Hitler's Millennial Reich: Apocalyptic Belief and the Search for Salvation

272 Pages·2005·1.03 MB·English

by  David Redles

Hitler’s Millennial Reich

Hitler’s
Millennial Reich
Apocalyptic Belief and
the Search for Salvation
David Redles
a
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
Grateful acknowledgment is made for all quotations taken from the
following:
From Mein Kampby Adolf Hitler, translated by Ralph Manheim.
Copyright © 1943, renewed 1971 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights
reserved.
From Hitler: Memoirs of a Confidantby Otto Wagener, edited by
Henry Ashby Turner, translated by Ruth Hein. Copyright © 1985. By
permission of Yale University Press.
new york university press
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
© 2005 by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Redles, David.
Hitler’s millennial Reich : apocalyptic belief
and the search for salvation / David Redles.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN–10: 0–8147–7524–1 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN–13: 978–0–8147–7524–0
1. Germany—Civilization—20th century. 2. Millenialism—
Germany—History—20th century. 3. Hitler, Adolf, 1889–1945—
Public opinion. 4. National socialism—Public opinion. I. Title.
DD256.5.R382 2005
943.086—dc22 2005009275
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Eileen,
a shining light for one whose study
too often takes him into darkness.

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Nazism, Myth, and Meaning 1
1 A World Turned Upside Down:
Weimar Chaos and the Culture of Apocalypse 14
2 The Turning Point:
Racial Apocalypse or Racial Salvation 46
3 Seeing the Light:
The Nazi Conversion Experience 77
4 Hitler as Messiah 108
5 The Messiah Legitimated:
Linking the Leader and the Led 135
6 Final Empire, Final War, Final Solution 160
Appendix:
The Hitler Gospels and Old Guard Testimonials:
Reconstructing a Mythical World 191
Notes 203
Index 255
About the Author 261
vii

Acknowledgments
Writing a book is a strange mixture of exhilaration and frustration.
While there were times over the years when various obstacles appeared
tooverwhelmme,thereweremanyfriendsandcolleagueswhoseadvice
andgenerositykeptmegoing,includingShawnEasley,JonLee,andJoel
Tishkin. I would like to thank especially Richard Landes, of the Center
forMillennialStudiesatBostonUniversity,whosebeliefinmyworkwas
manifestedinmanytangibleandintangibleways,includingasmallgrant
that helped in the completion of this work. Thanks as well to the CMS
staff, Beth Forrest and David Kessler, who always made my trips to
Boston a pleasure. I spoke at a number of Center-sponsored events, in-
cludingaseriesofannualconferencesonallthingsmillennial,aswellas
a symposium on the Holocaust as Millennial Moment. I would like to
thankthemanyscholarsandattendeesfortheirsupportandcriticism,in-
cluding,butcertainlynotlimitedto,ChipBerlet,DavidCook,Gershom
Gorenberg, Andrew Gow, Robert Jay Lifton, Charles Strozier, and
RobertWistrich.
Otherswhoinvitedmetotheircollegestospeakandtofurtherrefine
my work include Howard Solomon, at Tufts University; Paul Elovitz, at
Ramapo College; and Juanita Luna-Lawhn and Laurie Lopez Coleman,
atSanAntonioCollege.Thankyou.
I would be remiss if I did not make a special thanks to my mentor at
Pennsylvania State University, Jackson Spielvogel, whose advice and
friendshipearlyinmycareergotmestartedonthispath.Iwouldalsolike
tothankthelateGeorgeMosse,notonlyforthebodyofhiswork,which
continues to inspire me, but also for his kind words of encouragement
whenwemetattheU.S.HolocaustMemorialMuseumsomeyearsago.
Toooftenforgottenarethemanylibrariansandinterlibraryloanstaff
who help scholars such as myself find often obscure materials. Thank
ix