Between Occultism and Nazism Aries Book Series Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism Editor Marco Pasi Editorial Board Jean-Pierre Brach Andreas Kilcher Wouter J. Hanegraaff Advisory Board Alison Coudert – Antoine Faivre – Olav Hammer Monika Neugebauer-Wölk – Mark Sedgwick – Jan Snoek György Szőnyi – Garry Trompf VOLUME 17 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/arbs Between Occultism and Nazism Anthroposophy and the Politics of Race in the Fascist Era By Peter Staudenmaier LEIDEN | BOSTON Cover illustration: Illustration by Hugo Reinhold Karl Johann Höppener (Fidus). Staudenmaier, Peter, 1965– Between occultism and Nazism : anthroposophy and the politics of race in the fascist era / By Peter Staudenmaier. pages cm. — (Aries book series. Texts and studies in Western esotericism, ISSN 1871-1405 ; volume 17) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-90-04-26407-6 (hardback : alkaline paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-27015-2 (e-book) 1. National socialism and occultism. 2. Germany—Politics and government—1933–1945. 3. Fascism and culture— Italy. 4. Italy—Politics and government—1922–1945. 5. Anthroposophy. 6. Steiner, Rudolf, 1861–1925— Influence. 7. Racism. I. Title. DD256.5.S7514 2014 299’.935094309043—dc23 2014000258 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual ‘Brill’ typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 1871 1405 ISBN 978 90 04 26407 6 (hardback) ISBN 978 90 04 27015 2 (e-book) Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Global Oriental and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. 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Contents Acknowledgements vi Introduction: Spiritual Science and the Modern Occult Revival 1 1 Germany’s Savior: Rudolf Steiner on Race and Redemption 25 2 The Politics of the Unpolitical: German Anthroposophy in Theory and Practice Before 1933 64 3 Accommodation, Collaboration, Persecution: Anthroposophy in the Shadow of National Socialism, 1933–1945 101 4 The German Essence Shall Heal the World: Ideological Affinities between Anthroposophy and Nazism 146 5 Education for the National Community? Waldorf Schools in the Third Reich 179 6 The Nazi Campaign against Occultism 214 7 The Spirit of the Race and the Soul of the Nation: Anthroposophy and the Rise of Fascism in Italy 248 8 Spiritual Racism in Power: Italian Anthroposophists and the Fascist Racial Laws, 1938–1945 284 Conclusion: Occultism and Nazism in Historical Perspective 319 Sources and Bibliography 328 Index 407 Acknowledgements Many people contributed to this project. The forbearance of my dissertation commit- tee allowed me to sustain an extended research program and an even more extended text. I am especially grateful to my advisor, Dominick LaCapra, for his intellectual gen- erosity and unfailing support, and to Isabel Hull for her close reading and incisive cri- tiques of my work. Michael Steinberg and Patrizia McBride provided crucial insights and correctives. Participants in Cornell University’s European history colloquium offered perceptive comments on many chapters; thanks to Ryan Plumley, Marie Muschalek, Michelle Moyd, Heidi Voskuhl, Robert Travers, Duane Corpis, Holly Case, Camille Robcis, and Oren Falk. Alison Efford read later drafts with a discerning eye. I owe special thanks to Emma Kuby, Taran Kang, and Franz Hofer for their friendship and spirited argument. For vital encouragement and critical response I am grateful to Uwe Puschner, Eric Kurlander, Steve Aschheim, Richard Drake, Jim Marten, Vicki Caron, Aaron Sachs, Tobin Miller Shearer, Cheryl Shearer, Steve Edwards, Julie Edwards, Suman Seth, Peter Uwe Hohendahl, David Bathrick, Federico Finchelstein, Jim Steakley, Claudia Card, David Sorkin, Jost Hermand, Andreas Daum, Georg Iggers, Paul Lauren, Suzanne Marchand, Doris Bergen, Celia Applegate, David Blackbourn, Gayle Rubin, Carolyn Merchant, Ashwin Manthripragada, Karen Priestman, Brooke Lehman, Chaia Heller, Alan Goodman, Cindy Milstein, Bianca Bockman, Chuck Morse, Ian Grimmer, Dan Chodorkoff, Murray Bookchin, Janet Biehl, Matt Hern, Sundrop Carter, Blair Taylor, Darini Nicholas, Danny Postel, Lauren Fox, Chip Berlet, Liz DiNovella, Sharmila Rudrappa, Metta McGarvey, Laurie Zimmerman, and Sabina Knight. My colleagues at