Secret Societies Influencing the Third Reich

Unlike many of the other societies, The Arman Society is difficult to research, a little more clandestine than some other groups. The Arman or Armanen Group was a society advocating a German Pagan Priesthood. Their beliefs were in line with other groups that influenced the nazis: blood purity or "Judenrein" and a cleansing of European bloodlines for a new 'root race'; a belief that the Jews were evil and necessarily must be 'dealt with' and a return to Nordic Mysticism. If Hitler's library is any indication of his involvement, one author reports an inscription, "to my dear Armanen brother" in a book found among those recovered from the salt mine storage after the war. Principles of the Arman Society were used in training of SS recruits. Part of their beliefs involve, as did Theosophy and New Templars, a re-interpretation of the Jewish "hele ben shahar" [son of the morning] or ha-shatan (satan or 'the enemy) into "lucifer" a angel of light whose reported fall appears to have been a minor incident in the rewrite.

Monism is a philosophical concept, opposed to 'dualism' in which the substance of being and creation is seen as one thing. The rubric "Monist League" came from the philosophical position of Monism, but it was applied to racial science and policy. Haeckel, the Chair of Biology at the University of Jena in pre-Nazi Germany who went on to influence most Reich Racial Scientists and Eugenicists worldwide, was founder and head of the "Monist League". The group advocated as he did, that the rules of the universe apply equally to nature, society and the person. Since in their opinion, Darwinism was the best description of this, they sought to promote a concept of society in which the principles of natural selection and general adaptation syndrome were applied to human selection and interaction: survival of the fittest, therefore, was a social, racial and breeding principle which was natural. The Monist League members reasoned therefore, that certain races were more fit than others and would necessarily 'win out' over 'inferior' races and that this was not just a description of the way things were but a trait to be desired. Prominent racial scientists in the league were: W. Schallmayer, H. Ziegler and A. Forel. The Society rebelled agains urbanism and industrial 'centralization' which they saw a degenerative move. The group supported Hitler and were instrumental in the symbiosis of racism and Eugenics in Germany. They worked to promote Nordic qualities and the breeding of "Aryans".

Mme. Blavatsky, is best remembered as the founder of Theosophy, a branch of philosophy which marries religious concepts of the New Age, Christianity, Paganism, the Occult and Philosophy. Blavatsky among other endeavors held séances and meetings often well attended by influential people of her day, including Conan Doyle, writer of Sherlock Holmes, Westcott and Hort, translators of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, and others.She also is known for bringing a renewed interest in the Gnostic Gospels and early Writings which were dismissed as fantasy or legend, including "The Shepherd of Hermes" and tales of Jesus as a young child. Her re-translations of the New Testament combined with certain Aryan philosophies culminated in a re-introduction and clarification of " Root Race Theory" which requires the elimination of a prior, 'primitive' or first race in order for the final, superior Race of Aryans descended from a superior race can occur. Blavatsky could probably best be characterized as the "Mother" of the Modern New Age movement.

The Knights Templar is best known for being the ancient organization which is seen as the founding fathers of the Free-Masonry movement. Founded originally as a 'monastic guard' for the Crusades, the Order, which grew from 9 to thousands were known for charity, power and wealth. They answered only to the Papacy in the beginning but eventually were supported by many European Monarchies as well. Growing out of favor as their power and wealth grew, the Papacy and France sought to put an end to them in 1307, and by 1314 they were officially disbanded. Spiritually they were also referred to the "Temple of Solomon" which in part gave rise to Freemasonry ideation. Freemasons claim they were set up to look heretical in order for the Holy See to gain their power and wealth (heresy was required in those days for Roman Catholic judgment) but others claim they did indeed give rise to the worship of Baphomet, a goat-like god-idol in league with satanic worship. (The symbology has lasted in freemasonry in current times.). Jacque De Molay was the last Templar executed, successfully cursing Pope Clement and the King of France. [the Freemasons youth organization is named for him]. Their secret meetings were used in prosecutions against them in which they were accused of Baphomet worship, homosexuality and sedition. They became lenders and bankers to the wealthy and royal families of Europe, circumventing bans on usury (interest-lending); and because they were immune from prosecution by all but the Papacy, as Innocent had declared, they became quite powerful politically and financially in Europe. Their reported 'rituals' became the foundations for other secret societies, notably masonry. The Nazis, especially Himmler, saw the Knights Templar as a prototype for the Third Reich hierarchy along with other clandestine groups.

