Georgy Vermishev

Religion in the Third Reich Youth Propaganda

Georgy Vermishev - PhD Student, Faculty of Philosophy and Religious Studies, St. Petersburg State University (Russia). floi@inbox.ru

The article explores the place of religion in the public propaganda of the Third Reich, with a special emphasis on youth policy in the 1930s. It shows that the Nazi attitudes towards religious institutions remained highly ambiguous. On the one hand, they sought to create a new mytho-ritual system based on traditional Germanic beliefs. On the other hand, the state sought legitimation from Christian institutions, as illustrated by the Concordat with the Roman Catholic Church and the establishment of the "National Reich Church" for the Protestants. In addition, the article shows that the formation of the Nazi ideology was not only the consequence of the social and political crisis of the Weimar Republic, but also resulted from the crisis of the secular culture.

Keywords: Third Reich, Nazism, ideology, church-state relations, youth policy.

Turning to the question of the place of religion in the system of political propaganda, we inevitably face the problem of political mythology, which is not solved yet.

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it is difficult to continue researching 1. Modern researchers of this phenomenon recognize that a political myth may well be considered a type of ideological influence, and therefore be the content of propaganda.2
It is the political myth that is the subject of our research. The place of religion in the political myth of Nazi Germany was determined by two key factors. Unlike Italy, Germany did not have a single church that could be easily negotiated with. Therefore, when constructing a new model of national identity, the Nazis had to appeal to the Old German period of their history. However, in order to retain power, the leadership of the Third Reich had to reckon with the Catholic and Protestant churches. This has also resulted in the controversial nature of the youth policy, which we will base our materials on.

The first serious works on the problem of political mythology date back to the beginning of the XX century, when the new global ideologies of fascism and communism were just emerging. Already G. Le Bon draws attention to the irrationality of the crowd's perception of ideologemes imposed by the political elite and the similarity of the formation of such collective representations with myth-making.3 In fact, it is Le Bon who introduces the concept of "crowds" or "masses" into scientific use, which X will then work out in detail. Ortega y Gasset 4. The next important step was taken by J. R. R. Tolkien. Sorel, who explicitly called the collective representations of the crowd myths (though "social")5. A classic in the study of political mythology can be considered E. Kassirer, who studied it on the living example of European fascism6. The researcher emphasized the irrational nature of the Nazi myth and the magical role of the leader.

1. For more information on the development of the concept of political myth in Western historiography, see: Goncharik A. A. Ponyatie mifa i ego primenenie v issledovaniyakh politiki [The concept of Myth and its application in policy research]. Politicheskaya nauka, Moscow: INION, 2009 - N4: Idei i simvoly v politike: Metodologicheskie problemy i sovremennye issledovaniya, pp. 79-87.

2. Flood K. Politicheskiy mif [Political Myth], Moscow: Progress-traditsiya, 2004, pp. 40-41.

3. Le Bon G. Psychology of Peoples and Masses, Moscow: Academic Project, 2011.

4. Ortega y Gasset X Vosstanie massov [Uprising of the Masses], Moscow: ACT, 2008.

5. Sorel Zh. Reflections on Violence, Moscow: Krasand Publ., 2011.

6. Cassirer E. (2008) The Myth of the State. New Haven: Yale University Press; Cassirer, E. (1995) Symbol, Technik, Sprache. Hamburg: FelixMeinerVerlag; Cassirer E. Technique

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a political myth (as opposed to an organic one) is constructed artificially; it reveals the connection of myth with political rituals. Cassirer emphasized that, unlike traditional despotisms, the myth in totalitarian states completely permeates all spheres of human activity-language, law, art, etc.

