Heinrich Himmler's Stash of Books on Witchcraft

Heinrich Himmler's stash of books on witchcraft is discovered in Czech library after being hidden for 50 years 

By Allan Hall In Berlin for MailOnline and Ben Tufft For Mailonline10:27 EST 18 Mar 2016, updated 18:40 EST 18 Mar 2016

German SS chief amassed a 13,000 volume library on the occult

Had warped belief mysticism was proof of Aryan racial superiority

Some books were part of the Norwegian order of Freemasons' library 

Heinrich Himmler, SS chief under Hitler, was obsessed with the occult and mysticism

A rare library of books on witches and the occult that was assembled by Nazi SS chief Heinrich Himmler in the war has been discovered in the Czech Republic.

Himmler was obsessed with the occult and mysticism, believing the hocus-pocus books held the key to Ayran supremacy in the world.

The books - part of a 13,000-strong collection - were found in a depot of the National Library of Czech Republic near Prague which has not been accessed since the 1950s.

Norwegian Masonic researcher Bjørn Helge Horrisland told the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang that some of the books come from the library of the Norwegian order of Freemasons in Oslo, seized during the Nazi occupation of the country.

In 1935 Himmler founded the 'H Sonderkommando' - H standing for Hexe, the German word for witch - to collate as much material as possible on sorcery, the occult and the supernatural. 

The bulk of the collection was called the 'Witches Library' and concentrated on witches and their persecution in medieval Germany.

One of Himmler's quack theories was that the Roman Catholic Church tried to destroy the German race through witch hunts.

He also discovered that one of his own ancestors was burned as a witch.

Adolf Hitler never shared the enthusiasm for the occult held by his master butcher, but he gave him free reign to live out his fantasies.

+6

The 13,000 volume library was discovered in a depot of the Czech National Library (pictured) close to Prague

Himmler (pictured with Hitler at Berchtesgaden) also collected some of his books from the Norwegian order of Freemasons, when the Nazis invaded the country in 1940

The books were intended to be stored at Wewelsburg Castle in western Germany, the 'Black Camelot' of Nazism where Himmler created a court of SS 'knights' modelled on the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

The castle today is a museum and place of remembrance. The swastika-daubed ceiling of the room where he met with his evil knights forms the centrepiece of the exhibition.

Historians are to analyse the Witches Library and a Norwegian TV company is to make a documentary about the find.

The books were intended to be stored at Wewelsburg Castle in western Germany, the 'Black Camelot' of Nazism where Himmler created a court of SS 'knights' modelled on the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

+6