When my uncle Felix Glucklich (he changed his name to Feliz Feliz) died in Buenos Aires, I was asked to look after his apartment, that was crowded with books on mysticism, many of them signed by their authors. He had lived in the India and been part of the inner circle of Krishnamurti. I took several books and after working myself through them, let my mother to throw them out during of her periodic fits of housecleaning. Feliz came to my mind because I found on the internet that Nazism was born from the same mud of Central European around-the-century mysticism.
As the Ariosophic movement spread from Austria into Germany it became overtly political. The Germanenorden, most of whose members had originally been active in the List Society or the ONT, was founded in Munich in 1912 as a secret anti-Semitic organization meant to counteract the supposed Jewish conspiracy to control Germany. In 1918 it was taken over by Rudolf Sebottendorff, who changed the name of the group to the Thule Society and transformed it from a religious cult into an organization of political activists dedicated to destabilizing the Weimar Republic.I remember the dedication (in English) in one of Madame Blavatsky's book: I am sure the Masters are still with us.
In an attempt to attract a wider membership, the Thule Society founded a front called the German Workers Party (DAP) that offered the same anti-Semitic and racist ideas without mentioning occultism. This was the group that Adolf Hitler first discovered as an army intelligence agent in 1919. Hitler was soon elected to the leadership and in 1920 he renamed the DAP the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) or Nazi Party. Hitler eventually took over ownership of the Thule Society's treasury and weekly newspaper, and also recruited Thule Society contacts Rudolf Hess and Alfred Rosenberg who went on to become important officials in the Third Reich. As the emblem of the Nazi Party Hitler adopted the Thule Society's insignia, a swastika.
19 comments:
"I am sure the Masters are still with us." In the multiverse, is all information still with us?
"Every person is a God in embryo. Its only desire is to be born." — Deeprak Chopra
"Your belief in God is merely an escape from your monotonous, stupid and cruel life." — Krishnamurti
"Conservation of Information. In this context information is the stuff that enables a reversible system to, if time were reversed, proceed backwards along the exact path that it took going forward." — Edward Fredkin, "Finite Nature"
You will enjoy this site about the theosophical society http://rexcurry.net/theosophy-madame-blavatsky-theosophical-society.html
The Pledge of Allegiance was the origin of the Nazi salute, and the swastika -although an ancient symbol- was used to represent crossed S-shapes for "socialism" under the National Socialist German Workers Party.
Francis Bellamy (cousin of author Edward Bellamy) was a socialist in the Nationalism movement and authored the Pledge of Allegiance (1892), the origin of the stiff-armed salute adopted much later by the National Socialist German Workers Party. See the work of the symbologist Dr. Rex Curry.
http://rexcurry.net/pledge2.html
The early pledge began with a military salute that was then extended out toward the flag. In practice, the second gesture was performed palm-down with a stiff-arm when the military salute was merely pointed out at the flag. Thus, the military salute led to the Nazi salute in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States.
http://rexcurry.net/pledge_military.html
It was not an ancient Roman salute. That is a myth debunked by Dr. Curry, who showed that the myth came from the Pledge.
http://rexcurry.net/roman-salute-oxford-english-dictionary.html
American national socialists (including Edward Bellamy), in cooperation with Madame Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society, popularized the use of the Swastika (an ancient symbol) as a modern symbol for socialism long before the symbol was adopted by the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazis) and used on its flag. http://rexcurry.net/book1a1contents-swastika.html
See also http://rexcurry.net/45th-infantry-division-swastika-sooner-soldiers.html
The Bellamys influenced the National Socialist German Workers Party and its dogma, rituals and symbols (e.g. robotic collective chanting to flags; and the modern use of the swastika as crossed S-letters for "Socialism" under German National Socialism). Similar alphabetical symbolism was used under the NSDAP for the "SS" division, the "SA," the "NSV," et cetera and similar symbolism is visible today as the VW logo (the letters "V" and "W" joined for "Volkswagen"). http://rexcurry.net/bookchapter4a1a2a1.html
The Bellamys wanted the government to take over all food, clothing, shelter, goods and services and create an "industrial army" to impose their "military socialism." See the video documentary at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BssWWZ3XEe4
It is the same dogma that led to the socialist Wholecaust (of which the Holocaust was a part): ~60 million killed under the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; ~50 million under the Peoples' Republic of China; ~20 million under the National Socialist German Workers' Party. http://rexcurry.net/socialists.html
Today, the flag symbolizes authoritarianism in the USA. The historical facts above explain the enormous size and scope of government today, and the USA's police state, and why it is growing so rapidly. They are reasons for minarchy: massive reductions in government, taxation, spending and socialism.
