The Hexenkartothek (known as the "H-special order" project) was an investigation into witch trials led by SS-Untersturmführer Rudolf Levin under the orders of Heinrich Himmler.
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.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. This prompted William Monter to dub the Nazi regime "Europe's first 'pro-witch' government." One pamphlet, 1935's The Christian Witch-Craze,Friederike Müller-Reimerdes. Der christliche Hexenwahn. Gedanken zum religiösen Freiheitskampf der deutschen Frau. claimed that the witch-hunts were an attempt to exterminate Aryan womanhood.Magic and Superstition in Europe, Michael David Bailey, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2006, pp. 236-238
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 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in 1944.
See also Witch-cult hypothesis
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