader,' and those who deny it was said to be 'natural
slaves.' 'Slaves,' especially intelligent ones, he claimed
were always attempting to hinder masters by
promoting false religious and political doctrines.[8]
”
Basically, people either had to agree with the Nazi-type religion or had to be treated as slaves, and so-called
slave religions were persecuted.[9]

The claim by some that Nazism is an atheist ideology can be rejected out of hand. Nazism includes many near-
mystical elements drawn from several different types of religion. The early Nazi party was also involved in
several direct conflicts with freethinker groups in Germany as early as the 1920s. This hostility continued after
Hitler took power in 1933 when atheist movements were banned in Germany; however, it is worth mentioning
that at least a few members were atheists, namely Martin Bormann, who was openly anti-Christian,[10][11] and
some others were probably religious, such as Heinrich Himmler (though he was more into German and
Nordic paganism and wanted to revive it as a replacement for Christianity).[12] It is essential to note that
Nazism is an ideology and thus will attract people from many different backgrounds. Generally, however, it
opposed atheism, with atheists being banned in the SS (and denounced by its oath), mainly since atheism was
a part of Communist (the Nazis' arch-enemies) philosophy. Hitler, while reportedly attacking Christianity
privately, also expressed a belief in God at the same time (while criticizing atheism), albeit possibly of a more
deist or pantheist variety.

On the other hand, the opposing view that Nazism is based on Christianity is not credible, although this is a
much more complex issue. Elements and themes drawn from Christianity often figured prominently in Nazi
propaganda. Still, these were invariably twisted to fit the National Socialist context, possibly because
Christianity was a prime element of Germany's cultural ethos.[13] Overall, it is probably better to see
Christianity as carrying out a legitimizing function for Nazism rather than as a part of its ideological
foundations. Eventually, however, a specifically National Socialist brand of Christianity evolved, known as
Positive Christianity, which was basically quasi-pagan state worship based upon the notion that Jesus was an
Aryan crusader who hated Jews and preached white supremacy in the name of an antisemitic god that
frolicked around in the sky on his horse accompanied by his entourage of Wild Hunt ghost riders for no
particular reason other than shits and giggles.

From a political perspective, it would also be outright wrong to categorize Nazism as a movement based on
pushing Christian viewpoints due to the German Centre Party's popularity with the German Christians. If
Hitler were really eager to push a Christian agenda, an alliance with the German Centre party would have
occurred. On the other hand, it is undeniable that the CDU/CSU (a successor to the German Centre party) had
a fair share of success thanks to the fact that former Nazis were in their ranks that successfully attracted other
Nazis to vote for them.

On a more practical level, the Nazi ascension to power in 1933 resulted in the unification of the Protestant
regional churches in each of the 28 federal states into one church known as the Deutsche Evangelische Kirche
(German Evangelical Church). This new church was, from the beginning, dominated by the strongly pro-

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Nazi Deutsche Christen ("German Christian") movement, whose leader, the theologian Ludwig Müller, was
also appointed as the first Reichsbishof. However, intense political and theological conflicts inside the church
and waning interest from the Nazi leadership prevented the DEK from assuming any prominent role in the
Third Reich. It had faded from significance by 1935. Many smaller Protestant churches remained outside the
Deutsche Evangelische Kirche. In 1934, many of these joined together in the movement known as the
Bekennende Kirche (Confessing Church), which aimed primarily at opposing the influence of the Deutsche
Christen. Although many of its members were against the churches' unification for theological or confessional
reasons rather than anti-Nazi, the Bekennende Kirche was seen as an opposition group by the Nazi
government and was eventually persecuted, especially after 1937.

Some Roman Catholic Church clergy attempted (ineffectively) to oppose the

Nazi regime.[14] Other clergy, the "Brown Priests" or Braune Pfarrer, were
Party members.[15] Members of parliament from the Catholic Center Party
voted for the crucial 1933 Enabling Act that gave Hitler dictatorial powers
after Hitler gave a speech praising the role of religion in the German state.
Despite all this, some people seem dead-set on convincing themselves that
the Catholic Church in general or Pope Pius XII were somehow complicit in
the Nazi crimes.[16][17]
Awkward.
Hitler seems to have used a mixture of beliefs to justify Nazi ideology,
depending on what suited him at the time. This mixture included more or
less conventional Christianity, borrowings from Nordic mythology, pseudoscience, and a belief in Germany's
and his own personal spiritual predestination for greatness. While he was disdainful of religion in his private
life, he made substantial efforts to accommodate Christian beliefs to reconcile the German establishment to
Nazism. Indeed, he referred to himself publicly as a Christian. Yet, he didn't really care about theology on a
personal level — he was mainly interested in fulfilling his ordained role in history as Führer.