Influential People list died in 1919. It became the leading occult group in Austria and included such members as Franz Hartmann,(theosophy), Chief of Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Army, eminent Austrian and German businessmen, and was largely funded by Friedrich Wannieck.¹ It's purpose was to dessimate information from the group and promote its ideals and philosophies, including the general purposes of Ariosophy .

^ArtamarnenThe Artamarnen Society, associated with the leadership of Hentschel, (See People Influencing Nazis, was an organization of mostly young people which promoted a 'mysticism' of racial science and social order. Himmler and Hoess both belong to the society as young persons which promoted the idea of a racial utopia, in which the Aryan Race would eventually supercede other races and create a Perfect society. The Society believed that the German People (the Volk) was intimately tied to the 'German Soil', or in other words, the Fatherland and the People were one. As the people, the aryan master race began to expand and conquer, the necessity of the land being German also was essential. This ideal would later be defined as "Lebensraum" of 'living-space', a mandate for German occupation and rule over other European territories. Norse Mythology and Symbol were brought back as influential in this group. The group was known for vile anti-semitism, and many of the youth who held membership in this group went on to become prominent Nazis; it also greatly influenced the formation of Hitlerjugend. Artamarnen formed the thinking of German youth during the period of the Weimar Republic years forming in young minds the concept of the Volk and the possibility of a new society of aryan perfection, nordic ideals and archetype, hatred of the Jew and racial breeding.

Rosicrucianism is an occultic offshoot of Christian principles founded in 14th century Europe by Christian Rosencreuz. Rosencreuz traveled throughout Asia and Africa learning the 'practices' and dark arts of many cultures and peoples, and was especially interested in estoteric or 'secret' knowledge. It was originally called the 'Rosie Cross" or Rose Croix reflecting the name of its founder, and its symbology has carried that emblem forward even to today. Well known Rosicrucians have included Sir Francis Bacon and Newton. Beliefs center around esoteric 'wisdom' from many sources just as in freemasonry, with a focus on Egyptian Hermeticism, Gnosticism and Jewish Cabalism. A central principle in all is the ability on a spiritual plane to ascend in the spirit and have dominion over the physical. As the Nazis sought for power, there was a emphasis on synthesizing the ideologies of many groups in this effort to control and have dominion through whatever resource of spirit they could master. The notion also of a Master Race availing themselves of special and higher powers belonging only to a select few was quite amenable to Hitler's racial policy and in line with Theosophical views and root race theory.

A principle of Rosicrucianism has stated the following:

"A remnant of degraded human creatures persists... composed of those souls not sufficiently advanced to take part". The Secret Doctrine

That 'degraded' group, of course in Nazism became defined as the Jews.

Jewish mystics study a form of mysticism called "kaballa" . It is a series of writings and 'truths' regarding the more supernatural aspects of Judaism, including secret or esoteric knowledge. A corruption of the Jewish kaballa is cabalism, a form of secret knowledge practised mostly within forms of Freemasonry. Freemasonry even by their own admissions, borrowed what they considered the best or more esoteric knowledge from all religions, including Judaism, forming a synthesis 'religion', although masons are reluctant to call their system a religion. Many of the higher level Nazis were involved in this corrupted 'cabalism', believing there were secrets that many religions had attained that could 'unlock' personal and world power for them.

"Their [the Freemasons] hierarchical organization and the initiation through symbolic rites, that is to say without bothering the brains but by working on the imagination through magic and the symbols of a cult - all this is the dangerous element and the element I have taken over. Don't you see that our party must be of this character?...An Order, that is what it has to be - an Order, the hierarchical Order of a secular priesthood." - Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf

It is odd that freemasonry would have influenced the Nazis in any way because the Nazis kept copious records on free-masons, and in fact the I-Bureau, a division of the Reich Security Office, started its cataloging not with Jewish concerns, as most would expect but with information on Freemasonry. Eichmann was the 'librarian' and researcher of the data, and he was the first to begin to collate information not only on the beliefs of freemasons but on the 'whereabout' and backgrounds of practicing freemasons. Freemasonry and Nazism though shared one characteristic: both borrowed what they considered most powerful and effective from the mysteries of all world religions. With the Nazis, their inclusion of aspects of freemasonry had to do with just that: the seeking of power and influence by any means possible.

