"We refuse to allow ourselves to be slandered as atheists - through misuse of the term pagan - simply because we as a community do not embrace a particular denomination or dogma or demand this from any of our men. We allow ourselves the right and the freedom to draw a sharp and distinct line between religious/church/denominational activity (gottgläubig) and political/world-view soldiery, and we will fiercely combat any violation. Likewise, we teach our men - despite much justified outrage and many bad experiences that our folk has had in this area in the past - to respect everything that is holy to any folk comrade - due to his education and conviction - without any insult in word or deed."
— SS Defender Against Bolshevism, meant only for SS men and not for public consumption
— SS Defender Against Bolshevism, meant only for SS men and not for public consumption
II. Are we fighting the church?
This reproach has always been made against us by internal enemies together with the first; that is what our external enemies accuse us of today in the most spiteful way. The Führer has emphasized infinitely that the Church and its priests always enjoy the protection of the state provided that they are dedicated exclusively to pastoral care and do not contravene the political will of the people. Too often and too gladly, the confrontation of the individual with an old doctrine is equated with "state tolerated" attacks against the church. Basically, it can be said that at all times and for all peoples there were upheavals in the religious field; we will not want to deny the right of our people to be allowed to seek a belief in God for that is in our nature.
-- SS Handbook for the Ideological
Education of the Troops, Topic 4
This reproach has always been made against us by internal enemies together with the first; that is what our external enemies accuse us of today in the most spiteful way. The Führer has emphasized infinitely that the Church and its priests always enjoy the protection of the state provided that they are dedicated exclusively to pastoral care and do not contravene the political will of the people. Too often and too gladly, the confrontation of the individual with an old doctrine is equated with "state tolerated" attacks against the church. Basically, it can be said that at all times and for all peoples there were upheavals in the religious field; we will not want to deny the right of our people to be allowed to seek a belief in God for that is in our nature.
-- SS Handbook for the Ideological
Education of the Troops, Topic 4
"The private memoirs of a Christian member of the Waffen-SS in my possession take the same line of arguing. This pious Methodist and convinced SS soldier had no problems doing his daily Bible reading during his training in the SS barracks München-Freimann. Franz Schönhuber (1923-2005), the founder and chairman of the German right-wing party "Die Republikaner", made a similar case when he described the punishment of an SS instructor for his animosities against him as a devoted Catholic Waffen-SS member."
—Nordic Ideology in the SS and the SS Ahnenerbe, Horst Junginger
—Nordic Ideology in the SS and the SS Ahnenerbe, Horst Junginger
"Pagans generally remained on the fringe of the society. While they were accepted as normal members in National Socialist organizations, they were still unable to assume responsibility and occupy eminent positions if they persisted to act out their faith resolutely."
— Nordic Ideology in the SS and the SS Ahnenerbe, Horst Junginger
— Nordic Ideology in the SS and the SS Ahnenerbe, Horst Junginger
Mount Athos survived World War II nearly untouched, and for the remainder of the war, the monks of Mount Athos referred to Adolf Hitler as “High Protector of the Holy Mountain”, owing to his protection of the Holy Mount against Allied Aggression.
A common belief of Athonite monks during the 30s, as conveyed in various publications by pilgrims of that era was:
“You know Germany is going to become Orthodox very soon. The Holy Fathers have prophesied it. It is said that there is now a great king ruling in Germany, who slaughters all the Jews and Bolsheviks. We love him for that. It is the beginning of the prophecy.”
In his book, Dölger writes: “Upon our arrival at several monasteries and, upon our departure from one (Dionisiou), when we sailed out onto the sea in our little ship, we were greeted by the swastika flag”.
A common belief of Athonite monks during the 30s, as conveyed in various publications by pilgrims of that era was:
“You know Germany is going to become Orthodox very soon. The Holy Fathers have prophesied it. It is said that there is now a great king ruling in Germany, who slaughters all the Jews and Bolsheviks. We love him for that. It is the beginning of the prophecy.”
In his book, Dölger writes: “Upon our arrival at several monasteries and, upon our departure from one (Dionisiou), when we sailed out onto the sea in our little ship, we were greeted by the swastika flag”.
