The EquivocationInfectsthe Intellectuals 73Romantics...calledfor a returnto the higher,transcendentreality,andfor intuitionas a
vehicleof communicationwiththatworld.” His spiritualitycouldsavethe racefrom
“industrialmaterialism.. .” Diederichsbriefly consideredfollowingthe Theosophy
movementof RudolfSteinerand JidduKrishnamurti,whichI shallelaboratefurtherupon
in chapter9. Diederichseventuallyrejectedthatmovement,though,whileremaining
interestedin spirituality.Throughouthis questfor etherealunderstanding,Diederichs
toldthe NewRomanticsof theGeist, the collectivespiritof theirethnicity,whichcouldbe
comprehendedby no meansotherthanvagueintuition.To Mosse,the NewRomanticism
of suchVolkishwritersas Diederichswasintertwinedwiththeirracism.“Theformula
calledfor the subordinationof science,mechanization,” and “modernization...to a relig-
iousracialgoal.”^145
Hitlerandseveralof his lieutenantswentso far in theirfideismthattheycameto
embracethe occult,astrology,and supernaturalism.As it had withDiederichs,theosophy
(moreaboutit in chapter9) influencedNaziofficers.^146 The swastikahas beenan ancient
sun symbolseenthroughoutthe Old World,andit wasadoptedas a symbolof Theoso-
phyby Guidovon List.The Nazisappropriatedthe swastikafor theirownemblemas an
homageto theirTheosophistroots.^147 Moreinfluentialoverthe Nazisstill,wasan early-
twentieth-centuryoccultistmovementdeemedAriosophy,popularthroughoutGermany
andAustria.Accordingto NicholasGoodrick-Clarke,Ariosophyprofessed“Aryan-Ger-
manracialexcellence,anti-liberalism,” andrevoltagainsteconomicprogress.^148 Nazis
whoconsideredthemselvesbelieversin TheosophyincludedHimmler,AlfredRosen-
berg,WaltherDarré, and Hitler.^149
PaulRolandreports,“Hitler... wasextremelysuperstitiousby nature.A prophetic
dreamduringthe FirstWorldWarwhichsavedhimfromalmostcertaindeathwasonly
one of severalincidentswhichconvincedthe Führerthathis life wasprotectedby provi-
denceand that it was confirmedhe had a divinemissionto fulfill.”^150
Nazisactuallymadekey militarydecisionsaccordingto whattheirastrologeradvisors
toldthem.^151 GeorgeL. Mossediscussesthe most“notoriousbelieverin spiritualforces”
in the NSDAP.HeinrichHimmlerregardedhimselfto be the reincarnatedsoulof Henry
the Fowler,andprofessedthatthiswasa resultof Indiankarma.“Indeedhis whole
thoughtwas saturatedwith... mysticism.”^152 To Himmler,reportsPaulRoland,“astrolo-
gy wasthe guidingprincipleof life.... Hitler’s blue-eyedprotégé, RichardHeydrich,
oncesummedit up by saying:‘Goeringis worriedaboutthe starson his chest,Himmler
aboutthosein his horoscope.’”^153 OtherNazifollowersof astrologyincludedJoseph
Goebbels,RudolfHess,and AlfredRosenberg.^154
The otherNazisentertainedvarioussortsof paranormalbelief.FrauGoebbels,wifeto
JosephGoebbels,has publiclystatedthather husbandproudlyinterpretedvariousNos-
tradamusquatrainsas proofthatthe Renaissanceseerhadforetoldthe ThirdReich’s
victoryin WorldWarTwo.^155 Moreover,the Naziregimefancied,as theoreticallypos-
sible,the notionthatthe Earth’s centerwasnot filledwithmoltenmagma,but was
actuallyhollowand inhabitedby a lost civilization.Moreastonishing,it was not merelyin
the lore ofIndianaJonesmovies,but in real life, thatthe Nazisruminatedon the ideathat
they couldobtaina strategicadvantagein war by claimingpossession of the Holy
Grail.^156 Indeed,theyseriouslyproclaimedthattheirancestors,the originalAryans,in-
habitedthe mythicalcontinentof Atlantis,and undertookexpeditionsto Tibetto unearth
artifactsfromtheirAtlanteanforebears.^157
AnotherNaziexemplarof fideismis the existentialistphilosopherMartinHeidegger.
Stronglyrelatedto Heidegger’s enthusiasmfor totalitarianismis his mysticalattackon
individualismand free will.Throughouthis bookThe Essenceof Truth, Heideggerappeals
to whathe considersthe collective“spirit” of his ethnicity—spiritreferring,in this context,
literallyto the supernatural.