Serious progress in the study of political mythology has been observed since the second half of the 20th century, when scientists began to consider more stable democratic systems, in particular, the political system of the United States, as a subject. Here, too, we found our own political myths, but their research allowed us to talk about the share of rationality in the formation of a political myth. In particular, M. Edelman emphasizes that the myth is born due to the fact that the masses do not have time to think about each individual situation and it is easier to accept a ready-made template. By constantly repeating themselves, they represent themselves, shaping the agenda (often positive) and helping society interact with elites.7 For totalitarian societies, these modern approaches can only be partially applied. Indeed, in order to save time and energy, the masses are ready to accept ready-made templates, but it is hardly necessary to talk about any rationality or positive agenda here. On the contrary, fascism has purely irrational roots.8
The core of national socialist education can be considered the ideology of Blut und Boden ("Blood and soil")9. On the one hand, it proclaimed the purity of the Aryan race and its physical superiority. On the other hand, it showed an inner connection with the native land, its cultural traditions and ancient German cultural heritage. In addition, it became the basis for the development of the concept of expanding the living space-the concept of"total war". It was first formulated by General E. Ludendorff back in 1935,10 but was most clearly formulated in Goebbels ' speech

modern political myths//The phenomenon of man: An Anthology, Moscow: Vysshaya shkola Publ., 1993, pp. 108-123. 7-Edelman, M. (1967) "Myths, Metaphors and Political Conformity", Psychiatry 30 (3): 217-228.

8. Russell B. The origin of fascism. [http://www.gumer.info/bogoslov_ Buks/Philos/Rassel/pr_fash. php, accessed on 28.10.2013].

9- Darre, R. W. (1936) Blut und Boden, ein Grundgedanke des Nationalsozialismus. Berlin: Industrieverl. Spaeth & Linde.

10. See Ludendorff E. Conducting a total war.//Military zarubezhnik. N4- 1936.

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in the Sports Palace in 1943 11. In relation to the question of the relationship between the Nazi state and the German churches, the ideology of Blut und Boden led to the concept of "positive Christianity", which was first found in the program of the NSDAP in 192012. In the concept of "positive Christianity", racist ideas were linked to the Christian worldview. In particular, the Old Testament was rejected, Christ was declared an Aryan, and the interests of the nation, demagogically linked to the principle of love for one's neighbor, came first.13
This is not to say that these ideas were fundamentally new to German society. The racist theory of "blood" was born in the XIX century-oddly enough, in France, where it was actively developed by J. R. R. Tolkien. Gobineau; another of its ideologues was the Englishman H. S. Chamberlain. Representatives of the current" conservative revolution", formed after 1918,14 insisted on a" return to the roots". But the roots of German political mythology went even deeper: As shown by O. Y. Plenkov, it began to emerge in the era of the Napoleonic Wars, actively developed under the influence of the traumatic events of the First World War and acquired its final outlines during the years of the Weimar Republic. National Socialism also absorbed a significant part of these ideas and sentiments related to the ethnic and cultural fragmentation of the Germans. 15
A special role in the formation of Nazi ideology was played by the conservative movement Volkische Bewegung, which emerged at the end of the 19th century under the influence of occultists G. von List and J. L. von Liebenfels. It is for the "Felkische" that the appeal to the ancient Germanic culture as the core of the Aryan race is characteristic. And if the ideologues of fascist Italy built a new imperial identity on the basis of Christian values, then the Nazis had to appeal specifically to the Old German one.

11.J. Goebbels It's all-out war.

12. "The program of the NSDAP" (2003), in Stackelberg, R., Winkle, S.A. (eds) The Nazi Germany Sourcebook. An Anthology of Texts, pp. 64 - 65. London, New York: Routledge.

13. An example of this kind of reasoning is the work on the concept of "positive Christianity", written by the Berlin theologian K. Fabricius. See: Fabricius, C. (1937) Positive Christianity in the Third Reich. Dresden: H.Piischel.

14. Allenov S. G. "Conservative revolution" in Germany in the 1920s-early 1930s (Problems of interpretation)//The policy. N4-2003-pp. 94-107.

15-Plennov O. Y. Triumph of the Myth over Reason. St. Petersburg: Vladimir Dahl Publ., 2011, pp. 580-583.

