Der Fuehrer - Hitler's Rise to Power (1944) - Heiden

Chapter IITHE ARMED INTELLECTUALSIN MUNICH, TOO, THERE WAS A REVOLUTION; here, too — orso it seems to Rosenberg — the Wise Men of Zion had seized the helm.But already the saviors were silently gathering. Conspirators had foundone another; secretly they were amassing arms, preparing to overthrowthe revolutionary, though legal governments. Rosenberg found his wayinto these circles, and became acquainted with two men: a young officerby the name of Rudolf Hess and Dietrich Eckart, an elderly writer. Thegroup of conspirators had learned from the Wise Men of Zion.Outwardly they were an innocent club, studying and declaiming oldGermanic literature. They even called themselves the Thule Society,after the legendary kingdom of Nordic mythology. Thule was theancient — and scientifically more than questionable — homeland of theGerman race, which was supposed to have come down from the North.Rosenberg brought the conspirators of Thule the secret of worlddomination and therewith their program. The Protocols of the Wise Menof Zion appeared in German. A certain Ludwig Muller signed his nameas publisher. The impression on German intellectuals was extraordinary.Edition followed edition; the little volume was given away and widelydistributed; the good cause found backers who preferred to remainanonymous. Not only in