According to Albert Speer, Hitler privately stated, "[t]he Mohammedan religion too would have been much
more compatible to us than Christianity. Why did it have to be Christianity with its meekness and
flabbiness?’"[18] In the book, Hitler's Table Talk he also called the religion Bolshevism's "illegitimate
child".[19] This could be possible due to the rise in Islamism and Wahabbism during the time, which were the
product of anti-intellectual reactionary thought that grew out of the Ottoman Empire's collapse and the
fundamentalism that, by then, had already established itself as the primary foundation of Saudi-Arabian
society. The Goebbels Diaries by Joseph Goebbels also mentioned that:

The Führer is deeply religious, though completely anti-Christian. He views Christianity as a symptom
of decay. Rightly so. It is a branch of the Jewish race. This can be seen in the similarity of their
religious rites. Both (Judaism and Christianity) have no point of contact to the animal element, and
thus, in the end they will be destroyed. The Führer is a convinced vegetarian on principle.[20]

Goebbels also despised Christianity and advocated for National Socialism as its replacement:

National Socialism is a religion. All we lack is a religious genius capable of uprooting outmoded
religious practices and putting new ones in their place. We lack traditions and ritual. One day soon
National Socialism will be the religion of all Germans. My Party is my church,… That is my gospel.[21]

The Nazis planned to replace Christianity and traditional church institutions with the National Reich Church.
This religious organization would throw all things Christian out the window (Bibles, priests, chaplains,
religious orders, etc.) in favor of a Nazi-based faith, as detailed in the "30 Points Program". There was also the
German Faith Movement, another religious organization set up by the Nazis that would replace Christianity
in favor of a religion that would fall more in line with Nazism mixed with ancient Germanic paganism.

Interestingly, Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsführer of the SS, thought Islam was compatible with Nazi
ideology. He stated, "It's a religion that promotes the warrior and the war — and it promises sex in the
afterlife."[22] Many Bosnian Muslims, Arabs, Africans, and Indians joined the SS and fought for the Germans
throughout the war. However, it is worth mentioning that many of these people joined more because Nazi
Germany opposed their enemies (the British Empire for most, although in some cases, opposition to the

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USSR or Yugoslavia was the primary motivation) than any particular fondness for Nazi ideology. However,
this did not mean that they were saints or above the brutality inherent to Nazism, especially given the heavy
indoctrination the SS underwent.[22]

On the other hand, many Bosnian Muslims helped Jews during the war. The Albanian Muslims were so good
at hiding Jews that no single Albanian Jew was killed in the Holocaust. Only one other country could keep all
of its Jews from the Nazis: Bulgaria. It is very likely, however, that most Muslims weren't that much
influenced by Hitler's existence because the division between Arab socialists and Islamists left little room for
Nazi ideology to develop, as there was only one party that took direct influence from Nazi ideology in the
Islamic World: the Syrian Social Nationalist party, which was unsurprisingly created by a Greek Orthodox
Christian.

Hinduism also played a role in shaping Nazi thought. Not only was the swastika symbol taken from Hindu
mythology, but Hitler believed in the Hindu notion of the Ayran race and wanted to create a caste system
within Germany. There have been Nazi officers known for reading the Bhagavad Gita.[23] In turn, some
Indians tried to synthesize Nazism with Hinduism. Think of all the moments Bal Thackeray celebrated Adolf
Hitler as a hero.

To a lesser degree, Buddhism is also seen as an influence of Nazism. Many Buddhist scriptures were searched
by the Nazis to continue the notion of a warrior religion.

