The Hitler Avatar and His Masochistic Priestess

Summary: <p class="western">Everyone knows who the Nazis were and what the Nazis did. Many also know what they, at least Hitler, generally believed. But far fewer actually understand what animated the truest of the true believers who saw Hitler as their prophet and savior. Far fewer still understand that much of this philosophical animating force didn't even concern Germany or the Germanic people as they saw them.</p> <p class="western">So disgusted were they--at the occasional exasperation and even mockery of the Fuhrer himself--at the trajectory of European history in general and German history in particular that they searched far and wide for exotic, foreign justifications for the National Socialist mission. Evidence of this can be seen with some of these Nazi elites--folks like Alfred Rosenberg, the "Nazi philosopher" and of course Heinrich Himmler--but no better can this evidence of masochistic pride be seen in the figure cut by a one Savitri Devi.</p> <p class="western">This episode of History Impossible is, to put it bluntly, trying something a little bit different and even a bit out of your humble host's comfort zone. What began as a simple story about a true radical figure that we might call "the first neo-Nazi" has become something...different. Drawing upon a lot of the elements covered in Werewolves of the Fourth Reich and the Muslim Nazis series, this special episode of sorts seeks to really try and answer the question: what even was Nazism, from a philosophical perspective? Many of the conclusions are my own and by no means are they endorsed by any of the figures and writers I quote from, but I found them compelling--if still very oblique--conclusions and figured if I didn't put them out there here, where else would I? </p> <p class="western">This is all done through the lens of looking at the story of Maximiani Portas, a Greek-French woman who left Europe in her 20s to search for the source of the mythic Aryan people in India. There, animated by her hatred of the Jews in particular and the Judeo-Christian West in general, she converted to Hinduism, took up the name Savitri Devi, and began her crusade for the man she considered her avatar, a "Man Against Time", Adolf Hitler. While she became more well-known in the decades following the war, the philosophy of history to which she subscribed didn't come out of nowhere and didn't have its own connections to Nazi thought.</p> <p class="western">Through Devi, her work, and her twisted view of existence, it's possible that we can finally catch a better glimpse at some of the seemingly impossible forces that animated the greatest villains of the 20th century.</p> <p>History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon and PayPal:</p> <ul> <li>David Adamcik</li> <li>Elias Borota</li> <li>Bosco</li> <li>Johannes Breitsameter</li> <li>Will Caldwell</li> <li>Matthew Dakus</li> <li>Dennis de Lange</li> <li>Nathan Diehl</li> <li>Gavin Edwards</li> <li>Kevin Gony</li> <li>Nathan Grote</li> <li>Peter Hauck</li> <li>Devin Hreha</li> <li>Russell Johnson</li> <li>Mike Kalnins</li> <li>Benjamin Lee</li> <li>Trevor Lindborg</li> <li>Jose Martinez</li> <li>Mike Mayleben</li> <li>Pete McAloney</li> <li>Judy McCoid</li> <li>Monica</li> <li>Kostas Moros</li> <li>Ryan Mortenson</li> <li>Ben Mullen</li> <li>Molly Pan</li> <li>Jean Peters</li> <li>Edmund Plamowski</li> <li>PJ Rader</li> <li>Gleb Radutsky</li> <li>Jon Andre Saether</li> <li>Alison Salo</li> <li>Sam</li> <li>Emily Schmidt</li> <li>Julian Schmidt</li> <li>Cameron Smith</li> <li>Brian Steggeman</li> <li>Shane Taylor</li> <li>Jared Cole Temple</li> <li>Steve Uhler</li> <li>F. You</li> </ul>