The Hexenkartothek (known as the "H-special order" project[1]) was an investigation into witch trials led by SS-Untersturmführer Rudolf Levin under the orders of
Heinrich Himmler.[2][3]
Himmler organised a team of
SS researchers to collect historical records of witch trials with the goal of proving that the Catholic Church had used the trials to eliminate the German heritage.[4][5] This prompted William Monter to dub the Nazi regime "Europe's first 'pro-witch' government."[6] One pamphlet, 1935's The Christian Witch-Craze,[7] claimed that the witch-hunts were an attempt to exterminate "Aryan womanhood".[8]
According to Himmler the information gathered during the nine-year investigation was to be assembled into a propaganda book. No book was produced and Levin's
habilitation thesis was rejected by the
Munich University in 1944.[1]
^Harrington, Joel (September 2019). "Himmler's Witch Hunt". History Today. 69 (9).
^Himmlers Hexenkartothek : das Interesse des Nationalsozialismus an der Hexenverfolgung (2. Aufl ed.). Bielefeld: Verlag für Regionalgeschichte. 2000.
ISBN9783895343131.
^Hans Sebald, "Nazi ideology redefining deviants: Witches, Himmler's witch-trial survey, and the case of the bishopric of Bamberg" in: Levack (ed.), New Perspectives on Witchcraft, Magic, and Demonology (2001), pp. 113ff.
^Monter, William (2002). "Witch Trials in Continental Europe, 1560-1660". In Ankarloo, Bengst; Clark, Stuart (eds.). Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Vol. 4: The Period of the Witch Trials. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 14.
^Friederike Müller-Reimerdes. Der christliche Hexenwahn. Gedanken zum religiösen Freiheitskampf der deutschen Frau.
^Magic and Superstition in Europe, Michael David Bailey, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2006, pp. 236-238