"German forces usually had decent relations with the people; it was our enemies who sent in agitators to stir them up with false propaganda. I saw a leaflet that was given to us, where it claimed we were raping children, and killing mothers. These godless people even claimed we were destroying churches and killing priests. The truth was that we helped reopen churches in the east and Balkans, giving security, so the people would pray for the first time in a while."
— Interview with Fritz Haberstroh from the 22. SS-Kavallerie Division "Maria Theresia", Dusseldorf, 1988.
— Interview with Fritz Haberstroh from the 22. SS-Kavallerie Division "Maria Theresia", Dusseldorf, 1988.
"Most SS men were members of the church; disputing this is ridiculous! They also claim we persecuted Christians on the Reichsführer-SS Himmler's orders. What stupidity! I am a Christian but this makes me question their faith when they -- my own people -- join in speaking this nonsense and this why so many SS men left their corrupted churches."
— Interview with Max Hansen, Knight's Cross with Oakleaves winner and Regimental Commander of the elite 1. SS-Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS-Adolf Hitler, Niebull, Germany, 1983.
— Interview with Max Hansen, Knight's Cross with Oakleaves winner and Regimental Commander of the elite 1. SS-Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS-Adolf Hitler, Niebull, Germany, 1983.
"I admired Poland for its defense against the Bolshevik hordes in 1920 and for promoting Christian culture while under Jewish attack. However, their careless tactics and threats made me understand the problem had to be faced with toughness and resolve; our leaders did what they had to do to secure peace."
— Interview with Ernst Krag, Battalion Commander of the 2. SS-Panzer Division 'Das Reich' and winner of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, June 1989, Germany.
— Interview with Ernst Krag, Battalion Commander of the 2. SS-Panzer Division 'Das Reich' and winner of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, June 1989, Germany.
"The Pope had a very good relationship with the Fuhrer and party. In fact, we ordered large sums of money to go to restoring and building houses of God. Christianity was our faith for two thousand years and was not going anywhere. What might seem like attacks on the Church was us trying to remove the Jewish influence. We had a Church system heavily infiltrated by the very people who opposed Christ and hated the Cross. This caused many issues as we forced them out and some Christians refused to understand why. We NS had no time for the petty infighting and had to be tough on the flock sometimes, but we protected the Church, and I attended many SS weddings in Church’s. There was no war on the Church; we honored our Creator by protecting our past."
— 1987 interview (done in Munich) is with former Gauleiter Rudolf Jordan
— 1987 interview (done in Munich) is with former Gauleiter Rudolf Jordan
"I will say my husband was a Christian and an SS man"
"A lie is being told in Germany today by the churches. It says that the SS hated religion and persecuted the church. This is false."
"The SS was not against religion. We attended church services often, most all SS men did. What we oppose is the Jewish influence over our religion and history, this is what Martin Luther warned about, Jews long ago trying to take over and influence the early Church."
— Excerpts from an interview done with Lina Heydrich, the wife of Reinhard Heydrich
"A lie is being told in Germany today by the churches. It says that the SS hated religion and persecuted the church. This is false."
"The SS was not against religion. We attended church services often, most all SS men did. What we oppose is the Jewish influence over our religion and history, this is what Martin Luther warned about, Jews long ago trying to take over and influence the early Church."
— Excerpts from an interview done with Lina Heydrich, the wife of Reinhard Heydrich
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"The belief of the Reichsführer-SS [Heinrich Himmler] and the Führer was that the Christian religion came from Europeans, by Europeans, and to Europeans, no one else. That is because the limited excavations the Ahnenerbe [ancestral heritage organization under the SS] and independent researches could do in the Middle East showed something. They showed that the ancient peoples who lived several thousand years ago in the regions we today call the Middle East, were populated by fair skinned and eyed people who migrated up into Europe from these areas. I know the Bible says there was dispersion due to war and conquests."