16. For more information, see: Goodrick-Clark N. Occult roots of Nazism, Moscow: Eksmo, 2004.

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a culture romanticized by the representatives of "felkishe". The fundamental difference was that Italy was a confessional integral state, and its history allowed us to appeal to the Christian period of the Roman Empire. In Germany, this model did not work, and German ideologues had to take into account the fact that the Reformation split society into Protestants and Catholics. The Second Reich of 1871 was marked by the Kulturkampf policy, in which Bismarck was actively opposed by the Catholic Center Party. In addition, it did not include Austria-Hungary, whose main population was made up of Catholics. As for the Holy Roman Empire, it was also impossible to appeal to it, since in this case a significant emphasis would be placed on the Catholic tradition. In this situation, it was the Old German "Aryan" culture that seemed to be the ideologeme that could unite different groups of ethnic Germans.

But the basis for the formation of the Nazi political myth was not only the sense of disunity of the German ethnic group against the background of a deep socio-political crisis provoked by the First World War. The example of the works of Nazi ideologists clearly shows that the "triumph of myth over reason" was also provoked by the existential, ideological crisis in which European society found itself at the turn of the century17.

This is particularly evident in the example of one of the ideologues of Nazism-Reich Minister of Public Education and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. According to biographers, he was a "great cynic" who unprincipled lied to his people, even when the days of the Reich were numbered. However, there was a huge gap between Goebbels ' life before and after joining the Nazi Party, as pointed out by the researcher of Nazi propaganda R. Hertzstein.18 Goebbels is described by Hertzstein 19 as an ardent romantic and a failure who sought in vain to apply his idealism. Goebbels ' father was a staunch Catholic and wanted his son to become a Catholic priest. All the more interesting is the content of the novel "Michael", mostly written by Goebbels back in 1921, before the connection

17. Spengler O. Zakat Evropy [The Decline of Europe], Moscow: Mysl', 1993.

18. Hertzstein R. The War that Hitler won. Smolensk: Rusich Publ., 1996. pp. 12-8o. 19-Ibid. pp. 49-50.

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with the Nazis. This text reflects the typical disillusionment with the institution of the Church at that time:

Today's young people are not against God, they are against His cowardly confessional servants, who only want to do profitable business with Him in everything.20
At the same time, the existential loss that is so characteristic of this era is obvious:

We have lost our personal connection with God. We are neither cold nor hot. Half Christian, half idolater. ... A people without religion is like a man without breath. Confessionalism is out of order. Dropped out completely. He is no longer in charge of the front, but has long since been pushed to the rear. From there, he terrorizes with all his contempt any formation of a new religious will. Millions are waiting for it, and their desire remains unfulfilled. Isn't our time ripe? I wish I could believe that. One day we too will wake up to religious greatness 21.

Unsurprisingly, the" early " Goebbels largely follows Nietzsche (and Dostoevsky, whom he quotes admiringly) in his quest to return to the lost origins of Christianity, where God is not a transcendent being of the world, but the inner principle of the human spirit 22.

Tellingly, the" inner god " was also actively sought by the most ardent opponent of Christianity, Alfred Rosenberg. In full accordance with the formula of the Nazi political myth, he writes::

Today, a new faith is awakening, the myth of blood, the belief in the protection of the divine essence of people together with blood in general. The belief that Nordic blood is a sacrament that has replaced and defeated the old sacrament embodies light knowledge 23.

20. Goebbels, J. (1942) Michael. Ein deutsches Schicksal in Tagebuchblaettern, s. 19. Miinchen: Zentralverlag der NSDAP.

21. Ibid., s. 145.

22. Evlampiev I. I. "Worldly" religiosity of the Russian Orthodox Church. Dostoevsky and F. Nietzsche// Questions of philosophy. 2013. N7. pp. 121-132.

23- Rosenberg, А. (1939) Der Mythus des 20. Jahrhunderts, s. 114. Miinchen: Hoheneichen-Verlag.

