The Werewolves of the Fourth Reich (Trauma)

Explicit content warning

10/02/19 • 193 min

On April 30th, 1945, Adolf Hitler's brain was ripped apart by the bullet he'd fired through his skull. That is how we believe the Second World War ended. But in reality, the struggle to crush the most evil of regimes and its ideas was just beginning and arguably never ended. This is the story of how that struggle began with the Germans who refused to believe that the end--their end--had come, and as a result, transformed (if only metaphorically) into packs of werewolves, men who had unleashed the beast lurking somewhere within them, causing one of the least discussed insurgencies in modern history.
In this epic tale covering both the Nazi ideology's supernaturally-minded roots themselves as well as the results of crushing Nazism and the origins of our sheer terror at the regime and ideology's meaning, we'll dive into some of the strangest ideas and most desperate figures we've covered in History Impossible so far. From the occult and esoteric origins of the Nazi religion to the unrepentant true believers in the Fuhrer (some of whom thought him to be alive). From the bombings of Allied occupiers' administrations to the assassinations of collaborators and "traitors". From the decapitation wires strung across the roads of rural Germany to the sugar packets filled with explosive powder. From the streets of Berlin to the streets of Charlottesville.
Welcome to the Fourth Reich.
Many thanks to the musicians who contributed their work to this episode, including Kai Engel with their song "Dark Alley".
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Previous Episode

An Impossible Interview I: Daniele Bolelli

In this special edition of History Impossible, a trend is broken: this is not about a particular story in history. This is about a man. Or rather, a conversation with a man. The one, the only, Daniele Bolelli, host of popular podcasts History on Fire and The Drunken Taoist and known for semi-regular appearances on popular podcasts like the Joe Rogan Experience and the Duncan Trussell Family Hour.
Daniele has been in History Impossible's corner since day one and some wonderful collaborations have come out of it, including the episode we both crafted concerning Lyudmila Pavlichenko, better known as Lady Death back in July, not to mention some upcoming collaborations we'll both be filling you all in on in the coming months.
So in this conversation, Daniele and I cover a wide range of topics, of course including history, but with dashes of politics, philosophy, and literature. There's even a "debate" about the merits of Blood Meridian! Fingers crossed that we don't manage to alienate significant portions of our audiences (with apologies to Jordan Peterson fanboys), but for the rest of you who stick around, enjoy the conversation!
Also thanks to Punk Opera for their badass song, "The Road", used at the end of the episode.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/history-impossible--5634566/support.

Next Episode

An Impossible Pop Quiz: The Werewolves of the Fourth Reich

It's the end of one era and the beginning of another. With the launch of History Impossible's Patreon, things with the Pop Quiz are different. This will be the final free episode the Pop Quiz series, which will now be accessible to the supporters of History Impossible at the 5 dollar level or higher (along with other great goodies).
So to celebrate, Molly and Alex took a trip down memory lane about werewolves, Nazism, Nazi terrorists, and Nazi trauma. It was, believe it or not, a lot of fun! Many things were discussed, including the notion that Nazis don't actually exist anymore as well as the non-resemblance of the tragic Franz Oppenhoff to Mr. Moneybags (or was it Colonel Sanders?).
In any event, it's about as silly as they come and while it's understandable that this lighter, relaxed fit version of History Impossible isn't for everyone (we do read those iTunes reviews here! Thanks for the constructive criticism, by the way), it's a fun way to exorcise the demons that can arise from reading about all the awful things human beings do to each other.
So for her final pop quiz as we've all come to expect, the question inevitably comes up: how did Molly do? What grade did she get? Sit back, fix yourself a Halloween-themed drink, tune in, and find out!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/history-impossible--5634566/support.