"[...] Contrary to the claims of a growing number of people encouraged by the so-called “new atheism”, the Nazis held a coherent worldview that was vehemently anti-Christian. To deal with criticism of Christianity by these writers and speakers, it is necessary for Christians to become aware of the Nazi worldview and how deeply it was rooted in modern paganism."
"Like Marx, Lenin, and Gramachi, all of whom had very definite ideas about the importance of creating small party elites, Hitler also developed a clear theory about the need for a small, tightly knit party that would change the world. In this process, propaganda was to play a key role. In Mein Kampf he writes:
If a movement has the intention of pulling down a world and of building a new one in its place, then there must be absolute clarity about the following points in the ranks of its own leaders:
Every movement, at first, will have to divide the human material it has won into two groups: into followers and members.
The task of propaganda is to attract followers; the taks of organization to win members.
A follower of a movement is one who declares himself in agreement with its aims; a member is one who fights for it … there will be at least ten followers for every one or two members at most …
The first task of propaganda is the winning of people for the future organization; the first task of the organization is the winning of people for the continuation of propaganda. The second task of propaganda is the destruction of the existing condition and the permeation of this condition with the new doctrine, while the second task of the organization must be the fight for power, so that by it, it will achieve the final success of the doctrine.
The most striking success of the revolution of a view of life will always be won whenever the new view of life is, if possible, taught to all the people, and if necessary, is later forced upon them, while the organization of the idea, that means the movement, has to embrace only so many people as absolutely necessary for the occupation of the nerves centres of the State involved. (Hitler, 1941:849-852; cf. Hitler, 1940:651-655.)
"This rather long passage is crucial for understanding the relationship between Hitler and Rosenberg, whom he appointed as his chief theoretician in charge of propagating the Weltanschauung (or worldand life view) of the movement, while Joseph Goebbels directed his day to day propaganda aimed at securing power."
"Strasser claimed that during a meeting early in 1928, Hitler told him the following:
‘The ideology of Rosenberg is an inalienable component of National Socialism’, he shouted stressing every syllable … ‘At the moment, Christianity is one of the points of the party program as I formulated it. But, one must look beyond. Rosenberg is a forerunner, a prophet – his theories are the expression of the German soul.’ (Strasser, 1948:125.)
Similarly, Ludecke (1937), an early confidant of Hitler, records this exchange with him:
‘You haven’t met Rosenberg yet?’ Hitler asked me abruptly. I replied that I knew him but slightly. ‘You must get to know him better, get on good terms with him. He is the only man whom I always listen to. He is a thinker.’
Then Ludecke adds:
Rosenberg, the twenty-five year old Baltic German, became Hitler’s closest thinker, and more than anybody else, in his later writings, shaped the Nazi ‘Weltanschauung’ – a word somewhat inadequately translated ‘world-outlook’. (Ludecke, 1937:79, 84.)
" Nevertheless, it seems clear that Hitler had no doubts about Rosenberg’s value as a theoretician. Two key pieces of documentary evidence provide direct information about Hitler’s personal attitude towards Rosenberg. First, he was the first recipient of the National Prize for Art and Science. The official citation, approved by Hitler and read by Goebbels to a mass meeting at the 1937 Party Congress, states:
Alfred Rosenberg distinguished himself because he helped establish and stabilize the worldview of National Socialism both scientifically and intuitively. He especially distinguished himself because he fought untiringly to maintain the purity of the National Socialist worldview. (Schmitt, 1937:49 ff.)
Secondly, in a personal letter sent by Hitler to Rosenberg on his 50th birthday in 1943, Hitler wrote:
I still remember the day when I met you in the home of Dietrich Eckart. Since then you became the first spiritual and intellectual co-builder of the party. One day history will record how much you did to clarify and stabilize the worldview foundations of the movement … you are one of the most distinguished human personalities that Fate has granted me to meet. (Hitler, 1943.)
"[...] Nevertheless, these two documents, both of which were dictated by Hitler when he could easily have sidelined Rosenberg, show a remarkable appreciation of his ideas and role in creating the Party’s Weltanschauung."
"Many observers of Germany in the 1920s and 1930s came away convinced that Rosenberg’s Mythus was hugely influential. These writers include Dodd, a journalist and daughter of the American Ambassador (Dodd, 1940:241); Kneller, an American Ph.D. student writing on German Education (Kneller, 1941:194 ff.); De Rougemont, a French university professor teaching in Frankfurt-am-Main (De Rougemont, 1998:75); Heuss, who later became State President of the Bundesrepublik (Heuss, 1968:109); Klemperer, a Jewish professor of Romance languages and literatures (Klemperer, 1995:291, 318, 385), and Hoess, the former Commandant of Auschwitz (Gilbert, 1947:267). The German-Jewish philosopher Löwith also commented on Rosenberg’s influence upon German students and even claimed that he discovered that Rosenberg’s work was popular among Japanese Nationalists (Löwith, 1986:11, 118). Further, despite his attempt to distance himself from Rosenberg’s Der Mythus des 20. Jahrhunderts (1930), Speer (1970:110) confirmed that “the public regarded the book as the standard text for party ideology …”
"Equally important is the fact that Hutchinson has meticulously documented a mass of evidence to show that Rosenberg exercised considerable influence over German intellectual life and popular belief during the National Socialist era. This includes Rosenberg’s personal travel itinerary involving numerous speeches to crowds of up to 100 000, frequent newspaper reports proclaiming him the intellectual spokesperson of National Socialism, and a large collection of letters from individuals expressing gratitude for his work, especially his Mythus. Letters and other documents show that at times top National Socialist leaders Bormann, Frick, Frank, Goebbels, Hess, Himmler, Ley, Schirach, and Göring, praised and promoted Rosenberg’s work while soliciting his support (Hutchinson, 1977:33-58).