— Marie Adelheid, staff member of Richard Walther Darré
— Marie Adelheid, staff member of Richard Walther Darré
"The famous para graph 24 of the party programme advocating a "positive Christianity" without com mitment to a particular confession was an insurmountable obstacle for everybody in contradiction to the established churches. Whatever meaning might be attached to the idea of a positive Christianity, it could in no way constitute a part of Pagan ism that defined itself by its antagonism towards Christianity and the Christian churches. For that reason alone, Pagans such as Jakob Wilhelm Hauer were de terred from joining the NSDAP, viz a party advocating positive Christian values"
— Nordic Ideology in the SS and the SS Ahnenerbe, Horst Junginger
— Nordic Ideology in the SS and the SS Ahnenerbe, Horst Junginger
"I had a Catholic education and every Sunday I went to church. They preached about the godless Communism in Russia and it was time for a crusade against the godless Communism."
— Dutch Waffen-SS "Wiking" veteran on why he fought for the Germans
https://archive.org/details/interview-with-dutch-waffen-ss-veteran
— Dutch Waffen-SS "Wiking" veteran on why he fought for the Germans
https://archive.org/details/interview-with-dutch-waffen-ss-veteran
anti-Clerical, not anti-Christian
"Perhaps the most surprising instance of a continued positive attitude towards Christianity was Julius Streicher, the editor of the scurrilous Nazi organ Der Stürmer. Even as he acquired a reputation as a rabid anticlerical, Streicher continued to affirm - as he had done in the Kampfzeit - that he was not an enemy of Christianity. In a 1937 edition of the Stürmer, Streicher praised Christianity, even to the extent of attacking the party's own anti-Christians: "Some people in Germany today reject Christianity as something 'alien'; others, because Christ was a Jew, and German people can learn nothing from a Jew. A third party sees a very special divine miracle in his being a Jew... But the Stürmer will now explain the matter in a way which will finally open the eyes of all men." As Streicher argued, Jesus was in fact not a Jew. The Nordic peoples had accepted Christianity; therefore Christ's teaching was in accordance with Nordic blood, not Jewish"
— The Holy Reich, pg. 217
"Perhaps the most surprising instance of a continued positive attitude towards Christianity was Julius Streicher, the editor of the scurrilous Nazi organ Der Stürmer. Even as he acquired a reputation as a rabid anticlerical, Streicher continued to affirm - as he had done in the Kampfzeit - that he was not an enemy of Christianity. In a 1937 edition of the Stürmer, Streicher praised Christianity, even to the extent of attacking the party's own anti-Christians: "Some people in Germany today reject Christianity as something 'alien'; others, because Christ was a Jew, and German people can learn nothing from a Jew. A third party sees a very special divine miracle in his being a Jew... But the Stürmer will now explain the matter in a way which will finally open the eyes of all men." As Streicher argued, Jesus was in fact not a Jew. The Nordic peoples had accepted Christianity; therefore Christ's teaching was in accordance with Nordic blood, not Jewish"
— The Holy Reich, pg. 217
(left) A German Teutonic Knight, Saint Georg, the first German Christian Knight, 303 AD, (right) Saint Georg pictured in an NSDAP pamphlet, 1936
Ribbentrop was escorted up the 13 steps of the gallows and asked if he had any final words. He said: "God protect Germany. God have mercy on my soul. My final wish is that Germany should recover her unity and that, for the sake of peace, there should be understanding between East and West. I wish peace to the world."
Alfred Rosenberg exclaimed, "Odin is dead!". And Hitler himself declared that the future "must not take the form of a revival of the worship of Wotan." Baldur von Schirach, leader of the Hitler Youth, assured German parents that "it is my purpose neither to re-erect in the forests of Germany heathen altars and introduce our youth to any kind of Wotan's cult, nor in any way to hand over young Germany to the magical altars of the herb-apostles..."
From: Odinism: Present, Past, and Future, by Osred. (Page 192)
From: Odinism: Present, Past, and Future, by Osred. (Page 192)
“The saying holds true: “Whom God gives an office, he also gives reason". When he has achieved what he wants, he assumes a shiny exterior. The man gifted with leadership quality, however, prays to God for the strength to fulfill his duty well and loyally - and to remain modest!”
— The Official SS Leadership Guide
— The Official SS Leadership Guide
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