# Adolf Hitler and National Socialism



## W.C. Dean (Feb 12, 2020)

I've mentioned this here and there in passing I think, but I've never openly discussed this at length. The Lord delivered me out of a cult, namely (as you probably guessed by the title of this piece) National Socialism, known more famously as Naziism. I am personally unsure on whether or not the Lord converted me to him for the first time when I left NatSoc ideology, or if it was a time of deep backsliding and enmity with God that he delivered me out of. Either way the Lord saved me and I strive to live everyday for the glory of God. I want to provide you all with insight into the mindset of someone engrossed in this ideology. I will start out by saying there is no monolithic National Socialist set of doctrines, and you'll find even the original German political leaders differed on issues. In the grand scheme of things I was in some regards moderate. I never felt like I hated other races or ethnic groups just because they were different, and as far as I remembered I never denied the Holocaust, although I did believe the Soviets and Allies exaggerated much of what happened. Nevertheless, there is much hatred deep-rooted in the ideology. Many do hate Jewish people in general, and I also held a suspicion of Jewish political leaders, and their influence in the rise of atheism and communism. If I remember correctly I felt quite a bit of hatred for basically any other political view, and usually quite a bit of hatred was directed at those who advocated those views. That is one of the things that became a gateway out of the religion, particularly because I think I remember being conscious of violent, hateful things I wished for American political leaders. One interesting thing to note is that really is no shame involved. No embarrassment, or desire to hide any Nazi views. I talked about them all the time, and everyone that I knew, knew how I felt about politics, and my sympathetic defences of Hitler and his party. 

One of the things that may be of interest to those perhaps attempting to help people out of this ideology is that I personally had an incredibly negative view of modern white supremacists who pretend to be Nazis, a.k.a. Skinheads. I still don't understand why they needed to shave their heads, all the original Nazis had hair. Anyway, think about it like your view of Catholics, or extreme charismatics, they might share some minor similarities, or appear just like you to the outside world, but in reality you have entirely different views and goals. They ruined the image of true National Socialism, basically. Dealing with true National Socialists is very different from dealing with racists. National Socialism* is certainly a religion*. It is all I could think about, talk about, write about (figuratively). It affected my outlook on everything. All of life was governed by National Socialism. It is so much more than a political ideology. I don't consider Mussolini's fascism a religion. It certainly affects your views on civil government and culture, but your mind is transformed by National Socialism. At least, mine was. I imagine how I felt about it is how it affected the young men and women enamored with Hitler in the Hitlerjunge. I do believe there was something (and still is) supernaturally evil about Hitler and the Nazis. It goes beyond a cult of personality. When listening to Hitler's speeches (or other German leaders from that period) there was something so arousing about them. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but it was always so emotional. Exciting, empowering. I can't explain how it feels. I actually feel that if I listened to one of his speeches now I would still feel some of those emotions. I believe that many German people, especially the youth, were so enamored by his speaking, and from what I've read and heard, when he ended his own life (I never, and still don't, believe he survived and escaped to anywhere) it seemed like an air of power had been lifted off of the state. I think I remember hearing stories of Hitler Youth members seemingly becoming overwhelmed with what they had done and believed almost as soon as Hitler killed himself. Once again it's a strange thing to try to explain, but trust me when I tell you National Socialism is truly more than just political views. From what I remember there are those who seem to believe that if you leave the views behind you never really truly believed in them. It's odd, and frightening. Sadly after all this I really have no advice on how to evangelize to Nazis. I never felt I had to give up Christianity if I remember correctly (please forgive for using this term so often, I really don't want to misrepresent anything, and it's hard me to remember my emotions from over a year ago) but Christ certainly took a backseat to the ideology. When you're involved in it you hear Hitler as if God himself is audibly speaking to you, you sing their hymns with a earnest longing for what they espouse. The national hymn of the Third Reich declares millions will one day look to the swastika full of hope. There is also a lone wolf kind of experience. I don't remember feeling discouraged by being alone in my convictions. I believe Goebbels or someone of the sort had stated something along the lines of, even if one man holds the flag (and holds to their ideology), the dream will live forever. Even being the last National Socialist on earth is an achievement. I doubt any man's urging would've stopped me. Perhaps it would've encouraged me instead. God had to truly open my eyes. The best thing to do for those wrapped up in this cult is to pray. I hope this was somehow helpful to some of you. I may not be the most technical expert on the subject (although I did leave out quite a bit of intellectual matters relating to National Socialism), but perhaps you've never gotten a glimpse into someone who once lived inside of it.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Pergamum (Feb 12, 2020)

I believe Hitler had demonic forces helping him. He could speak well, for sure. And all those snappy uniforms are a plus. 

