as a kind of battery for astral energy to be used in magical operations. This energy is the fertilising ‘force-field of the Aryans’, which is stolen by Hebrew magicians and stored in the Ark for their own anti-Aryan purposes. The international conspiracy against the Aryans is further defined when the characters travel to Tibet and meet another German, Juncker (‘Aristocrat’), (35) who tells them that the Asiatic peoples are waiting for a great warrior who will come from the subterranean realm of Agartha and lead them to domination of the world. We then learn of the nature of ‘Shambala’ and ‘Agartha’, which is another perversion of Buddhist teaching, similar to that suggested by Ravenscroft in The Spear of Destiny (see Chapter Five). The central point of Gotzen gegen Thule is that the Third Reich arose with the assistance of the twin power centres of Agartha and Shambhala and was defeated when it succumbed to the materialistic attractions of Shambhala, thus destroying the balance between the two. We can look again to Godwin for a good translation of Landig’s original:
The source of material energies of the left hand, which have their seat in Shambala, is the upper-earth city of power and might, which is ruled by a great King of Fear. But it is the same seat of Shambala that a part of the western secret brotherhoods and lodges regards as their point of origin, from which come the promises and warnings of a Lord of the World. This Shambala is a searchlight of our will! Then there is the second source: Agartha, the inner, underworld realm of contemplation and its energies. There too is a Lord and King of the World, who promises his domination. At the proper moment, this center will lead good men against the evil ones; and it is firmly connected with Brahytma, that is, God. And that is the king to serve, the one who will set up our empire and rule over the others … [T]he men in [the Third] Reich … joined themselves with the energies of Shambala, of pure force, and in their secret way worked against the other men of [the] Reich … And behind these energies which manifest themselves in Shambala stands the Caucasian, Stalin-Dugaschvili! He knew everything, he knew the men of the circle in [the] Reich and he played his own cards with them as if they were their own. Stalin-Dugaschvili had the support of the Lord of Fear and Power against [the] Reich! (36)
In the final stages of the novel, the heroes leave Tibet but are captured in India by the British, who place them in a prisoner-of-war camp. When they finally return to Germany, it becomes clear that they will probably never rejoin Point 103, which ‘seems to have forgotten them: they ruefully admit … that if it still exists, it has probably had to isolate itself completely from the world of today’.
All that remains to [the Thuleans] is to constitute a ‘Fourth Reich in exile,’ patiently waiting for the Age of Pisces to reach its inevitable end. And as the Fish Age passes, so St Peter’s religious tyranny in Rome will crumble … and the Jewish Ark will lose its potency. Then, says Landig, the … banner of the Aryans will fly again … (37)
Added to the weird flights of fancy, Gotzen gegen Thule contains several statements that mark it out as a work of pernicious historical revisionism, such as Juncker’s claim that the bodies in the liberated concentration camps were actually those of Germans killed in Allied air raids on Munich. (38) Aside from this, the novel manages to weave together a wide variety of myths, all of which have come to be associated with the concept of Nazi survival: Nordic mythology, UFOs as man-made aircraft, the subterranean realms of Shambhala and Agartha, the Hollow Earth, the Holy Grail, and the international conspiracy to inaugurate a secret One-World Government. While it might be expected that such a ridiculous and (in its attempt at historical revisionism) morally reprehensible tale would sink into a merciful literary oblivion, it did nothing of the kind; instead, it entered the murky realm of the cultural underground, where it was discovered by certain interested parties who saw in it an opportunity to further their own agendas.
The articles in the neo-Nazi publication Brisant did not carry by-lines. Intrigued and unsettled by the strange information they contained, W. A. Harbinson embarked on a little detective work, checking the origins of the magazine and discovering that it had been published in West Germany by a company that had since disappeared, Lintec GmbH of Hamburg. According to Harbinson, the ‘company was not listed with any of the West German press organizations, nor with any public relations bureau’. (39) Nevertheless, he realised that the information contained in the Brisant articles had been culled from two books: UFOs. Nazi Secret Weapons? by Mattern Friedrich and Secret Nazi Polar Expeditions by Christof Friedrich. Both books were published by a company called Samisdat Publishers Limited of Toronto, Canada.