At the turn of the century and after WWI, there was great dissatisfaction with life in Europe. Many societies and small groups formed in a reaction against the crass realism and materialism of the day, but rather than a return to essential religious values there was a resurgence of interest in pantheism, the occult and a return to paganism and Norse /Volkish mysticism. Couple with this, there was an emerging interest in Eugenics and racial science, which fit neatly into the "New Age" philosophies. Ariosophy is the term used to describe the genesis and synthesis of the family of ideas that emerged which linked racial theory, nature and paganism, mysticism, the Volkische Movement, German Nationalism and Anti-Semitism in one overall philosophy. It provide a synthesis of Theosophy, Root-Race theory, Darwinism and Hitler's Racial ideologies. Von list and liebensfels, or Lanz were central thinkers.

The Thule Society in Germany from 1918 became a center of 'counter-culture' philosophy and politics. Many feel that it undergird and gave birth to the German Socialist Party of Julius Streicher (editor of Der Sturmer, punished at Nuremberg) and when Hitler gained power in the German Legislature, many key appointments were members or former members of the Thule Society. In legend, Thule was an island not far from Atlantis, some of whose inhabitants survived. These inhabitants had the characteristics of a 'super-race' and access to the secret powers and rituals of the people of Thule. The "Master Race" concept came from this group and they were fascinated by the possibility of imbued power through magic and ritual. While some feel that Hitler actually had little to do with the occult, the best that can be said is that his interests were kept out of the public eye, and although some who claim to have known him well say he never spoke of such things, it is evident that almost all of his beliefs are in line with secret society beliefs such as the Thule, Artamarnen and others, and that the Nazis knowingly spent great deals of research monies investigating the possibilities of a scientific basis for rumored 'alternative' systems. (See, e.g., Hollow Earth theory). The Thule was funded by prominent Industrialists and affiliated with members of the District and High Command. One of its most prominent issues was the preaching of a forthcoming German Messiah.

"There can be no doubt that Eckart - who had been alerted to Hitler by other Thulists - trained Hitler in techniques of self confidence, self projection, persuasive oratory, body language and discursive sophistry. With these tools, in a short period of time he was able to move the obscure workers party from the club and beer hall atmosphere to a mass movement. The emotion charged lay speaker became an expert orator, capable of mesmerizing a vast audience. "^Thule1

It would surprize most people in the US to think that in the United States in the thirties and early 40's, before we entered the war, the swastika was a frequent symbol here, among German Americans, often denoting their ancestral ties and allegiances. Across Europe and American, German-Americans often participated and had membership in 'bunds' or fellowships that were more than just ethnic fellowships but also promoted Volkische thought mysticism, and often Nazi Ideology. These bunds were strong alliances and often also hotbeds of political support for Hitler during the war years both in the US and abroad. Fritz Kuhn headed the German American Bund in those years and was known for his advocacy of Nazism an Anti-Semitism as well as keeping the US neutral in the war (which aided Hitler). He was in alliance with Coughlin, the Catholic Priest outspoken in his support for Hitler and reknown as an Anti-Semite. Both were broadcasters who promoted anti-semitism; Kuhn promoted volkish ideals. The Bund in American, often family oriented, trained their youth groups in much the same manner and often with the same material and hymns as the hitlerjugend in Germany. One newspaper article dated July 22.1936 reports a Bund activity including a parade of 5000 which notes,

"the day was spent in various forms of entertainment including speeches attacking the Jews".¹

Of 25,000 known members of the Bund, over 8000 were avowed SA members,²and the Bund was a facilitator of German espionage during the war. Tens of thousands were addressed in a Hitler-like rally in Madison Square Gardens in New York by Kuhn, in which he espoused and open hatred of the Jews and support for the Third Reich. While the Bunds were not "secret" in the sense of some of the included societies, they were supportive of the Third Reich in the training of youth, the establishment of volkish mysticism and ideology, of the politics of Adolf Hitler and in the general promotion of the concepts, beliefs and imperialism of the Reich.

