Unholy Alliance: A History of Nazi Involvement with the Occult

Peter Levenda's _Unholy Alliance_ is at once a tale of adventure and intrigue and a useful source of information on the occult origins of Nazism. Much has been made of these occult beginnings and developments which led to the creation of Hitler's Third Reich and which have continued after its downfall in various forms of NeoNazism. In this book, Peter Levenda examines these occult aspects of Nazism from its early development in the Thule Society and among individuals such as Guido von List, Lanz von Liebenfels, and Rudolf von Sebottendorf to Nazi psychics up until the present day in which Satanism and other such dark forces have combined with Nazi occultism. Levenda rightly contends that Hitler himself was not overly influenced by occult ideas (contrary to the thesis put forth in _The Spear of Destiny_) despite his youthful readings of von Liebenfel's notorious magazine, "Ostara". However, according to Levenda the magical and occult aspects of Nazism cannot be denied. Levenda considers Nazism to be a sort of cult with an all powerful leader ("Der Fuehrer"). Much of the material in this book as far as the early roots of Nazism is available from other sources especially _The Occult Roots of Nazism_ by Nicholas Goodrick-Clark. However, Levenda provides new material in his examination of Nazi psychics, including Hanussen, his thorough discussion of the Ahnenerbe Society, his explanation of the Tibet expedition which has not previously been covered by other authors in this field, and his discussions of the notorious madman Aleister Crowley. In fact, a great deal of this book focuses on the shenanigans of Aleister Crowley but also discusses the roots of many German secret societies in the Theosophical Society of the medium Madame H. P. Blavatsky. The most interesting discussion in this book however is that of the survival of the Nazi cult in various manifestations particularly in South America. The far reaches of the tentacles of the Nazi octopus can be seen in the trail of Rudolf Hess, where he claims that he was being mind-controlled by various psychiatrists working for the Allied Powers. This is one among hundreds of bizarre instances involving the captured Nazi elite. The escaped Nazis may have traveled to South America via various underground channels. Individuals such as Klaus Barbie and Martin Bormann as well as the infamous physician, Dr. Josef Mengele, may have traveled to South America and survived in hiding under different aliases and involving themselves with various occult movements and lodges. The nation of Chile appears to be particularly likely to be infested with NeoNazis according to Levenda. Among others the occult writer and Chilean diplomat Miguel Serrano has written praising Hitler. Levenda himself investigated the secret Nazi center, the infamous "Colonia Dignidad", in Chile. This mysterious colony is run by the self-described "Baptist" zealot, Dr. Ernst Schafer, with unproven ties to Nazism. While in Chile, Levenda encountered this mysterious Nazi colony and barely managed to escape alive (luckily a report involving the statute of limitations on Nazi war crimes was being reviewed that day which may have allowed his escape). Rumors of mysterious deaths, torture, sexual abuse of children, and the practice of the black arts combining traditional Voodoo ritual with Nazi occultism have spread about the infamous "Colonia Dignidad". Whatever exactly this colony consists of, it is certainly not a wholesome affair. In the last full chapter in this book, Levenda turns his attention to NeoNazism. In particular, he examines the question of Nazi Satanism (taking a look at such organizations as the former National Renaissance Party) as well as the phenomenon of Nazi Skinheads. Nazi Satanists appear to base their rites off of those performed by the ultimate black magician and Reichsfuehrer of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, which he performed in his mysterious castle, Wewelsburg. Levenda makes some decent comparisons and analysis of Nazism and the Satanic abduction scare (in which he compares such mass murderers as Charles Manson with Nazi occultism and Satanic practices). Ultimately, upon finishing this book, it is clear to the reader that the Nazis were indeed based on an occult system of practice. While I dislike the idea that this was some form of neopaganism, it is more likely a restoration of the Gnostic heresy and a revolt against the Catholic Church, Christianity, and the Semitic religions. Levenda is unfortunately too harsh on the Catholic Church in this respect giving into many modernist and liberal biases. It is a fact that the Church tried to protect many individuals from the evils of Nazism and its death camps, despite whatever else certain of its members may have done. Also, the case against Pope Pius XII's involvement with Nazism is certainly far from being resolved in my mind at least. I believe Nazism constitutes a form of modern day Satanism and its ties to black magic and evil forms of occultism and degeneracy are all too apparent.Also recommended: _The Morning of the Magicians_ by Pauwels and Bergier and _The Occult Roots of Nazism_ by Nicholas Goodrick-Clark.

Believe it or not there are many people today that do not know the words Nazi or Hitler. This especially pertains to today's youth. The older generations that remember them or fought against them are dieing out, their oral stories no longer being told. Further still history classes in high school sadly never even make it to WWII, let alone anything past that, that is related to modern history. It doesn't really get any better in scholarly classes and academia in college. Unless you're social studies or history major taking 400 level classes you won't ever truly learn about it in college either. What this in essence means is that the times that today's youth hears the terms Nazi, Hitler, Holocaust, or Genocide will be very rare indeed, let alone to do any sort of study into the area. What does the mean for the future? Still there are some people that know these terms, and this area of History. Even still within these are people and whole governments that deny that the Holocaust ever ever happened, and that it was never as bad as everyone made it out to be. Worse still you have people that know what happened, believes that the Holocaust happened, and they think it was a good thing, that more of the Jews should have died, that Hitler's ideology was spot on. If someone does know those terms and a bit about history they are likely to tell you that Hitler was a dictator, and would be world conqueror. They might even tell you that he hated the Jews and wanted them all dead. If they a little bit more about history than the normal person they might even tell you that he thought the Germans were the master race whose fate was predetermined to rule the world. Though very few people will tell you or even know that the Nazi's were an occult group of magi, pagan sorcerers, and devil worshippers. If you are interested in a very little known aspect of the nazi war machine, which was the occult, then you can look no further than this book "Unholy Alliance". This book details just how all of it came about, the deep seated SS involvment including rituals, and other black magic that the nazi party relied upon. It notes hitlers facination with the occult, and how he may have been a pawn of more sinister forces. The book gives you insight from the early beginnings of occultism in the nazi party and follows its use all throughout the war. This book is suitable for college level research papers that deal with the subject matter. If You want to read a book and gather knowledge about all the aspects of nazi occultism, then this is a book that you should read.

Well written with lots of interesting information, It makes you realise how much of history still needs to be uncovered.

good lively account that steers away from sensationalism - highly recommended!

This is an examination into the Nazi's interest in the occult and the continuing impact that interest has had on contemporary neo-fascism/neo-Nazism by Levenda. It's a rather dark topic but somewhat light reading - it's written in a very engaging style that enabled me, at least, to get through the book very quickly. I found it intriguing as it essentialy shows us how ideas at the fringe - political, religious, cultural, etc. - often start to coalesce and become even more dangerous. A great read if you have any interest in this topic.

Eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit der "Unheiligen Allianz" zur Zeiten des zweiten Weltkrieges,die sich zu dieser Zeit mit dem Okkultem befasst hat. Teilweise etwas langatmig.Für WW2-Interessiete, Fans des Okkulten und Verschwörungstheoretiker.Als Ergänzung empfehle ich: Nazis: Die okkulte Verschwörung, Teil 1 Nazis: Die okkulte Verschwörung, Teil 2Nazis: Die okkulte Verschwörung, Teil 1Nazis: Die okkulte Verschwörung, Teil 2