The Occult Reich
 Cover of the first American edition | |
| Author | James Herbert Brennan |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Nazi occultism |
| Published | Futura Publications (United Kingdom) New American Library (United States) |
Publication date | 1974 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 184 |
| ISBN | 0-86007-012-3 |
| OCLC | 2078100 |
The Occult Reich is a book about occultism during the Third Reich by J. H. Brennan. It was published in the United Kingdom in 1974 by Futura Publications, and published in New York the same year. Brennan advocates there being a meaningful connection between Nazism and occultism, and argues that Adolf Hitler was a Satanist and Nazism was a satanic enterprise.
Background
[edit]It was authored by J. H. Brennan.[1][2] It was published by Futura Publications in London in 1974.[3] This edition had 188 pages.[3] The same year it was also published in the United States in New York with New American Library, in mass market paperback format.[1][2][4]
Contents
[edit]Brennan, a believer in the truth of there being a meaningful connection between Nazism and occultism, argues that Adolf Hitler was a Satanist. As evidence for this, he brings up the fact that he had reversed the swastika, which Brennan calls "an indication, for those who had eyes to see, of the satanic nature of the Occult Reich".[2] He argues Hitler's appeal to the German people is connected to Franz Mesmer's theory of animal magnetism.[1]
Towards the end of the war, Brennan argues, Hitler tried to make a deal with the devil which he fulfilled through military casualties and the mass murder of millions of Jews, before killing himself on a witch feast.[1][2] It lacks notes, an index, or a bibliography.[1]
Reception
[edit]Scholar and occultist Stephen E. Flowers was criticial. He called it mostly a "rehash" of The Morning of the Magicians, and said it was "designed to capitalize on the occult Nazi craze of the early 1970s", prreceding through "the usual list of suspects" in the context of Nazi occultism.[1] Robert H. West said that, as with most other works from believers, "Brennan holds that magical power is in proportion to the magician's intensity of conviction and passion of purpose", and that he did "not quite insist on devils as personal beings".[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Flowers, Stephen E. (2022). The Occult in National Socialism: The Symbolic, Scientific, and Magical Influences on the Third Reich. Rochester: Inner Traditions. ISBN 978-1-64411-575-6.
- ^ a b c d e West, Robert H. (1975). "Some Popular Literature of Witchcraft Since 1969". The Review of Politics. 37 (4): 547–556. doi:10.1017/S0034670500015096. ISSN 0034-6705. JSTOR 1406063.
- ^ a b "Occult Reich". WorldCat. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Occult Reich". WorldCat. Retrieved 21 June 2025.