Page "Pseudohistory" Paragraph 22

One narrow description of ' cryptohistory ' can be found in The Occult Roots of Nazism ( 1985 ) by the historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke.

This book examines the field of Ariosophy, an esoteric movement in Germany and Austria 1890-1930, that Goodrick-Clarke himself describes as occult.

The doctrines of Ariosophy strongly resemble Nazism in important points ( e. g. racism ), however, the only cases of direct influences that Goodrick-Clarke could find were the ones of Rudolf von Sebottendorf ( and the Thule Society ) and Karl Maria Wiligut.

While these cases did exist, they are often exaggerated strongly by the modern mythology of Nazi occultism.

Goodrick-Clarke defines this genre as crypto-history, since its " final point of explanatory reference is an agent which has remained concealed to previous historians.

" When he debunks several crypto-historic books in Appendix E of The Occult Roots of Nazism, he states, that these " were typically sensational and under-researched.

A complete ignorance of the primary sources was common to most authors and inaccuracies and wild claims were repeated by each newcomer to the genre until an abundant literature existed, based on wholly spurious ' facts ' concerning the powerful Thule Society, the Nazi links with the East, and Hitler's occult initiation.

" Here Goodrick-Clarke brings down the description of cryptohistory to two elements: " A complete ignorance of the primary sources " and the repetition of " inaccuracies and wild claims ".