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Hitler was less sentimental, at least officially. In Mein Kampf, he also expresses dissatisfaction with religious institutions, but this is more of an outrage about the social role of the church. Above all, Hitler wanted the church to stand up for national interests, and he saw greater potential in Protestantism. Nevertheless, he stressed that both religious leaders should not interfere in political affairs, and politicians should not interfere in the affairs of the church.24 In practice, of course, this principle was not observed. Even in Mein Kampf, Hitler makes it clear that a unified Christian church would be optimal for Germany.25
It is important to note that in his book he never speaks negatively about Christianity and, on the contrary, even criticizes the "Kulturkampf". Despite this, attempts are still being made to portray Hitler as the "Antichrist", who considered it necessary to eradicate Christianity, replacing it with a renewed Old German religion. As a rule, Russian researchers of church-state relations in the Third Reich refer to the memoirs of Hermann Rauschning , a Nazi associate who fled to the United States in 1939. In the late 1980s, the German researcher W. Hahnel showed that most of the high-profile statements attributed to Hitler in his books are fake.26 Also, numerous testimonies about the occult roots of Nazism cannot be considered reliable.27 Of course, the Thule 28 Society played a significant role in the formation of the Nazi Party.

24. Hitler, А. (1936) Mein Kampf, s.71 - 138. Miinchen: Zentralverlag der NSDAP.

25. Ibid.

26. Hanel, W. (1984) "Hermann Rauschning's 'Gesprache mit Hitler' - Eine Geschichtsfalschung", Zeitgeschichtliche Forschungsstelle Ingolstadt. Bd. 7.

27. Researcher H. T. Hackl discovers the first "historical evidence" about Hitler's occult hobbies back in the 30s, and they appeared among Christian esotericists. Even then, he was accused of participating in demonic rituals and practicing dark magic. However, the main body of pseudo-historical research appeared between 1960 and 1975. Among them are" Morning of Magicians " by Louis Povel and Jacques Bergier (The Morning of the Magicians), "Spear of Destiny" by Trevor Ravenscroft (The Spear of Destiny)," Occult Reich " by James Brennan (Occult Reich), etc.

28. The Thule Society (Thule-Gesellschaft) was established in 1918. Its ideology was based on the ideas of pan-Germanism, anti-Semitism and ariosophy. Germany was undergoing revolutionary events at that time, so the Thule Society functioned more as a political organization than as a purely occult one.

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it provided funding for the party, and in addition, many prominent Nazis were its members. However, as N. Goodrick-Clark has shown in his monograph, all information about Hitler's "mystical teachers" and his personal involvement in the Thule Society is fiction, and the significance of occult mysticism for Nazi leaders, especially for Hitler, is clearly exaggerated.29
Using the example of the central text of national socialism, Mein Kampf, we can see the main contradiction characteristic of the German political myth: the romantic desire of revolutionaries to build a new religion based on ancient German beliefs and rituals comes into conflict with the purely utilitarian position of politicians seeking to preserve power, who are forced to reckon with church institutions. These trends are also fully reflected in the German youth policy.

The Nazi myth was broadcast through public events, the media, and-partly - through cinema (mostly documentary, to a lesser extent entertainment).30. But the main focus of the leadership of the Third Reich was on education. Hitler spoke directly: "I will start my educational work with young people. There's nothing you can do about old people anymore. " 31
By the time the Nazis came to power, religious education was an integral part of the German educational system, and under the Concordat of 1933, Germany even pledged to expand the field of activity of Catholic pastors in the educational system (articles 19-25).32 However, beginning in 1935, the Church was gradually removed from the educational process. The participation of students in religious services has ceased to be mandatory, questions on religion have been removed from final exam tickets, and religious lessons have practically disappeared from school curricula. They were replaced by new items,

29. Goodrick-Clark N. Occult roots of Nazism.

30. For more information, see: Kormilitsyna E. G. Joseph Goebbels. Osobennosti nazistskogo prara [Features of Nazi PR], Moscow: OLMA Media Group, 2011; Vasilchenko A.V. Proektor doktor Goebbels. Cinematography of the Third Reich, Moscow: Veche Publ., 2010.

31. Hitler, А. (1936) Mein Kampf, s.492 - 504- Miinchen: Zentralverlag der NSDAP.

32. Reichskonkordat: full text (English translation) [http://ww2db.com/d0c. php? q=466, accessed on 28.10.2013].

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introduced into the school curriculum by the National Socialists-a racial teaching or "worldview" 33.