Similar symbolism still shows on Volkswagens.
It is just a logo. Are logos important?
A swastika is just a logo too, but it still brings chills down my spine.
Recently there was a program at the Kennedy Center theater in Washington at which Mel Brooks (among others) was honored and received a medal for his lifetime achievements in the presence of President and Mrs. Obama. As part of the program, certain musical numbers from his shows and movies were reenacted on the stage. In the "Springtime for Hitler" number which involves people in full Nazi uniforms singing praise of Hitler (done in a comedic way to make them look ridiculous), instead of a swastika, the armbands had some meaningless symbol on them - the US President could not be in the same picture as a swastika.
Here is Hitler inspecting a VW in the presence of Dr. Porsche:
http://www.cqql.net/vw-hitler-porsche4.jpg
K
Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzJAGset2XY
Actually the number was "Heil Myself" (Hilter , instead of saying Heil Hitler , says "Heil Myself" and sings his own praises).
Again note the armbands with the not-Swastikas on them.
The very best "Producers" was the original movie with Zero Mostel (better known as Tevye). It is worth renting even today.
K
Intelligent satires are a Jewish thing. Now we have the unfunny Avatar.
I agree. As a schoolboy, I blundered mistakenly into Mostel's "Producers" without knowing what it was, was irritated for about half a second and then was absolutely captivated. I would see it again, any time, any place.
"Bialystok und Bloo-oom, Bialystok und Bloo-oom".
Anon.
Himmler sent out expeditions in search of lost Lemuria where he was convinced that the ur Aryans continued their existence. The most of famous of these expeditions ended up in Tibet. This is strange, not least because the weather-beaten Tibetans, ekeing out a living on their windswept plateau hardly looked like the ancient Greek gods and goddesses. Himmler who looked like a runt and ran in the helpless way that schoolgirls used to run, nonetheless became an arbiter of Aryan manhood. It is a tribute to the power of the Devil that some of the ugliest men, Joseph Goebbels who had the aspect of a prison snitch and walked with a club foot, Adolf Hitler who had to be photographed with special lighting and was plaugued all his life with uncontrolled farting could claim that they were restoring a mythical Aryan race.
Devil-worshipping mysticism had a largely unacknowledged role in the rise of the Nazis. The swastika as used by the Nazis symbolised an inverted cross. The core Nazis were determined to invoke the Devil in all their rituals, Hitler marriages, Nazi baptisms and funerals. Like in all these stories the Devil gave them a long rope to hang themselves with in the end.
I dont think they were Devil worshippers. The expedition was to the Tibet as imagined by Central European mysticists, nothing to do with real Tibetans. Dont forget that in the twenties Tibet was inaccessible and all kind of Shangri-La fantasies were almost considered reality. Even inthe fifties Lobsang Rampa could sell the fantasies of the Third Eye and so. I think that ariosophism gives an extraoedinary good explanation of Nazi origins and ideology.
The real point of interest is to appreciate how such haters of scientific rationality could co-exist with, even command, one of the most technically advanced peoples on the planet.
Anon.
J, I don't know enough about Theosophy to comment on it, and I didn't mean to imply that self-improvement gurus such as Blavatsky and Krishnamurti were Satanists. I was refering to the Nazis.
