Was Hitler Another Dr. Faustus? By A.N.Kanthasamy

The late A.N. KANTHASAMY was a writer with proficiency in both Tamil and English. He is considered one of the pioneers of Sri Lanka's progressive Tamil literature.

He was multi-talented in literature, and his contributions to the novel, short story, drama, poetry, and literary criticism are significant. His English writing cannot be ignored either.

Though his life was short (1924 - 1968), his literary contributions were immense. He was also a social and political activist. The essay 'Was Hitler Another Dr. Faustus?' appeared in Tribune (an English magazine published monthly in Sri Lanka) in the September 1965 issue.

Was Hitler Another Dr. Faustus? By A.N.Kanthasamy

Did Hitler enter into a contract with the devil somewhere in 1928 for the conquest of the world like Dr.Faustus, who it was said , signed a written agreement with the Devil for the regaining of his lost manhood? The answer would be an emphatic 'yes' if one were to believe certain information contained in a book by Louis Pauwels on Monsieur Gurdieff a well-known spiritualist from Russia who became a rage in Europe during the Nineteen Twenties.

It is Monsieur Gurdjieff along with one Ouspensky who inspired the now well- known Pak Subub of Indonesia to launch his movement called the Subuff.

According to Pauwels' book Gurdjieff , member of a group called 'The Searchers after Truth'  roamed the East several years in search of esoteric doctrines and returned to the West charged with 'exceptional spiritual power' with fully shaven head, bright penetrating eyes, a handlebar mustache and a forceful  manner of speech he made a tremendous impression on all those who came into contact  with him and among those who were thus impressed was one Karl Ernst Nikolaus Haushofar  of Germany who besides being a budding politician was also a practicing magician who was later to guide the destinies of his nation by becoming a leading member of the National Socialist Party of Adolf Hitler.Haushofar had come across Hitler in his youth and had made him act as a medium in some of the scenes he conducted as a magician. He joined Monsieur Gurdjieff as a member of 'The searchers after Truth' and organized The Thule Group of the movement in Germany. He also  was the founder of a political movement known as the 'Géopolitique' and in later years was recognized as one of the official theorists of the Nazi Party. His importance was such that a biographer had referred to him as the 'man behind Hitler' and 'man after Hitler'.

Haushofar became a trusted disciple of Gurdjieff and it has been said that it was Gurdjieff who advised the Nazi party  to adopt  the Aryan Swastika as its official emblem.

Adolf Hitler (then in his early thirties) joined the movement in the year 1923 having been introduced to the group by Dr.Morrell who was later to become Hitler's personal physician.

The Truth Group of 'the Searchers after Truth' based its ideology on a book of magic known as the Book of Dzyan, whose authorship was attributed to certain Tibetan Masters.

This book put forward a comprehensive theory regarding the achievement of personal and individual power. its declared power  was the  two different kinds . One was contemplative power and the other physical power. Out of these , the source of contemplative power which was known as the Right hand source  was a subterranean monastery, a fortress of meditation situated  in a town named Agharti somewhere  in the snowy wastes of Tibet. The source of physical power known as the Left Hand Source was a town on the 'surface' called Shampullah.  This was a city of blood and violence and was ruled by the King of Fear could dominate the world and become master of all men. His mere word will be law and just a look of his eyes would convey a command.

The Thule Group mostly composed of ambitious politicians  is said to have established this alliance in 1928 at a special seance held for the purpose under the guidance of Gurdjieff. many Tibetans too are reported to have participated in the ceremony. A point that is worth nothing here is that during this period a large number of Indians and Tibetans were resident in Berlin.

It was on the day of the creation of this alliance the Thule Group which was to act as a secret cell in the National Socialist Party decided to accept the Swastika as their symbol.  It was believed that the Swastika was the seal of the King of Fear and that it possessed magical powers.

Many big names of Germany were associated with the Thule Group and this alliance for world conquest. First and foremost was Hitler.Then come the names of Himmler, Goering, Rosernberg and Dr.Morell, all led by the politically ambitious magician disciple of Gurdjieff , Herr Karl Haushofar.

The members of the Group adopted a novel methods for what they called communicating with the King of Fear at Shampullah. firstly by using electronic transmitters and receivers to and from a so - called  Thebatan Information Centre. Secondly by playing a sort of a game like cards. Pauwels explain this rather obscure card game in the following words.