Allegations of US and church cooperation

It has been suggested that the Catholic Church helped members of the Nazis escape after World War II with
the assistance of intelligence agencies.[24]

Nazism in the United States

In 1936, the German American Bund[25] (also known as Deutsche
amerikanische Bund or, as it called itself, Amerikadeutscher Volksbund)
was founded after the dissolution of a smaller pro-Nazi group, Friends of
New Germany (which itself was founded by the merger of two even smaller
groups, "Gau-Nord Amerika" and the "National Socialist Teutonia Club").
Led by German-born Fritz Julius Kuhn,[26] a naturalized US citizen, and
headquartered in the then-predominantly German neighborhood of
Yorkville in Manhattan, it attracted attention to itself by holding marches
with members in Nazi uniforms displaying Nazi banners, organizing
boycotts of Jewish businesses, and running resort camps in New York, New Bund parade in New York City in
Jersey, Wisconsin, Illinois, California, Indiana, Michigan, and 1939

Pennsylvania[27] used for both pro-Nazi rallies and training the children of
members in an Americanized version of the Hitler Youth. The largest of
these was Camp Nordland in Andover Township, New Jersey, covering 204 acres.[28][29]

While the organization is not known to have received any funds from Nazi Germany, it reportedly received
propaganda literature through the German Railroads Information Office, which had offices in the USA.[30]
Even though Kuhn liked to promote himself as an "American Führer," Hitler didn't like the publicity the Bund
was attracting, preferring that the USA remain isolationist.[31] The height of the group's organization was a
1939 rally at Madison Square Garden, billed as a "Mass Demonstration for True Americanism," where an
estimated 20,000 people attended.[32] An estimated 100,000 protesters,[33] many being Jewish war veterans
and German-Americans who opposed the Nazi regime, held a demonstration outside. (One protester was
beaten by Bund goons when he rushed the stage during Kuhn's speech.)[note 4] Despite the arrest and
imprisonment of Fritz Kuhn for embezzlement of the Bund's funds shortly after the rally, he was still held in
high regard by his followers. It wasn't until the US entry into WWII that the group finally disbanded. Kuhn
was arrested as an enemy agent after serving his sentence for embezzlement and held in an internment camp
in Crystal City, Texas, for the war's duration. His U.S. citizenship was later revoked, and he was deported to
West Germany, later dying in Munich in 1951 at age 55, both unrepentant and nearly forgotten.[34][35][36][37]

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The first serious pro-Nazi group in the post-WWII USA was the American
Nazi Party (originally "World Union of Free Enterprise National Socialists"),
later known as the National Socialist White People's Party,[38] founded in
1959 by George Lincoln Rockwell, a U.S. Navy commander of both WWII and
the Korean War, who had worked as a commercial artist, sign painter,
cartoonist, photographer, advertising agent, and magazine publisher.
Rockwell's group, which never had more than an estimated 100 dues-paying
members,[39] made a splash in the media with rallies and marches of men in
Nazi uniforms, as well as professionally designed propaganda (often the work
of Rockwell himself) that promoted the party's philosophy, which included
one the earliest accounts of Holocaust denial. His popularity included an
interview for Playboy magazine in 1966[40] and an extensive speaking tour at
American colleges, where he was invited to speak about his extremist views.
Rockwell's two attempts at running for public office (as a write-in candidate
for President in 1964 and an Independent candidate for Governor of Virginia
George Lincoln Rockwell in
in 1965)[41] ended in embarrassing defeats.[42][43] He was fatally shot in
1951. Oy vey, another frustrated
1967 at age 49 by a purged ex-member of his party in an Arlington, Virginia,
artist!
laundromat parking lot.[44][45] Without Rockwell's leadership, the party
eventually fractured into several smaller groups,[46] but his writings still
influence the Neo-Nazis of today.

While there are several Neo-Nazi groups scattered about the USA, the National Socialist Movement (NSM),
founded in 1974, based in Detroit, Michigan, and led by Jeff Schoep, is one of the few that can be rightly called
a political party, since it has run candidates for office.[47] In January 2009, as part of the Adopt-A-Highway
trash cleanup program, they sponsored a ½-mile section of US 160 outside of Springfield, Missouri. The state
legislature later renamed it the "Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel Memorial Highway", after the Jewish
theologian who marched alongside Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Civil Rights campaign.[48][49]

Another major Neo-Nazi party was the Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP) (originally the "Traditionalist
Youth Network"), founded in 2013 by Orthodox Christian, white nationalist, and racist Confederate supporter
Matthew Heimbach. He proudly modeled his party policies after Nazism. The party disbanded in 2018 after
Heimbach had a fistfight with party spokesman David Matthew “Matt” Parrott after Parrott caught Heimbach
sleeping with his wife (On top of this, Heimbach was married to Parrott's stepdaughter from a previous
marriage).[50][51]

Nazism in Europe today

See totally not also: Alternative für Deutschland, which has nothing to do with this topic; we don't
know how it got here. Honest.