Last Anon, scientific rationality is useless as a guide to the moral life. A Nazi, a Communist and a Catholic can use the same engineering principles to come with a running car. The rationalists in the Soviet Union and China managed to rack up a much higher body count than the Nazis (they of course had a longer time to do it.) And most people cannot live in the arid mind world of science, which is why the naturalists and documentary makers try their best to substitute Nature worship in place of God. In fact a certain type of scientist is actually more prone to irrationality than the average person, Aum ShinRikyo was overflowing with nuclear scientists. Reason is vastly overrated.
Shouldn't that have been Feliz Suerte?
Any harmless movement , such as the Theosophy that appealed to your late Uncle (who sounds like the kind of man who would not literally hurt a fly - was he a vegetarian?) can mutate like a cancer into something dangerous like Nazism. Same with eugenics, saluting the flag, etc. Just because the Nazis distorted these well meaning movements into something malignant does not discredit the original movement automatically, though obviously Theosophy can be discredited for other reasons. Eugenics is the one that came out the worst from Nazism - any talk of selective breeding of humans is out, no matter how sound the scientific basis. When the Bell Curve was published, the response from the "modern" "scientific" community was to cover their ears and shout "Nah, nah, nah, I can't hear you." like 6 year olds or religious believers who are unwilling to allow their dogma to be exposed to reason. Filling our population with low IQ minorities is not only not to be avoided, it is to be devoutly sought as a penance for past misdeeds and any disagreement or even an attempt to have a discussion on the subject means that you too are a Nazi.
K
Yes, my uncle Felix (happy or lucky in Latin, the same with glucklich) was vegetarian. He had a German diploma in Chemistry and worked in a large pharm lab. He never did harm to any living being. I know little of him because of the difference of ages.
I knew it. Call me Sherlock Holmes.
Hmm. Hitler was a vegetarian. A German speaker, vegetarian, refugee in Argentina, Theosophist - superficially your Uncle resembles the average Nazi war criminal in many respects except for the one respect that really counts - the respect for life. What a difference that makes. If there is an Olam HaBa your Uncle is now snacking on Leviathan (no need to be a vegetarian in paradise) and the Nazis are burning in gehenna. IF.
K
The Dear Leader assures me it is the other way round.
Anon.
K, You couldnt be more wrong. Ididnt know him well but Hungarian Jews were not Nazi material. Krishnamurti followers and assorted Buddhists were even less.
The average Nazi was a brutish butcher or a police officer.
I realize of course that your good gentle Uncle, Z''L, was the total opposite of a Nazi and should not even be mentioned in the same sentence as these scum, but on a superficial level there were resemblances, as I listed - I could see that in the mind of an ignorant Argentine they could mistake one for the other - Uncle Felix and Eichmann - both European refugees half lost in the new world. The other commenters have already given the (somewhat tenuous but nevertheless real links between mysticism and Naziism). Of course the henchmen were rough characters (the Ukrainians were the "best") but the officer types were often quite cultured. I did some googling and I discovered that after he got out of prison (early) for his war crimes, the commandant of my father's KZ Lager became the leader of a small town marching band in Germany (he had been a musician before the war). The band's history states that he had been a military man and that he was "a stickler for proper uniforms" but they omit to mention his years in prison for crimes against humanity.
K
At least in Hungary, after the war, these kind of people marched no more in the street.
Part of what happened in the West, unfortunately, was that the Cold War cooled the fervor to prosecute Nazis- they were a past threat, over and done, Communists were a current and present danger. And the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And in the West the methods were usually not as brutal as the Soviets.
There were some exceptions. The SS man who led my father's camp on a death march in the last days of the war (not their regular commandant) ended up surrendering Dachau to the Americans. When the American soldiers saw the infernal conditions in the camp they became enraged. They handed their rifles to the nearest Jewish prisoners and told them to take revenge. Later when the American soldier's action was sent to General Patton for possible court martial, General Patton threw the file in the trash, God bless him.
K
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