The Grail Conspiracies

 I stumbled on the article, “Did Nazis really try to make Zombies? The real history behind one of our weirdest WW II obsessions” by Noah Charney in Salon August 22, 2015.

I almost skipped it because Zombies never have been my thing, but I recognized Noah Charney’s name as a respected and prolific author on art and related history (more on him later) so I took a look.

Glad I did.  I was already familiar with most of the Nazi explorations in the occult and strange science from my own research on various of my thrillers, particularly The Grail Conspiracies.

But for the “normal” person (not so well versed in this stuff!) Dr. Charney provides a brief but fascinating summary of the background on the Abnenerbe, the Nazi Occult Bureau, and some of its operations before and during the war.

(I had forgotten that an organization like the Ahnenerbe appeared in some of the Indiana Jones movies. For that background alone, the article is worth a look if you’re fascinated by these things—or just liked the Indiana Jones movies.)

As to the question posed, Did the Nazis really try to make zombies? Charney’s response ranges over related issues, including the weird experiences  of Dr. Josef Mengele, as well as other research on various chemicals and pills to increase stamina.

There is also a segment on the background on the George Clooney film,  Monuments Men, as the search for stolen art linked in a weird way with corpses apparently hidden away to rise again with the rise of a new Nazism. (Yes, the whole range of Nazi occult obsessions are, collectively, beyond weird!)

Anyway, I recommend the article. As to Noah Charney, Ph.D.: I had first come on his name as I was researching my upcoming thriller, Infinite Doublecross, as he has written several books and articles on art theft and forgery. (Full disclosure: I’ve never met him.)  I think the best overview is via his book list on Amazon:  Noah Charney books

Salon

In Zite (the app/news aggregator) this morning, I came on two interestingly interlocked quotations:

First quotation:

“There’s a generation of young people who still want some sense of meaning beyond what appears to be a world that’s not what they’d been promised.”

Second quotation:

[He cited a world of]"masses of young people"  . . . especially in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia—where "if these kids are left to no devices, or their own ... something is going to come along and say, 'The world is disappointing you, and we're a better alternative.' How else do you get young kids to strap themselves in suicide vests and think thing are better on the other side? But that's happening."

It struck me that both quotations said just about the same thing: that there are many young people from the emerging generations who are angry . . .  and malleable by those who make them the promises they want to hear.

The first quotation is from “Season of the Witch: How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll,” in Pitchfork. (another news aggregator, this specializing in the pop music world). Here's a link to that article  It's an interview with Peter Bebergal, author of the new book, Season of the Witch: How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll.

The second  comes from The Atlantic on-line, quotation pulled from an interview with Secretary of State John Kerry. "John Kerry explains why world leaders are scared of young people"

 Interestingly, the two articles also reminded me of this passage describing what’s happening via the efforts of the Twisted Messiah movement, a world-wide superstar rock group that has deliberately transitioned into an international quasi-political movement with a lurking undercurrent of potential terrorism, and an army of dead-end kids.

 ‘What’s in the mind of the people behind the Twisted Messiah movement? They already have a world-wide army in the mindless masses of kids who’re ready to follow their Twisted Messiah. It’s my impression that these kids have been brainwashed into believing that their lives are futile, that they have nothing to contribute, nothing to accomplish, and hence nothing to lose if they get into crime or drugs or whatever.  In that sense, they’re a lot like the Islamic martyrs of the middle-east, willing to die for the cause.”

 ”But there’s a difference, a crucial difference. The Islamic terrorists at least have a cause, a belief system that motivates them. These kids, the ones enthralled by the Twisted Messiah message, have no cause, other than destruction for its own sake. Worse, they’re among us, every race and nationality, not just identifiable men with Middle-eastern features.”

This third quotation is from my technothriller, The Grail Conspiracies, iwhich touches on, among other themes, the role of the occult and certain kinds of music, as well as the latent rage of some young people that is waiting to be tapped by those with the right message and the right medium. (To be clear, Twisted Messiah is a fictional group, so far existing only in The Grail Conspiracies.)

Here’s a link to some excerpts from   The Grail Conspiracies, relating to that theme.

Background:  (trying not to be a plot-spoiler):   In my book, theTwisted Messiah group is a world-wide force, first as rock superstars, then emergingh as an international quasi-political force.)