Hexenkartothek
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
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