the University of Montana and Marquette University have been models of academic conviviality. Friends in Europe played an important role in this project. I am indebted to Peter Zegers and Peter Bierl for their willingness to share materials and ideas. Mirella Olivari made my research in Italy possible, and I am very grateful for her support. Marco Pasi read the manuscript and Wouter Hanegraaff provided important advice. My thanks go to Stephan Braun, Debbie Braun, Christoph Braun, Susanne Fries, Rob Augmann, Martina Benz, Eirik Eiglad, Veronika Lipphardt, Ansgar Martins, and Aurélie Choné. I owe an unusually significant debt to Helmut Zander, whose ongoing engagement with my work has extended well beyond the standard expectations of collegiality and friendship. Historians depend on archivists and librarians for the research we conduct. I extend my gratitude to the staff of the Bundesarchiv in Berlin and Koblenz, the Archivio Centrale dello Stato in Rome, the Staatsbibliothek Berlin, the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Rome, the New York Public Library, and the libraries of the University of acknowledgements vii Wisconsin, Cornell University, and Marquette University. The study was funded in part through a Luigi Einaudi Fellowship for Research in Europe, Humboldt University in Berlin, a Bowmar research fellowship, a travel grant from the Cornell University Graduate School, a German Historical Institute Summer Research Seminar, a Faculty Development Award from Marquette University, and a Franklin Research Grant from the American Philosophical Society. In addition to generous scholarly assistance, I am very fortunate to have a loving family. I thank my late mother, Kathy Staudenmaier, and my father, Bill Staudenmaier, as well as all of my sisters and brothers for their support. I owe special thanks to my brother Michael Staudenmaier for more than two decades of intellectual companion- ship. My uncle, John Staudenmaier, has offered invaluable encouragement. I am also grateful to friends and colleagues from Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative, Ofek Shalom Cooperative, Madison Community Cooperative, and the Institute for Social Ecology, as well as the extended families of Punita and Ravi, Laurie and Renee, Eliana and Meytal, Mike and Anne, Susie and Kelly, and so many others. My most important debt of all is to my partner Geeta Raval, my first and last reader, who has watched this project develop from the very beginning and has sustained me throughout. I dedicate the book to her. introduction Spiritual Science and the Modern Occult Revival This is a study of an unusual movement in an unusual time. It follows the changing fortunes of an idiosyncratic but influential group of spiritual seek- ers through the wayward terrain of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The move- ment known as anthroposophy was founded by Rudolf Steiner, a devotee of the occult, in the early years of the twentieth century. Today anthroposophy is esteemed for its efforts on behalf of alternative education, holistic health care, organic farming and natural foods, environmental consciousness, and innovative forms of spiritual expression. At the root of anthroposophy lies an elaborate esoteric philosophy based on Steiner’s teachings. His plentiful books and lectures, which can seem inscrutable to outside observers, form the core of the anthroposophist worldview to this day. Steiner grew up in Austria and died in Switzerland, imparting an international character to his movement while grounding it firmly in German cultural values. In contemporary Europe anthroposophy is recognized as “the most successful form of ‘alternative’ reli- gion” to arise in the last century.1 In much of the English-speaking world, however, the term anthroposophy and the name Rudolf Steiner remain unfamiliar. Even those acquainted with anthroposophy’s public face—through experience with Waldorf schools, bio- dynamic farming, Camphill communities, Weleda or Demeter products—are sometimes surprised to learn of the esoteric doctrines on which these insti- tutions are built. If the external trappings of anthroposophy are not always identifiable, its occult underpinnings are still less well known. Latter-day anthroposophists are often apprehensive about ‘occult’