Hitler's Priestess: Savitri Devi, the Hindu-Aryan Myth, and Neo-Nazism Paperback – October 1, 2000

This book is a well focused work on the ideology of pan-Aryanism from the eyes of Hinduism.Filled with the rage of Aryan piety, Portas embraced Hinduism to become The Savitri Devi (the goddess of racial purity). Her story of life as an ardent Nazi crusader enlightened from the wisdom of Hinduism is startling and interesting.The book discusses the influence of Hindu theology and Hinduism on the West in developing its Aryan myth.Apart from the Aryan influence of Hinduism on Westerners, the books leads us through an elaborate establishment of repression, racism and slavery in caste-ridden Hindu India.This book is to be counted upon as an excellent work on anthropology of caste Hindus.

_Savitri Devi_ by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke is an extremely bizarre read on one of the more mystical figures in the neo-Nazi movement. Devi was born Maximiani Portas of Greek and English heritage in the south of France, and earned a Ph.D. in mathematics. She grew up feeling disillusioned with Western liberalism, and set out to India in the 1920's to study India's caste system as an example of racial segregation and the Hindu scriptures, in particular the Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita, which she considered the most ancient examples of Aryan wisdom. She found India, the world's last Aryan pagan nation, to be a place poor but with an unbroken spirit, especially among the high caste Brahmins. She also viewed it as being under cultural assault by British colonization and its growing Muslim population. She joined the ant-British, anti-Muslim Hindu Mission (to spread Hinduism) and the Hindu Nationalist movement in India (groups which were to the right of Gandhi and favored militancy) which was under the leadership of V. D. Savarkar. Devi married a Brahmin, Asit Krishna Mukherji, who was well traveled in Europe and published a racialist and pro-Nazi magazine under the auspices of the German Consulate in India. Following the defeat of Germany in WWII, Devi went on three Nazi propaganda missions in Germany and even spent time in prison for subversive activities. During this time and the 1950s and 60s, Devi made contact with well known British and American neo-Nazis, among whom were George Lincoln Rockwell, Colin Jordan and John Tyndall. She also became aquainted with ex-Nazis such as the ace Hans Ulrich-Rudel and Leon Degrelle and others who had fled Germany and set up a networks in Spain, Latin America and the Middle East. She returned to India in 1971 and corresponded with Holocaust revisionist Ernst Zundel and the South American Nazi occultist Miguel Serrano. Devi published a number of books popular among the far-right and and also far-left environmentalist groups: _The Impeachment of Man_ (an argument for animal rights against a human-centered outlook), _A Warning to the Hindus_ (some of the aims of the Hindu Nationalist movement), _Pilgrimage_ (her reflections on her visit to post-WWII Germany), _Son of the Son_ (a study of Akhnaton who initiated the solar cult in Egypt, which Devi considered to be a forerunner of Nazism), and _The Lightning and the Sun_. _The Lightning and the Sun_ is Devi's most notorious book, in which she argues that Hitler is an incarnation of the god Vishnu thePreserver, a "Man Against Time" who intervened and fought against the process of decay in today's modern world, which is known as the Kali Yuga of the Hindus. Thus Savitri Devi managed to provide a theological justification for outright Hitler-worship in the context of an Aryan/pagan revival. Altogether, this is an even-handed book on a highly controversial and eccentric woman.

A decent biography on a controversial figure. She is portrayed as an eccentric and at times difficult personality but there is no reason to believe that she would have been capable of being otherwise. Her habit of chewing garlic and limited bathing stand out as to how patient her friends were with her.

A very well written book about the women who believed in Hitler worship. The only problem I have with the book is Devi, like Yockey, is not as important to the movement as the author claims. I've been in the movement for 25 years and can only name a few people who follow her teachings. A very few. Other than that it's great.

This book is useful for anybody interested in Savitri Devi. As Koenraad Elst wrote in a review of the book, some parts of the book are misleading, and the author has a rather poor understanding of Indian history and politics. I recommend to read in addition the chapters on Savitri Devi in Koenraad Elsts book "The Saffron Swastika".

Savitri Devi a most interesting and beautiful being. Her life filled with exciting insight, far surpassing the understanding of most spiritual Gurus, Priests, and Preachers. It decidedly unfortunate the authour makes negative remarks from tyme to tyme, that yet show his lack of understanding for his subject. The authour seemingly even-handed through out, excluding his occasional negative tone. In the future one suspects She shall be made a Saint, as She particularly viewed as one now.

I heard about this book on Dave Emory's radio show, and I myself like Savitri Devi's work. However book is written by a religious right eglartarian, and it's not an adjective biography on Devi herself. In fact I resent the fact that most of Devi's work is Hitler fetish pieces. To me it reads like Hindu nationalism, and only the politically correct view as racist. As far as Nazism affiliation with the occult, however the occult had no influence on Hitler's regin in Nazi Germany, the big banks did.

I like the how Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke addresses such a controversial topic. A very unique book.