The best cure for NatSoc or Aryan Nations, etc, is to be amongst those who espouse that view - I've known a couple and they were anything but "Master Race" material. Having all of your teeth and reading past the 3rd grade might be a good start to becoming the Master Race.

Reactions: Like 1 | Love 1


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## W.C. Dean (Feb 12, 2020)

Pergamum said:


> I believe Hitler had demonic forces helping him. He could speak well, for sure. And all those snappy uniforms are a plus.
> 
> The best cure for NatSoc or Aryan Nations, etc, is to be amongst those who espouse that view - I've known a couple and they were anything but "Master Race" material. Having all of your teeth and reading past the 3rd grade might be a good start to becoming the Master Race.



I don't believe I was ever a white supremacist. I think I thought Heinrich Himmler's theory of Nordic godlike supremacy was ridiculous, which is actually something Goebbels believed too. Guess it was a form of kinism or something. Ethnic nationalism. Every ethnic group has their own nation for them. I was encouraged back then by non-white National Socialists too, especially northern Asian NatSocs, like from Mongolia.


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## jwright82 (Feb 12, 2020)

W.C. Dean said:


> I've mentioned this here and there in passing I think, but I've never openly discussed this at length. The Lord delivered me out of a cult, namely (as you probably guessed by the title of this piece) National Socialism, known more famously as Naziism. I am personally unsure on whether or not the Lord converted me to him for the first time when I left NatSoc ideology, or if it was a time of deep backsliding and enmity with God that he delivered me out of. Either way the Lord saved me and I strive to live everyday for the glory of God. I want to provide you all with insight into the mindset of someone engrossed in this ideology. I will start out by saying there is no monolithic National Socialist set of doctrines, and you'll find even the original German political leaders differed on issues. In the grand scheme of things I was in some regards moderate. I never felt like I hated other races or ethnic groups just because they were different, and as far as I remembered I never denied the Holocaust, although I did believe the Soviets and Allies exaggerated much of what happened. Nevertheless, there is much hatred deep-rooted in the ideology. Many do hate Jewish people in general, and I also held a suspicion of Jewish political leaders, and their influence in the rise of atheism and communism. If I remember correctly I felt quite a bit of hatred for basically any other political view, and usually quite a bit of hatred was directed at those who advocated those views. That is one of the things that became a gateway out of the religion, particularly because I think I remember being conscious of violent, hateful things I wished for American political leaders. One interesting thing to note is that really is no shame involved. No embarrassment, or desire to hide any Nazi views. I talked about them all the time, and everyone that I knew, knew how I felt about politics, and my sympathetic defences of Hitler and his party.
> 
> One of the things that may be of interest to those perhaps attempting to help people out of this ideology is that I personally had an incredibly negative view of modern white supremacists who pretend to be Nazis, a.k.a. Skinheads. I still don't understand why they needed to shave their heads, all the original Nazis had hair. Anyway, think about it like your view of Catholics, or extreme charismatics, they might share some minor similarities, or appear just like you to the outside world, but in reality you have entirely different views and goals. They ruined the image of true National Socialism, basically. Dealing with true National Socialists is very different from dealing with racists. National Socialism* is certainly a religion*. It is all I could think about, talk about, write about (figuratively). It affected my outlook on everything. All of life was governed by National Socialism. It is so much more than a political ideology. I don't consider Mussolini's fascism a religion. It certainly affects your views on civil government and culture, but your mind is transformed by National Socialism. At least, mine was. I imagine how I felt about it is how it affected the young men and women enamored with Hitler in the Hitlerjunge. I do believe there was something (and still is) supernaturally evil about Hitler and the Nazis. It goes beyond a cult of personality. When listening to Hitler's speeches (or other German leaders from that period) there was something so arousing about them. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but it was always so emotional. Exciting, empowering. I can't explain how it feels. I actually feel that if I listened to one of his speeches now I would still feel some of those emotions. I believe that many German people, especially the youth, were so enamored by his speaking, and from what I've read and heard, when he ended his own life (I never, and still don't, believe he survived and escaped to anywhere) it seemed like an air of power had been lifted off of the state. I think I remember hearing stories of Hitler Youth members seemingly becoming overwhelmed with what they had done and believed almost as soon as Hitler killed himself. Once again it's a strange thing to try to explain, but trust me when I tell you National Socialism is truly more than just political views. From what I remember there are those who seem to believe that if you leave the views behind you never really truly believed in them. It's odd, and frightening. Sadly after all this I really have no advice on how to evangelize to Nazis. I never felt I had to give up Christianity if I remember correctly (please forgive for using this term so often, I really don't want to misrepresent anything, and it's hard me to remember my emotions from over a year ago) but Christ certainly took a backseat to the ideology. When you're involved in it you hear Hitler as if God himself is audibly speaking to you, you sing their hymns with a earnest longing for what they espouse. The national hymn of the Third Reich declares millions will one day look to the swastika full of hope. There is also a lone wolf kind of experience. I don't remember feeling discouraged by being alone in my convictions. I believe Goebbels or someone of the sort had stated something along the lines of, even if one man holds the flag (and holds to their ideology), the dream will live forever. Even being the last National Socialist on earth is an achievement. I doubt any man's urging would've stopped me. Perhaps it would've encouraged me instead. God had to truly open my eyes. The best thing to do for those wrapped up in this cult is to pray. I hope this was somehow helpful to some of you. I may not be the most technical expert on the subject (although I did leave out quite a bit of intellectual matters relating to National Socialism), but perhaps you've never gotten a glimpse into someone who once lived inside of it.


