Introduction
If ever a man was master of propaganda and political rhetoric, it was Adolf Hitler of Nazi German. Adolf Hitler was able to prove to the entire world that power is wielded by propaganda when utilized as an instrument of political force.
The role that the Germany nation played in the Second World War and other international activities in the early 20th century would not have been possible without the role played by Hitler; he used numerous propaganda options to convince his followers of his general influence.
Some of the movies that the Nazi used to influence the Germans to buy into their philosophies include Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will), Jew Suss, and Der Sieg des Glaubens. This paper will focus on the manner in which the Nazi used films to spread propaganda.
Nazi Involvement in the Occult
There are claims that Nazism is allied with occultism. In fact, some of the historical sources pint out that the phenomenon of Nazi was born from demonic influence and arcane.
To support the whole idea of propaganda through the film industry, the Nazi party nationalized the production and distribution of films under the leadership of Joseph Goebbels. In the mid-1930s when most companies in the film industry went bankrupt, Goebbels moved swiftly to convince Cautio Treuhand GmbH Company to purchase the stocks of the remaining German film companies.
This was a move to ensure that the intention of spreading Nazi propaganda through the movies remained uninterrupted. The occultism among the Nazis is claimed to have commenced in the early years and has moved to the recent years. Varied Nazi individuals and actions mark it. In order to succeed in this, the Nazi involved the use of visual presentations to support their claim.
This was viewed as the bet strategy to prepare Germany for the Second World War. In addition to this, paganism was supposed to influence people of all ages, thus the old and the young down the line. This led to the establishment of the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO), which was a German Occult society; it was established, based on sexual magic. There are varied known figures that were part of the OTO (Levenda 42).
Dr. Rudolf Steiner who was a theosophist formed the Anthroposophical Society in 1912. Gerard Encausse who was under the nom de plume of the Papus was the other of the first definitive text, which was written in the Tarot. This book concealed all information pertaining to illuminist. Another individual was Aleister Crowley who established (Argentum Astrum) A.A (“Silver Star”) in 1907 (Ross 13).
Crowley was also best known for magic. In the early years, the Thule Gesellschaft (Thule Society) which was the apex of the mystical underground was established. Towards the end of the First World War, the Thule society realized tremendous growth.
It became the most powerful secret organization in Germany. Baron Rudolf von Sebottendorff was one of the most influential leaders of this group. The Thule Society was considered to be in possession of Ancient Wisdom, which had been tainted by Freemasonry (Goodrick-Clarker 137).
Hitler
Pundits believed that demons had possessed Adolf Hitler. August Kubizek who was Hitler’s friend since childhood pointed that when Hitler was 17 years of age; he pointed out that it was time to bring back Germany to its glory. Kubizek claimed that when Hitler spoke of this, the words did not come from him; it was as if another being was speaking from the internal part of his body.
The being had much power since it was able to move both Kubizek and Hitler (Lynch 13). This is strengthen by the argument of the Catholic Church who pointed out that Hitler was possessed by the devil. These arguments are made practical by the fact tat Pope Pius tried to execute an exorcism on Hitler from a remote place, nevertheless the attempt did not work out.
In addition to this, Hitler had private library in which he stored books pertaining to magic. After the end of the Second World War, the library was discovered to be in a mine near his tranquil mountain aerie of Berchtesgaden. During the Second World War, dark forces possessed Hitler. Through him and his group of militarist, the energies of the Antichrist were released.
With respect to the theosophical teachings, the Antichrist is not an individual but forces of destruction. Hitler also performed Secret Sciences, which cannot be explicated using occult knowledge. They can only be termed as crazy obsessions (Farrell 166). In addition to this, while Hitler was establishing his movement, he was bequeathing himself with knowledge with regard to the Thule Society practices (Goodrick-Clarker 72).
The Nazi Party
The outcomes of the World War 1 came as a great surprise and distress for many German nationals who could not believe the embarrassing defeat that their nation had been subjected to. Just after the war, some German nations converged and established the German Workers’ Party, which aimed at increasing the levels of patriotism amongst the German citizenry in spite of the disappointment they felt at their shameful defeat in the World War 1.
Moreover, the party hoped to instill the feelings of confidence that were perceived as perquisite if the German nation was to ever reestablish its pride and affluence in the international arena. It was during this time that Adolf Hitler registered as a member of the party; the total members at this time were less than a hundred.
Due to his exceptional oratory skills, Hitler was elected as one of the party’s leaders and the chief speaker in the rallies convened by the party (Garden 673). Before the end of 1920, the German Workers Party had already transformed its name to the National Socialist German Workers Party; pundits mostly referred it as NSDAP, which was the short form.
One feature that differentiated the Nazi party from others at the time was their contempt for other groups of people who were not of German origin, particularly the Jews.
Through his charisma, political propaganda, and unmatched oratory skills, Adolf Hitler was able to win over many youngsters in Germany who were still to recover from the repercussions of the WW 1, particularly the anger that they harbored after German’s defeat (Garden 677). Varied films were meant to convince the citizens to believe in the Nazi ideology.
The Era of the Second World War
The Thulists advocated for spiritual revolution ad mysticism. However, this was stamped out of the Nazi Germany. The Nazi Party that was under Adolf Hitler, who had become monstrous and had been intoxicated by force ad power (Goodrick-Clarker 107), trampled the mission of the Thule to be agents of light. Even through Hitler was not a supporter of the Thule Society, the Nazis adopted the swastika which as one of their emblems (Streeter 53).
‘One Reich, One People, One Fueher’ is an indication of the threefold sources of power in occultism. It translates to psychic knowledge, fearlessness of death, brotherhood mission and self-denial. The Nazi officers were trained n the SS training school referred to as, ‘The Twelve Knights.’ Through this training, magical rituals were performed. In addition to this, the KKK label became more common since the Second World War.
This label pointed out that people were supposed to mind their own businesses. Hitler was also interested in the Spear of Longinus, which had been passed from one leader to another in the European leadership succession. This spear was believed to have been used to pierce Jesus by the side during crucifixion.
According to Hitler, this spear was an indication of Aryan power and if a man possessed it, he would rule over the world. He had this spear transported from Austria to Germany (Fitzgerald 62). However, it was no longer a master race since its people had been interacting with lower races leading to the breeding of dark skinned people who, according to Hitler, were beasts.
The lower races came into being due to the involvement of Eve with a demon. To retain its position, the Aryan race is supposed to be purified to take back its place as the leader of the world (Streeter 141). This cultivated the racism and the inhuman acts of the Germans against other races in the Second World War.
Works Cited
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