'The  authorities through Haushofar gave them a simple numerical code related to the letters of the alphabet. They then set out an equation which enabled them to rearrange the figures according to variable parameters.Finally to fix the parameters they drew lots from a kind of Tibetan Tarot Pack. The cards are round and engraved on a light semi - transparent wood. This game was played regularly between 1928 and 1941 or even later by some of the leading men of the Third Reich'.

If it is not surprising that Hitler aiming at total political power and rather emotional in outlook was easily impressed by cults of this nature. Further Black magic is part of the German tradition as is evidenced by the legend of Dr. Faustus which too must have had a great impact on the mind of the impressionable  Hitler. Like Faustus, he decided to achieve his innermost desires by coming to terms with occult force.

Everybody knows about the hysterical outbursts  of  Hitler. On the platform he transformed  himself into an unearthly being throwing his hands  wide and  screaming dramatically at the top of his voice. Anyone who saw him in that pose could easily believe that he  was only acting as a medium for some supernatural force. It was the King of Fear who was guiding him, the left hand force of Physical power, violence and blood. At least, it was how Hitler himself and the members of the Thule Group felt.

In Their Eyes the alliance worked. Success after success was the order of the day for about a decade. Hitler's name became the very synonym of political, military and economic power. nations trembled and prostrated before him. Here was Faustus, successful beyond limits and Lord of his day. But the Devil also demanded high prices for the the favours granted.

The  king of Fear wanted blood, more blood and still more blood as offering. He wanted human sacrifice. Perhaps this explains the policy of senseless killings that Hitler pursued, the setting up of the gas chambers and extermination of Jews, Gypsies and Children.

Pauwels reveals that one  of the conditions of the contract between the German leaders and the Tibetan 'authorities' was the exterminations of the Gypsies. This exterminations of the Gypsies in Germany and the occupied territories was done silently without  any attempt at justification because how could   one open his mouth in the modern world and say that they  were  being massacred at the behest of a sinister God in Tibet? It is calculated that about  750,000 people belonging to the Gypsy communities  perished in this campaign of human sacrifice for the Devil.

A reference to Stalin by Panuwels in this connection is worth mentioning here. Stalin and Gurdjieff were schoolmates and studied at the same seminary at Alexcandropol in Russia. When Stalin learnt  of the mystic pact between Hitler and the Tibetan 'authorities' through the Soviet l Intelligence Service he had , it is reported , declared at at meeting of a higher council of the CPSU that 'he felt in to be inconceivable that it the 20th century, heads of states should indulge in such deliveries.'

HAUSHOFAR , the central figure in the negotiation of this pact with the Devil had a son who was assassinated in 1945 by the Nazis in the Moabit Prison where he was incarcerated for having taken part in an attempt to kill Hitler. The French Communist Publication Less Letters Franncais of December  1953 published two verses which it said was found on the body of Haushofar's son. They refer to a Demon whom Hanshofar had unleashed but was unable to push back when he wanted to do so. The Demon referred to may well be the King of Fear  of Shampullah. the verses are as follows:

A Profound Legend of the East

Tells us that the spirits of the power of Evil.
Are held captive in the marine night,
Sealed by the prudent Hand of God,
Until fate once in a thousand years
Accords a single fisherman  the power
To break the chains of the prisoners
I f he doesn't at once throw back
His catch into the sea
For my father destiny has spoken
His will had lost the strength
To push the demon back in to its Jail.

My father broke the seal
Hi did not feel the Devil's breath
He let the demon loose on the world.

These verses in a way, indicate the final failure of Hitler's pact with the Devil. So, that then is the end. like another German before him who tried to solve his problems by taking refuge in Black magic  Dr.Faustus , Herr Hitler , the sponsor of Black magic in Third Reich, too ended in miserable defeat and disaster.

And on a sunny spring day in 1946 the entire leftovers of the Thule group decided, in desperation, that death would be sweeter to them than life and took their lives with their own hands. But on this, a little doubt lurks too. Some say Hitler might not be dead. Perhaps he is in Sampullah with his King of Fear.

Then what Hitler reached in May 1945 was not an end. It was an end without finality, an end without an end, a mystic end for for the magician's medium who dabbed with demons, and spirits, and the occult and failed to achieve his cherished desire - the conquest of the world.

Courtesy: Tribune (an English magazine published monthly in  Sri Lanka)  September 1965