The Nazi Party, the swastika, and nearly everything associated with Nazism, such as the Celtic cross, are
currently illegal and banned in Germany and several surrounding countries such as Austria and the
Netherlands. Buildings in Germany and Austria that once displayed swastikas or other Nazi symbols that
survived the war have been extensively cleansed of such imagery, if not torn down completely.[52]

Forty films made under the Nazi regime are officially classified as "Vorbehaltsfilm" (Restricted or Conditional
films). The sale, exhibition, and distribution of these films (such as the costume drama "Jud Suss" ("Suss, the
Jew") and the comedy "Robert und Bertram", both with heavy Anti-Semitic content) are prohibited in
Germany, with the exception for use in academic situations. Exhibitors must have formal education in "media
science and the history of the Holocaust."[53][54] The sale of many of these films is also prohibited in Austria,
Italy, and France.

Germany has even changed the part of its National Anthem, "Deutschlandlied" ("Song of Germany") officially
sung. Instead of the lyrics proclaiming "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles/Über alles in der Welt"
("Germany, Germany above everything/Above everything in the world"), only the third stanza is used,
beginning with "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit/Für das Deutsche Vaterland" ("Unity and justice and
freedom/For the German fatherland"). However, already in Weimar times, all three stanzas were the official
German anthem, and only the Nazis commonly shortened it to only the first stanza being played. Contrary to
popular belief, the first stanza is in no way illegal. The legal ground for anything being the national anthem is

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shaky at best, as it is not based on the constitution or any act of parliament but on two exchanges of open
letters between the (figurehead) president and the chancellor; first between Adenauer and Heuss (the first
holders of these offices) and then between Kohl and von Weizsäcker (the holder of said offices upon
reunification).[55]

The first verse of the "Deutschlandlied" contains a geographical description of Germany that, while accurate
at the time this song was made, is nowadays geographically inaccurate, as it spoke of Germany reaching up to
the Memel . Nowadays, this river flows through Belarus, Lithuania, and Poland. Performing the first verse of
this song wouldn't sit well with people of any of the three countries mentioned above.

The Nazi party anthem, "Horst-Wessel-Lied" ("The Horst Wessel Song"), also known as "Die Fahne hoch"
("The Flag on High"), once performed throughout Nazi Germany on par with the national anthem,[note 5] is
now banned in both Germany and Austria, except for educational purposes.[note 6]

In popular culture
This list is not, nor could ever be, exhaustive. Everyone
laughs (or in video games, shoots) at the Nazis, with new
works being made every day.

Endless multitudes of artistic works have contained references

to and parodies of the Nazis. As an utterly humorless form of
totalitarianism reeking of unwarranted self-importance,
Nazism became the perfect target of works of satire, including:

▪ The film The Great Dictator (1940) by Charlie Chaplin.