The latter tendency was particularly important in the formative years of the Hitler Youth. Rosenberg, as prophet of a new Der Mythus des 20. Jahrhunderts became the liaison between the Hitler Youth and the dozens of völkisch youth groups. Thus already in the 1920s, Rosenberg’s influence reached far beyond the Party into the religioracial völkisch movement (Brandenburg, 1968:61, 74-75)."
"Further evidence demonstrating the popularity of Rosenberg’s ideas is found in the impressive sales figures of Rosenberg’s Mythus, which became a runaway best seller long before Hitler’s election victory in 1933. When the book appeared in 1930 it was said to have caused “a great sensation” (Hüffmeier, 1935) and went through seven editions before Hitler’s election victory in 1933. After that sales of the Mythus increased, until it sold between 1 and 2 million copies by 1945 (Hutchinson, 1977:63). At the same time German observers noted that the Mythus was “being ‘devoured’ by German students” (Chesterton, 1934:9). Later, in 1935, when Rosenberg responded to critics in his An die Dunkelmänner unserer Zeit (Rosenberg, 1935a) his polemical tract sold 300 000 copies in the first month and over 900 000 by 1942 (Hutchinson, 1977:63)."
"With the notable exception of Chamberlain, the authors who inspired Rosenberg were leading figures in modern thought. Even Chamberlain, whose The foundations of the twentieth century (1899; 1911) and The Aryan worldview (1905) were unscholarly works, drew his ideas from mainstream scholars and received rave reviews by both the popular press and academics, with people like highly respected theologian Adolf Harnack thinking very highly of Chamberlain’s work (Field, 1981:225-316)."
"[...] the Myth becomes a coherent argument offering Germans a new religion. Rosenberg begins by assuming that both Christianity and Humanism were “buried in the bloody chaos of the Great War” (Rosenberg, 1935b:21). Consequently, it is no longer possible to believe in the Bible as the Word of God, the Trinity, original sin, redemption through the sacrifice of Christ, the deity or Christ, or even the Christian God who is revealed as an Asiatic tyrant (Rosenberg, 1935b:76-79).
Into this situation of chaos, Rosenberg claimed a new Weltanschauung had been born that turned away from absolute and static values to a new dynamic creed based upon a rejection of the type of self-knowledge derived from the Delphic injunction “Know thyself,” which he interprets as a ploy by priests to enslave free men (Rosenberg, 1935b:259-260). This new worldview, Rosenberg argues, means recognising that the religious and racial heritage of Europe has been poisoned by Christianity, leading to the degeneration of Nordic peoples (Rosenberg, 1935b:442). Now the isolation of visionaries, like Wagner, has come to an end and a new religion is about to be born from the people themselves (Rosenberg, 1935b:443).
By rejecting the Christian degradation of humankind and throwing out the teachings of St. Paul which were “shaped by Judaism” and intended “to spiritually turn us into Jews”, a new beginning is possible. Consequently, all free people must rid themselves of “the so called old testament” (Rosenberg, 1935b:602-603)."
"Thus the myth of a suffering god has to be replaced by the more noble myths of Nordic origin. Yet, even though we may recognise echoes of our situation in works like the Edda, they are no more than echoes from a time past (Rosenberg, 1935b:219). Today “a new genius who will reveal the new Myth to us” is needed. Therefore we have a duty to prepare for this new revelation. This new message must be directed to “all those who have already broken inwardly with church belief, but have still not found their way to another Myth” (Rosenberg, 1935b:600-601)."
"Importantly, contrary to what many writers claim, Rosenberg strongly rejected monism (Rosenberg, 1935b:125-126). In doing so he argues that at their core, Judaism and Christianity are monistic (Rosenberg, 1935b:127-128). This, he suggests, leads paradoxically to the “polarity” absolutist beliefs in things like good and bad, true and error (Rosenberg, 1935b:125-127). Against such a “static” view he urges a “dynamic” vision of the world that recognises the continuous interaction and development (Rosenberg, 1935b:127). Rosenberg sees Protestantism, however, as divided between the “Jewish” impulse to monism and the “German desire for freedom” (Rosenberg, 1935b:128-129). Yet in the end, he argues, Protestants failed to free themselves from such beliefs, because Luther popularised the Old Testament as a “Christian book”, thus making the break with Jewish monism impossible (Rosenberg, 1935b:129).
Finally, it needs to be recognised that Rosenberg’s neo-paganism borrowed from a rich tradition of German philosophical thought that was familiar to his readers. Thus, without mentioning them by name, he appropriates the ideas of Feuerbach (1804-1872) and Strauss (1808-1874) as interpreted by De Lagarde (1827-1891), and Nietzsche (1844-1900), who he does cite on these type of issue (Rosenberg, 1935b:37, 138, 237, 443, 454-456, 424, 530, 691-692)."
"[...] Christian and Jewish myths destroyed life by misdirecting the individual’s attention to a life beyond this world and a God created in their own image. Therefore, he claimed that men and women must choose between commitment to a dynamic, life affirming religion arising out of a specific historical culture, or a death affirming religion that glorifies a tyrannical God. The choice was simple. Embrace a religion that expresses the dynamic genetic values of heroism and virtue or an alien one that glorifies a static world realm beyond this world. Either become a true human by discovering oneself or allow the Old Testament and the Christian tradition to destroy individual freedom and true humanity (Rosenberg, 1935b:73-82, 698-701)."
Excerpts from Irving Hexham's article "The mythic foundation of National Socialism and the contemporary claim that the Nazis were Christians." Department of Religious Studies University of Calgary CALGARY Canada.
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