Thank you for sharing that, I'm glad you made it out of that cult. Praise God! But politics can be a religion too, read James K.A. Smith on this.


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## Edward (Feb 12, 2020)

The Nazis didn't start killing folks until Hitler sold out to what we would now call the Deep State - the industrialists. 



W.C. Dean said:


> I never denied the Holocaust



None of the Neo-Nazis I knew in college were holocaust deniers in private.


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## Pergamum (Feb 12, 2020)

W.C. Dean said:


> I don't believe I was ever a white supremacist. I think I thought Heinrich Himmler's theory of Nordic godlike supremacy was ridiculous, which is actually something Goebbels believed too. Guess it was a form of kinism or something. Ethnic nationalism. Every ethnic group has their own nation for them. I was encouraged back then by non-white National Socialists too, especially northern Asian NatSocs, like from Mongolia.



I don't see anything wrong with ethnic nationalism. The use of the word ethne in Scripture seems to assume that nations will be ethnically homogenous groups of people. But George Soros tells us that is not so, and so desires to flood the European nations with Third World immigrants. But nobody ever complains about the lack of diversity in Uganda; they only target the white nations for diversity.

Reactions: Love 1 | Amen 1


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## Edward (Feb 12, 2020)

Pergamum said:


> But nobody ever complains about the lack of diversity in Uganda



Ah, yes. Idi Amin and his designation of the Adolf Hitler National Forest in that country back in the early-mid 70s. (Or was it the Adolf Hitler Memorial Forest - difficult to find via Google these days.)


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## Pergamum (Feb 12, 2020)

Edward said:


> Ah, yes. Idi Amin and his designation of the Adolf Hitler National Forest in that country back in the early-mid 70s. (Or was it the Adolf Hitler Memorial Forest - difficult to find via Google these days.)



That is ironic that folks dubbed as Untermenschen would honor a person who would have put them on a lower rung if they had won. Of course Idi Amin killed more Africans than Hitler ever did...

Reactions: Like 1


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## ZackF (Feb 14, 2020)

This just goes to show you can't write anyone off. Whatever system we find individuals in cannot distract us from how God sovereignly calls the elect from all people. PTL for your testimony.


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## Pergamum (Feb 14, 2020)

The Germans had snappy uniforms and their propaganda was quite good.


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## ZackF (Feb 14, 2020)

Pergamum said:


> The Germans had snappy uniforms and their propaganda was quite good.


I think you mean their propaganda was quite effective.


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## Pergamum (Feb 14, 2020)

ZackF said:


> I think you mean their propaganda was quite effective.



Good=effective. A poison is also "good" if it does the job.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Susan777 (Feb 15, 2020)

I’m curious about what initially attracted you to the movement, especially as you did not seem to have any racial animus.


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## W.C. Dean (Feb 15, 2020)

Susan777 said:


> I’m curious about what initially attracted you to the movement, especially as you did not seem to have any racial animus.



I don't remember exactly. Propaganda I suppose. I studied their soldiers and whatnot and the study of the external led to a fascination with the internal.


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## Ed Walsh (Feb 15, 2020)

W.C. Dean said:


> I've mentioned this here and there in passing I think, but I've never openly discussed this at length. The Lord delivered me out of a cult, namely (as you probably guessed by the title of this piece) National Socialism, known more famously as Naziism.



Wow! What a story. Thanks so much for sharing this. Really.

I have similar fears for so-called Democratic Socialism. If that gets off the launch pad the "Democratic" part will soon disappear.


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## Edward (Feb 15, 2020)

Pergamum said:


> The Germans had snappy uniforms



Hugo Boss still puts out nice looking suits. Just a bit rich for my bank account.


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