The title character is "Adenoid Hynkel", the Dictator of
"Tomania".[56] Chaplin "as Hitler" in The Great Dictator
▪ The book Snorre Sel: En Fabel i Farger for Barn og
Voksne (1941) by Frithjof Sælen was a satire of Nazi
Germany and was translated into several languages (e.g., Snorri the Seal: A Fable in Colors for Adults
and Children). The Nazis belatedly attempted to confiscate all copies in occupied Norway, where it was
published.
▪ The children's book Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories (1951) by "Dr. Seuss " (Theodore Seuss Geisel)
tells the story of a turtle who proclaims himself superior to all the others in the pond. In various interviews,
Seuss stated that Yertle was a representation of Hitler.[57]
▪ The film The Producers (1968) by Mel Brooks, with its play-within-a-film (and later play-within-a-play)
"Springtime for Hitler".[note 7]
▪ The film Snide and Prejudice (1997) is set in a mental hospital where patients are allowed to express
their delusions by posing as historical members of the Nazi party. True to form, the patient posing as
"Hitler" attempts to consolidate his power.[59]
▪ "Hitler reacts",[60] a YouTube meme based on a scene in the film Downfall (2004) (German title: Der
Untergang) where Hitler blows a gasket and loses his shit on his subordinates (based on actual events,
as described by survivors present in the Führerbunker at that time). For this meme, the parodist simply
takes the unsubtitled clip from Downfall and adds humorous subtitles (that naturally do not reflect what
Hitler is actually yelling about in the scene), making it look to people who read the subtitles - without
paying attention to what's actually being yelled in German - as if Hitler is reacting to whatever the parodist
wants.[61] Some parodists, who formed a community of YouTubers in the early 2010s called
"Untergangers", take the parody-making game up a notch by editing Downfall characters into more absurd
situations through advanced video editing techniques. The Unterganger community experienced a decline
in recent years however, as the rise of the alt-right and YouTube's increasingly censorious policies made
Hitler memes practically verboten on the platform, not to mention that some Untergangers themselves
have embraced right-wing ideologies, contrary to stated claims that they were making Hitler parodies
more as a mockery of Nazism and a cautionary tale against it.
▪ Wolfenstein[62] is a well-known video game series featuring Nazis as the bad guys and allows players to
mow them down with impunity with weapons ranging from ordinary to out-of-this-world. Wolfenstein 3D,
particularly, helped popularize the first-person shooter genre, while Wolfenstein: The New Order depicts a
hypothetical Nazi victory using stolen ancient technology.

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See also
▪ Organized crime
▪ Adolf Hitler
▪ Hitler and evolution
▪ World War II
▪ Waffen-SS
▪ Axis
▪ Holocaust
▪ Holocaust denial
▪ Genocide
▪ Neo-Nazism
▪ Anti-Semitism
▪ Stormfront
▪ Metapedia
▪ Christian Identity
▪ White supremacy
▪ Fraktur
▪ Delusions of grandeur
▪ Personality disorder

External links
▪ The I Was Not a Nazi Polka ([Link] The Chad Mitchell Trio
▪ California State University: In Our Own Backyard: Resisting Nazi Propaganda in Southern California
1933-1945 ([Link]
▪ Actual, literal grammar Nazis ([Link]
▪ Short documentary on the German American Bund's 1939 New York Rally ([Link]
▪ 1978 KPIX-TV report on Allen Vincent, leader of the San Francisco NSWPP unit ([Link]
ections/sfbatv/bundles/190104)

Notes
Rosenberg, and even Hitler occasionally criticized
1. Those high cultures were specifically the Christianity in private); rather, they were very anti-
Babylonian, Egyptian, Chinese, Indian, Mexican church. They didn't like other powerful
(Mayan/Aztec), Classical (Greek/Roman), organizations exerting control over their subjects
Arabian, Western or "European-American" and made a habit of closely monitoring clergy to
societies. spot even the slightest evidence of disloyalty.
2. However, the reasons behind the support were They also did not like religious groups with values
dramatically different. The Nazis supported that strongly conflicted with their own — for
eugenics to eliminate "undesired" populations like instance, the Jehovah's Witnesses were ruthlessly
Jews or Slavs. Leftists like Margaret Sanger, the oppressed by the Nazi regime because they
right's ever-popular pro-eugenics boogeyman, opposed military service and swearing loyalty
favored eugenics due to a concern for Malthusian oaths.
ideas of overpopulation and essentially wanted to 4. Sources identify this man as Isadore Greenbaum,
slow down reproduction rates (and, yes, they were a 26-year-old unemployed plumber's assistant
often controversially in favor of sterilizing people and former Merchant Marine from Brooklyn. He
with genetic handicaps). Sanger, in particular, was was later fined $25 (roughly $430 when adjusted
vehemently opposed to the Nazi version of for inflation) for Disturbing the Peace.
eugenics.
5. The standard way was to play the Nazi party
3. Again, for very different reasons. The Nazis were anthem after or before the first stanza of the Lied
generally not anti-religion (although a few Nazi der Deutschen
leaders were quite so, notably Goebbels and

