Nazism: 20th-Century Paganism

In the development of Nazi ideology, one of the most important roles was played by Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels, a devoted believer in neo-paganism. He was the first to discover the swastika from ancient pagan sources which later became the symbol of the Nazi Party, and to actually use it. The Ordo Novi Templi organization that he established dedicated itself entirely to a rebirth of paganism. Lanz declared that he openly worshipped Wotan, one of the false deities of the old German pagan tribes. Wotanism, in his view, was the German people's natural religion, and the Germans could be saved only by returning to it.

Nazi ideology developed along the lines opened up by Lanz and similar neo-pagan ideologues. Alfred Rosenberg, the foremost of the Nazi ideologues, openly maintained that Christianity couldn't provide spiritual energy for the new Germany being established under Hitler's leadership, which was why the German race needed to return to the old, pagan religion. In Rosenberg's view, when the Nazis came to power, the religious symbols in churches would have to be removed, to be replaced by copies of Hitler's book Mein Kampf (My Struggle), and swastikas and swords representing German invincibility. Hitler was influenced by Rosenberg's views, but didn't put the theory of the new German religion into practice because he feared there would be a huge social protest.1

Even so, a number of neo-pagan measures were put into practice during the Nazi regime. A short while after Hitler came to power, Christian holy days and festivals began to be abolished and replaced by pagan alternatives. During wedding services, vows were taken to imaginary deities such as "Mother Earth" or "Father Sky." In 1935, schools were forbidden to allow students to recite Christian prayers. Then lessons in Christianity were completely banned.

SS chief Heinrich Himmler stated the Nazi regime's hatred of Christianity: "This religion is the most terrible pestilence the world has ever seen. It needs to be treated accordingly." 2 These words are expressions indicative of Himmler's and the Nazi mentality's ignorance and irrationality. And they are unacceptable.

The Nazis' enmity for the Jews was thus part and parcel of these anti-religious ideologies. Regarding Christianity as a "Jewish conspiracy," the Nazis tried to divorce German society from Christianity on the one hand, and on the other encouraged Jews to leave Germany by putting various forms of pressure on them and organizing street attacks.

When we examine the various neo-Nazi and fascist groups in the vanguard of anti-Semitism today, we see that almost all possess an anti-religious ideology and employ slogans based on pagan concepts.