As Harbinson notes, ‘Mattern Friedrich’ and ‘Christof Friedrich’ are actually pseudonyms for Ernst Zundel, a Canadian resident but German citizen and one of the most outspoken and active of those who deny that the Holocaust occurred. Through his many apparent links with surviving Nazis in South America and elsewhere, Zundel ‘now runs Samisdat Publishers Limited as a mouthpiece of neo-Nazi propaganda and commercial enterprise, specializing in the sale of Nazi books, record albums, tape recordings, photographs, medals and other Nazi memorabilia’. (40) Zundel maintains in his books that UFOs are actually Nazi secret weapons, launched from their hidden base at or near the South Pole. He also is an advocate (apparently) of the Hollow Earth Theory, and in his Samisdat newsletter in 1978 advertised an expedition by chartered jet to the South Pole where, he claimed, the passengers would discover not only Hitler’s Antarctic UFO base but also the entrance to the interior of the planet. A ticket for the chartered flight would cost $9,999.
The following selection from the Samisdat article will enable the reader to gain some idea of the nature of Zundel’s claims:
ACHTUNG! SAMISDAT NEWS BULLETIN
SAMISDAT HOLLOW EARTH EXPEDITION $9999.00
IN SEARCH OF HOLES IN THE POLES
SEARCH FOR HITLER’S ANTARCTIC U.F.O. BASES …
Your response to our most recent mailout and activities has been most encouraging! We have received orders and enquiries from as far away as Noumea in the South Pacific, Easter Island, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Panama, Mexico, Soviet Satellite countries, China, South Africa, Persia, the Congo, Australia, Japan, as well as from every country in Western Europe and almost every state in the U.S.A. Not only is this response extensive, it is massive — a clear indication on the part of knowledgeable UFO researchers and members of the public that they are tired of the ‘Junk food’ being served up by old-line UFO groups and publications who expound the official CIA-KGB alibi that all UFOs are extraterrestrial. What the UFO-watching world wants now is the real meat of the matter — a serious investigation of UFOs whose origins are terrestrial.
SAMISDAT is the only organization making such an effort, but we are not alone, for we have thousands of supporters like yourself who want to know the truth which the saucer-charlatans have for 30 years tried to cover up with fairy-tale fantasies of ‘little green men’. It is people like yourself who have made SAMISDAT the most active UFO Organization and publisher on Planet Earth! …
Our discoveries have led us into the production of a number of currently suppressed and sometimes vilified books which are now underground bestsellers. “UFOs — NAZI SECRET WEAPON?” was our first title, now sold out in 5 complete editions. Our second book, “SECRET NAZI POLAR EXPEDITIONS”, is coming up fast and has sold out 2 full editions. Foreign-language translations of these books are selling briskly, and it is becoming obvious to everyone that the media-enforced blockade of the truth has now been broken. Three additional books are currently under production and these will round out our Phase I Publishing Program: “THE CIA-KGB-UFO COVERUP”, “THE ANTARCTICA THEORY” and “THE LAST BATTALION”.
We have also been able to establish research teams in Canada, the U.S.A. and in particular, Germany, whose task it is to rediscover basic wingless flight which brought the original Nazi UFOs into being. Already, these teams have designed and constructed small scale models, some using conventional power and others which have propulsion systems unprecedented in today’s aerospace technology. With additional research, we hope to make available several different models in kit form for hobby-builders. Any contributions to these research projects, whether of ideas or money, will be very much appreciated. Checks should be made out to SAMISDAT with the notation “For SAMPROJ R-l” …
For the truly dedicated UFO researcher, SAMISDAT is embarking upon a magnificent and awe-inspiring experience! We are negotiating with several international airlines and chartered air carriers in regard to our planned investigation of the “Inner Earth Theory” coupled with our search for “Hitler’s Flying Saucer Bases in Antarctica.” Our ‘launching pad’ for which we are also negotiating will be located in Rio de Janeiro or Buenos Aires. This site will be the gathering place for an International UFO Convention which is scheduled to take place some time in 1979 or 1980. From this convention site, those who are interested and financially able may join Christof Friedrich and