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6. The song's melody has been appropriated with April 14, 1941 edition of Time magazine, which
different lyrics by several Fascist organizations, featured Hitler on the cover with the caption
such as "Comrades, the Voices (of the Dead "Hitler: Spring is here. (World War)". The titular
Battalions)" by the British Union of Fascists, song of "Springtime for Hitler" also contains the
"Banners of the Above" by the USA-based All- lyric "Spring is here." The accompanying article in
Russian Fascist Organization, and "Raise the Time for that issue portrayed Hitler negatively but
Banners" by Greece's Golden Dawn. it was only for his irredentism rather than for his
7. "Springtime for Hitler" was likely inspired by the anti-semitism, racism and autocracy.[58]:115-116

References
9. See the Wikipedia article on Nazism § Religion.
1. Bloxham, Donald, The Final Solution: A Genocide
(Oxford, 2009) p.24 10. "National Socialist and Christian concepts are
irreconcilable. The Christian churches build upon
2. See the Wikipedia article on Godwin's Law.
man's ignorance and endeavor to keep the
3. Or to give it its full, and somewhat clunky, greatest possible number of people in a state of
Germanic title: Frühling in Atlantis: Roman aus der ignorance. For it is only in this fashion that the
Blütezeit des Reiches Atlantis ([Link] churches can maintain their power. National
[Link]/oclc/20916377), which roughly translates as Socialism, on the other hand, rests on scientific[sic]
Spring in Atlantis: A Novel about the Flowering of foundations. Christianity has certain unalterable
the Atlantean Empire (1933). principles, established nearly two thousand years
4. See for instance: Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, Black ago, petrified into a dogmatic system that is even
Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics further removed from reality. National Socialism,
of Identity ([Link] on the other hand, if it is to fulfill its purpose, must
YTCgAAQBAJ&hl=da&source=gbs_navlinks_s) forever be brought in harmony with the latest
(2002); Vanessa Ward, Nationalist Uses of the results of scientific inquiry.[sic]" -Bormann
Atlantis Myth in a Nordic Framework ([Link] 11. Trial of the Major War Criminals before an
[Link]/[Link]), International Tribune ([Link]
Pseudoarchaeology Research Archive (PARA) ary_Law/pdf/NT_Vol-[Link]), Nuremberg War
Research Paper A-10, January 26, 2008; Alicja Trials
Bemben, Rafał Borysławski, Justyna Jajszczok
12. Himmer and religion ([Link]
and Jakub Gajda (eds.) Cryptohistories ([Link]
rg/wffmaster/Reading/Germany/[Link]
[Link]/books?id=KJ3zBgAAQBAJ&dq
m), [Link]
=%22edmund+kiss%22+spring+atlantis&hl=da&s
ource=gbs_navlinks_s) (2015), particularly 13. "My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord
"Chapter Ten, The Riddle of Thule: The Search of and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man
the Crypto-History of a Racially Pure White who once in loneliness, surrounded by a few
Utopia"; Manfred Nagl, SF, Occult Sciences, and followers, recognized these Jews for what they
Nazi Myths ([Link] were, and summoned men to fight against them
s/3/[Link]), Science Fiction Studies, Volume and who, God’s truth!, was greatest not as a
1, No. 3, Spring 1974. sufferer but as a fighter." - Adolf Hitler, April 12,
1922, Munich speech
5. Twitter ([Link]
575789029466112) [a ([Link] 14. Besier, Gerhard and Francesca Piombo: The Holy
m/thenewmeat/status/926575789029466112) w ([Link] See and Hitler's Germany (2007)
[Link]/web/*/[Link] 15. , Kevin P. Spicer: Hitler's Priests: Catholic Clergy
575789029466112)] and National Socialism (2008)
16. See, for example, this biased and selective
6. Fritzsche, Peter. Germans into Nazis, Cambridge,
website ([Link]
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998; Eatwell,
Roger. Fascism, A History. Viking-Penguin, 1996. 17. John Cornwell's disaster hack job book Hitler's
pp. xvii-xxiv, 21, 26–31, 114–140, 352; Griffin, Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII is probably
Roger, "Revolution from the Right: Fascism," in the most prominent example.
David Parker, ed., Revolutions and the 18. [Link]
Revolutionary Tradition in the West 1560-1991, /islamized-germans
London: Routledge, 2000 19. [Link]
7. [Link] 20. Goebbels Diaries, 29 December 1939
Crash Course World History #220, World War II, A 21. Joseph Goebbels, diary entry for October 16,
War for Resources. 1928.
8. [Link]

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