Students ' free time was strictly controlled. Having appreciated the Italian experience of political socialization in Opera Nazionale Balilla34, the Nazis are simultaneously developing their own youth policy. The first youth organizations were formed in 1922, and by 1926 a single official one was formed - the Hitler Youth. However, when Hitler came to power, the Nazi leadership faced a problem: the Catholic youth unions at that time had about 1 million members, and the Evangelical Youth 35 had about 600 thousand more members. Both were serious competitors to the Hitler Youth.

The problem of Protestant youth unions was quickly resolved; Ludwig Muller, the head of the newly formed "united" "Imperial Church" and an ardent Nazi who saw Hitler as a messenger of God, issued a decree at the end of 1933 to include them in the Hitler Youth. 36 Here it is worth mentioning that not all Lutherans became puppets of the regime, so they were not allowed to become part of the there can be no question of "unity". Thus, the Confessing Church declared its autonomy from the Nazi state in 1934.37 However, she could not save any youth organizations. But the Imperial Church actively used its youth cells to broadcast political myths. So, for example, at the end of March 1933

33.J. Mosse Nazism and culture. Ideology and Culture of National Socialism, Moscow: Tsentrpoligraf Publ., 2010, pp. 294~301

34. Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB) - a youth organization of Italian fascists, created in 1926 on the basis of the "Avangard" - the youth wing of the blackshirts. ONB attached great importance to sports and patriotic training, but it also provided religious education for children by Catholic priests (chaplains). By 1937, in order to fully control all youth activities, the ONB was transformed into the paramilitary organization "Italian Lictor Youth".

35. Klоnne, А. (1998) Jugend in der deutschen Gesellschaft von igoo bis in die Filnfziger Jahre. Bewegung, Formierung, Abweichung. Zur Geschichte der Jugend in Deutschland uon der Weimarer Republik bis zum Ende des "Dritten Reiches", s. 8 - 9. Hagen; Klonne, A. (1995) Jugend im Dritten Reich, s. 34. Miinchen: Piper.

36. Riedel, H. (1976) Kampfum die Jugend. Evangelische Jugendarbeit 1933 - 1945, s. 315. Miinchen: Claudius.

37. Bart K. Barmen declaration // Socio-political dimension of Christianity: Selected theological texts of the XX century. (Translations), Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1994, pp. 54-65-

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under its control, the Evangelical Youth of Germany issued a proclamation with the following content::

A new hour of German history has struck! With difficulty, Germany was once again pulled back from the abyss of Bolshevism. <...> The God-pleasing foundations of the Motherland, the people and the state are being rediscovered. < ... > At this hour, the evangelical youth of Germany should know that its leadership will say a joyful "Yes!" to the national Socialist action. The realization that the vital foundations of the entire nation are being renewed convinces us that in this hour the vital forces of evangelism will bring the only salvation and renewal from decay and fall under Divine guidance and providence. The Lord will destroy the corruption and disintegration of customs, professions, families, and the state 38.

Unlike evangelicals, Catholic youth generally distanced themselves from national socialism, although they supported the mythologem of a "strong national state". It was the Catholic youth that inspired fear in National Socialism, since through a strictly hierarchical episcopate they were better protected from unification and merging with the Hitler Youth. Thanks to the Concordat of 1933, they still managed to maintain a formally independent status for quite a long time and lasted until 193839. However, during all this time, the activities of Catholic youth were constantly attacked and restricted, and participants in the movement were required to spend a lot of time in the Hitler Youth.

It has already been noted that a significant part of the German educational program was occupied by racial theory. But in addition to the "blood" (Blut), German youth also had to know their "soil" (Boden) well - that is, understand German culture and history. A huge role in education was played by the culture of ancient Germany, which the Nazis tried to breathe new life into 40. So, already in the lower grades, German children were introduced to the ancient German epic, its gods and heroes

38.Cit. By: Vasilchenko A.V. Istoriya hitleryugenda [History of the Hitler Youth], Moscow, 2010.

