Esoteric and occult societies and their role in creation of national – socialist identity

U diplomskom radu prikazuju se i obrađuju okultna i ezoterična društva te pojedinci koji su djelovali na području Austrije i Njemačke u drugoj polovici 19. stoljeća te u ranom 20. stoljeću. Buđenje nacionalizma u njemačkim i austrijskim građanskim krugovima nezadovoljnim realizacijom ujedinjenja Njemačke kojim je Austrija ostala izvan Drugog Reicha došlo je do pojave agresivnog pangermanizma i völkisch pokreta. Najistaknutije osobe koje su širile ideju o superiornosti arijevske rase, kroz svoje alternativne ezoterične ideje i duhovne pokrete te tako udarile temelje nacionalsocijalizmu bili su Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner, Guido von List, Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels, Rudolf von Sebottendorf, Julius Evola i Georg von Schönerer. U radu se pokazuje kako su njihovi duhovni pokreti poput teozofije, antropozofije, armanizma i ariozofije utjecali na nacističku ideologiju. Dodatno će se pokazati kako je okultno „ludilo“ nacista najbolje vidljivo u djelovanju organizacije Ahnenerbe kao dijela ozloglašene organizacije SS-a pod vodstvom glavnog zapovjednika njemačke policije Heinricha Himmlera u djelovanju nacističkog časnika i okultista Karla Marije Wiliguta te Lebensborn projektu.In the thesis, occult and esoteric societies are presented and discussed, as well as individuals who operated in Austria and Germany in the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century. The awakening of nationalism in German and Austrian bourgeois circles, dissatisfied with the realization of German unification, which left Austria outside of the Second Reich, led to the emergence of aggressive Pan-Germanism and the völkisch movement. The most prominent figures who spread the idea of the superiority of the Aryan race threatened by Judaism through their alternative esoteric ideas and spiritual movements, thus laying the foundations of National Socialism, were Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner, Guido von List, Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels, Rudolf von Sebottendorf, Julius Evola, and Georg von Schönerer. Their spiritual movements, such as Theosophy, Anthroposophy, Armanism, and Ariosophy, certainly influenced Nazi ideology. The occult madness of the Nazis is best evident in the organization of Ahnenerbe which was part of infamous SS led by chief of german police Heinrich Himmler, the actions of nazi officer and occultist Karl Maria Wiligut, and the Lebensborn project