This society was based upon the Teutonic Knights of legend and history mentioned elsewhere. The Order was founded in 1912 by Fritsch and Stauff. who edited an anti-Semitic newspaper, as an esoteric occultic society of those given over to ‘higher’ or secret knowledge, patterning after such groups as Rosicrucians. The original Teutonic Knights had one unique characteristic: they were a separate power, not answering to local nationalities, and eventually answered to no one including the Pope, becoming a power unto themselves. The Society required ordered initiation rites similar to freemasonry, and Aryan Ancestry. Many members went on to overlap with the beliefs and membership of the Thule Society, who became one of the first groups to significantly support the rise of Hitler and the National Socialist Party, particularly in Bohemia.

The Nazi Ancestral Research Division or Ahnenerbe, was sometimes called the "Nazi Occult Bureau". While its investigations were deemed scientific by the Third Reich and it attempted also Eugenics/racial science/ancestry investigations, it's interests expanded to paranormal investigations as well.Studies of racial inheritance and comparison of racial superiority occupied much of the society's time, but the interests of the researchers expanded with investigations of race and eastern mysticism in Tibet, and archaic languages. The Archives of this group was sent to the US at the end of the war and exist in the US National Archives, although the holdings are not available to the public or researchers.

To include the Jesuits in this list of groups which influenced the Nazis, will be controversial to some and perhaps even outrage a few. The Jesuits however were greatly influential on the Nazis, whether by design or not, or whether in complicity or not. Hitler had at least one reknown Jesuit among his closest advisors. Himmler greatly admired Jesuit Order, and both believed that the organization and system of the Jesuit order were to be emulated in the Nazi Party. The Order was founded on September 27, 1540 as the "Society of Jesus" and sanctioned by Pope Paul III in the Bull Regimini militantis ecclesiae Ignatius of Loyola greatly influenced the church training an elite corp of highly educated priests who were additionally trained in spiritual exercises. (see Basic Jesuit Spiritual Exercises.) They have had a rocky history even within the Catholic Church, and many were kicked out the the fledgling American Colonies, and the order in the 1700s was shut down by the Papacy fearing division and overthrow. The Restored Jesuit Order had re-established itself by the 1800s. Himmler had been raised around Jesuits and he admired their philosophies and orders though by the time he reached power, one could hardly have called him a believing Catholic. Still, he found merit in the Order and based some SS training on the principles of the group, which in the extreme included altered states of consciousness and meditations including 'mind-over-matter'. There were Jesuits advising Hitler and Jesuits imprisoned in the Lagers, but the relationship to Nazi Philosophies appears to be be in methodology and process more than anything. The Jesuits had taken many ideas from the ancient Knight Templars, and adapted them, not unlike what Himmler sought to do for the Nazis. Most central was the idea of a Messianic figure, the fuhrer surrounded by an elite corp. Von Papen was once quoted as saying that Hitler put the organization of the Catholic Church to work for him: Himmler narrowed it to the Jesuits.

Footnotes

^gobineau From: World Socialist Website

^HaushoferThe Berezin Archives

^nietzcheThe Berezin Archives

^{Von list}Voyager Forum. :

^{ammon,haeckel,ploetz}www.helsinki.fl

Steinberg, Stefan " One hundred years since the death of Friedrich Nietzsche: a review of his ideas and influence—Part 2

"
21 October 2000

^bund1"5,000 Members of German - American Club at Yaphank Festival Sunday Mid-Island Mail :July 22nd, 1936

^bund2USHMM: German American Bund: www.ushmm.org

^artamarnenKarl Höffkes Wandervogel Révolte contre l’esprit bourgeois ANNEXES SYNERGIES EUROPÉENNES DIETSLAND EUROPA (MERKSEM/ANTWERPEN) - NDSE (BRUXELLES), mai 1996 Jan CREVE L’aventure des Artamanen

^{KnightsTemplar}Knights Templar [from Free-Masonry Perspective]

^Thule1The Unknown Hitler:Nazi Roots in the Occult

^Thule2 Bramley,William: "The Thule Society Today":The Gods of Eden

^{vonlistSociety} Simon Wiesenthal Center: Multimedia Learning Center; Von list Society

^jesuitsSpiritual Exercises of the Jesuits