39. Briegel, А. (1994) Der Widerstand der katholischen Jugend im Nationalsozialismus. Wiirzburg.

40. Brovko L. N. Christianity and national socialism. Ideological break// Transitional epochs in the social dimension: History and Modernity, Moscow: Nauka Publ., 2003, pp. 351-377-

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("Song of the Nibelungenlied", "Beowulf")41. The direct symbol of the Hitler Youth movement was the Sowelu rune - "The Great Rune of Victory"42. On the other hand, young people were actively involved in a ritual system based on ancient German culture. The summer and winter solstice holidays have appeared. Traditional Christian holidays were Germanized. Instead of Trinity, it was proposed to celebrate the" High May Festival "(Maifeiertag), and instead of Christmas-the"Rising Light Festival" (Wintersonnenwende). One of the German propaganda articles of 1939 explains that a real German should never give up the celebration of Christmas, but he should deepen and enrich it through the celebration of the winter solstice. Directly Christmas is offered to spend in a family circle, praising Hitler and motherhood. However, there is no description of any Christian content of the holiday 43. However, the renaming did not find much support among the population. In particular, P. Neumann in his memoirs tells how in 1938, as students of the elite school of NAPLES, they celebrated Christmas, decorated the tree and sang Heilige Nacht44.

Much more enthusiastic among the young men (including Neumann 45) was the rite of confirmation, which was now being carried out as part of the work of the Hitler Youth. It turned into a kind of chivalrous sacred act, when at night, by torchlight, after a short sermon on purity of intentions, courage and love for the motherland, boys from the Jungfolk (junior branch of the Hitler Youth) were handed uniform daggers. Participants in the ritual swore an oath of loyalty to the leader and joined the ranks of the Hitler Youth proper. 46 Tellingly, the Nazis were in no hurry to exclude the figure of God from their rites, but they filled the ceremony with new content. Here is the text of the speech during the initiation offered by a group of party leaders under the leadership of

41. Kormilitsyn S. V. Molodezhnaya politika Tretii rekha [Youth Policy of the Third Reich], 1933-1941-SPb, 2000, p. 97.

42. Ibid., p. 8o.

43. Beilstein, W. (1939) "Wie wir Weihnachten feiern",Lichtfeier. Sinn. Geschichte, Brauch und Feier der deutschen Weihnacht, s. 327 - 328. Munich: Deutscher Volksverlag.

44. Neuman P. The Black March. Memoirs of an SS officer, 1938-1945-Moscow: Tsentrpoligraf, 2012. p. 56.

45. Ibid., pp. 6-14.

46. Kormilitsyn S. V. Molodezhnaya politika Tretii rekha [Youth Policy of the Third Reich], 1933-1941, pp. 130-131.

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chaired by the head of the German Labor Front, Robert Ley (these initiatives were implemented only experimentally):

You cannot be strong without a living faith in God throughout your life. But it must be faith that leads you to serve God not through words, but through deeds. It must be a faith that makes you see yourself as a divine instrument, called to serve order, justice, and life itself through work, struggle, and the creation of a new life. You should never feel like servants or slaves of the Lord, you are his soldiers!47

The girls also had their own tasks. The slogan Kinder, Kiiche und Kirche ("children, kitchen, church") became the basis of the German wife's upbringing. However, it should not be associated with the promotion of religion or piety. Hitler borrowed this idiom from Kaiser Wilhelm II only to the extent that it perfectly formulated the conservative principles that a worthy frau should follow. 48 Women were restricted access to higher education, but motherhood and farming were encouraged. In 1936, a special "Bride School" was even created for girls, where they took the "young wife course".

The figure of the Christian God did not immediately disappear from the ideological lexicon of the educational system. In schools, for example, prayers are preserved. However, their content has been adjusted. Turning to God, the schoolchildren asked him in an organized chorus: "Give us work and bread", "Save Hindenburg and Hitler, the firm support of our people", "Mercifully save the Imperial President, carry our leader in Your hands", etc. Later such prayers were sent directly to Hitler.

Strictly speaking, the cult of the Fuhrer is the most complex phenomenon from the point of view of religious studies. Can the worship of the leader be considered religious? In a 1934 school dictation, Hitler is directly compared to the figure of Christ:

47. "Jugendfeier - Lebenswende der Jugend" (1939), Der Hoheitstrager 1: 23 - 28.

