Episode 640: Heinrich Himmler Part IV - From Atlantis to Auschwitz | Last Podcast On The Left Brief

Key Takeaways

Heinrich Himmler established the Ahnenerbe, an SS research institute, to fabricate a pseudo-scientific history of Aryan supremacy.
Nazi ideology, driven by Himmler's occult beliefs, sought to replace Christianity with a state-sanctioned Germanic pagan religion.
The Ahnenerbe justified Lebensraum and persecution through distorted history, pseudoscience, and propaganda.
Key figures like Karl Willigut provided occult justifications for Himmler's delusional historical and cosmological theories.
Hitler's leadership style allowed subordinates to act autonomously, contributing to aggressive foreign policies like Austria's annexation.

Heinrich Himmler aimed to de-Christianize Germany, integrating ancient Germanic folk beliefs and occultism into Nazi ideology, despising Christianity's Middle Eastern origins.
He drew inspiration from the Crusades for SS rituals, envisioning a de-Christianized Germany with ties to Atlantis and Shambhala.
SS marriage ceremonies included Hitler and Nietzsche quotes, ending with a handshake and signing the SS anthem to commit to the Nazi state.
Child naming ceremonies replaced Christian baptisms, featuring Nazi symbolism, Mein Kampf readings, and invocations of German blood and the Führer.

Heinrich Himmler established the Ahnenerbe, an SS research institute, in 1935 to create a new German history and religion.
Located in a respectable Berlin villa with occult decor, its goal was to justify Lebensraum and the elimination of populations through pseudo-science.
The institute presented its findings through media and conferences, aiming to overcome post-World War I disillusionment.
Ahnenerbe fabricated evidence, such as misinterpreting natural rock formations as an ancient 'German Stonehenge'.

The Nazi regime persecuted gay men, sending 15,000 to concentration camps where 60% died or were subjected to experimentation.
Himmler viewed homosexuality as a communicable disease and a threat to German population growth.
He fabricated historical evidence, announcing that ancient Germans drowned homosexuals, to justify sending gay men to camps marked with pink triangles.

The German population accepted Nazi historical revisions due to post-World War I humiliation and effective propaganda, notably the SS Guidebook.
The SS Guidebook, marketed as entertaining and optimistic, combined political doctrine with lifestyle content while censoring alternative information.
Karl Maria Willigut, a World War I veteran and occult author, significantly influenced Himmler's Ahnenerbe, claiming genealogical links to Thor.
Himmler, a 'fanboy,' likely supplied Willigut with drugs, possibly meth, to maintain his occult insights and channeling of ancient Nordic figures.

Himmler funded Ahnenerbe expeditions abroad, notably to Tibet, driven by occult beliefs in Aryan origins and the mythical Shambhala.
Researchers were tasked with finding evidence of the Aryan race and knowledge on life extension, but the Tibet expedition found no evidence.
The Ahnenerbe also incorporated Hans Hörbiger's 'World Ice Theory,' which posited Earth's origin from six ice moons, despite scientific rejection.
Himmler persisted with the World Ice Theory, even sending a novelist to the Bolivian Andes to find evidence, which yielded nothing.

Heinrich Himmler promoted the belief in an Aryan master race to justify Nazi actions, often fabricating historical narratives.
He created claims that Aryans built ancient civilizations like the pyramids, contradicting archaeological evidence.
Himmler's belief in Volkish myths influenced SS decisions, using the SS as a testing ground for pseudo-scientific ideas.
This vision was fueled by a fantasy of Germany becoming a global empire of Aryan warrior farmers.

Himmler's Ahnenerbe promoted ancient Norse myths as the secret history of the Aryan race, interpreting Thor's hammer, Mjolner, as evidence of ancient Aryan electricity.
Herman Wirth, the first president, was dismissed in 1937 for suggesting Nordic civilizations were matriarchies, contradicting Himmler's views on women.
Walter Wust, Wirth's replacement, proved more influential by actively promoting Nazi ideology to SS members, who then disseminated it throughout Germany.

The Lebensborn program, established in 1935 based on eugenics, aimed to increase the population of racially pure Aryan children.
The program assisted unmarried pregnant women and operated orphanages where children, often kidnapped from Poland, were placed with SS couples.
Himmler ordered SS men to conceive children before the October 1939 invasion of Poland, reflecting the program's objective to populate the German military.
Nazi Germany also had contradictory policies, forcing abortions for those deemed 'unworthy of the Aryan race' while outlawing general abortions.

Hitler's extreme laziness and temperament led to subordinates acting autonomously in 'working towards the Führer,' influencing events like Austria's annexation.
Nazi-instigated terror, including bombings and murder orchestrated by Himmler through the SS, preceded the annexation of Austria.
In July 1934, a small group of Austrian Nazis assassinated Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss during an attempted coup.
After Dollfuss's death, Hitler accelerated German military production, expanding the army to 500,000 men by 1935, defying the Treaty of Versailles without military intervention from Britain and France.