48. Paletschek, S. (2001) "Kinder- Kiiche- Kirche", Etienne Francois (Hrsg.) Deutsche Erinnerungsorte, s.419 - 433. Miinchen: Beck, Bd. 2.

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Just as Jesus freed people from sin and hell, so Hitler saved the German people from destruction. Jesus and Hitler were persecuted, but while Jesus was crucified, Hitler was elevated to chancellor. While Jesus ' disciples left him in the lurch, denying him, 16 comrades fell for Hitler. The apostles have finished their master's work, and we hope that Hitler will finish it himself. Jesus built for heaven, Hitler for the German land 49.

And Professor of theology Ernst Bergmann, 50 who published 25 theses on the relation of national Socialism to religion in 1934, explicitly stated that Hitler was "the new messiah sent to earth to save the world from the Jews." 51 J. Mosse gives the following example of the morning prayer for children, which is common in Cologne:

Fuhrer, my Fuhrer, you are a godsend to me, so protect and protect me as long as I live! I thank you for your daily bread, who saved Germany from incalculable troubles! Stay with me always and do not leave me, Fuhrer, my Fuhrer, you are my faith and light! Heil, my Fuhrer! 52

Based on the available materials, we can at least unambiguously speak about attempts to establish among young people ideas about the Fuhrer's God-giving (for example, similar to the emperor's cults in Ancient Rome).

In addition to the Fuhrer, national heroes-martyrs who fell in the struggle against the Communists-were almost religiously honored. First of all, this is the famous stormtrooper and poet Horst Wessel. Here, for example, is a passage from more like a prayer

49. Kormilitsyn S. V. Gitleryugend: politizatsiya germanskoi molodezhi [The Hitler Youth: the politicization of German youth]. Issue 1. St. Petersburg, 1997-p. 61.

50. Bergman, by the way, became one of the main ideologists of the new religiosity along with Rosenberg. He called for abandoning the outdated Christian worldview in favor of a Nordic religion, free from the dogmas of Christianity. For more information, see: Brovko L. N. The Church and the Third Reich. St. Petersburg: Alethea, 2009. pp. 106-107.

51. Kormilitsyn S. V. Stalin vs Hitler: poet vs artist. SPb.: Piter, 2008. p. 275.

52.J. Mosse Nazism and culture. Ideology and culture of National Socialism, pp. 285-286.

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a solemn speech delivered by Rudolf Hess on the occasion of the launching of the ship named after Wessel:

Horst Wessel died, but Horst Wessel became immortal. O ship, bear his immortal name across the seas... May the spirit of Horst Wessel fill the hearts of the boys who will become men serving under his flag 53.

In general, the struggle of Hitler and his associates for power began to be perceived as the time of heroes - as a legendary segment of history.

We see that the political myths of Nazi Germany use typically religious methods: the cult of heroes and ideas about the legendary time (illud tempus) are formed; the cult of the leader as the messiah is imposed; its own system of rituals is established. This new ideology grew not only out of the social problems associated with the defeat in the First World War, but also, in a broader sense, out of the existential crisis of the twentieth century. The political myth of the Nazis had a significant anti-Christian potential and was associated with archaic Germanic beliefs and traditions. However, having turned from theoretical ideologists into real politicians, the Nazis were forced to solve the more urgent problem of maintaining power in their hands. The vast majority of Germans remained Christians, and the Nazi leadership was bound by political agreements with the leadership of the Catholic Church (the Concordat of 1933) and with a large part of Protestants (in the form of the "National Imperial Church"). These contradictions were reflected in the youth policy, which was implemented through classical education and newly created ideological organizations (primarily the Hitler Youth). Until the last moment, in an attempt to preserve relations with the Vatican and maintain the illusion of unity of Protestant churches, the Nazis at the same time appealed to ancient German values and religious ideas as the basis of national identity.
53. Hess, R. (1938) Reden, s. 191 - 194- Munich: Zentralverlag der NSDAP.

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