218
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
group of the Kreisau Circle to the game. Hayton argues that this constellation
resembles the historical and apologetic self-image of Germany as having
been a victim of Nazi rule, rather than the broader German population
having supported or acquiesced to National Socialism. 67 However, one
would need to assume that the resistance group represents the broader
German population in this game in order to affirm a Nazis/Germans binary.
Since the game also features neutral civilian characters, the constellation
“Nazis” vs. “German resistance” is not absolute, and symbolic room is left
for “acquiescing Germans.” In Wolfenstein (2009), 68 however, the Kreisau
Circle becomes a popular mass movement, 69 something which more clearly
transports an idea similar to the historical, apologetic self-image of Germany
as having been a victim of Nazi rule. 70
The connection of Nazi Germany with occult and fictional science is again
the driving force of the plot in Wolfenstein (2009). 71 As a new element of the
narrated world, the historical Thule society is introduced. The video game’s
Thule society is on a quest for a mystic, Aryan controlled energy source, the
“Black Sun,” which they find in a parallel dimension. This energy source is
reminiscent of the historical occultist belief in a “Black Sun” as a source of
occult power and “Vril” as a conceptualization of this occult power. While
these beliefs existed in minor occult groups in 1930s Germany, 72 they have
only been popularized in conspiracy theory and Neo-Nazi esotericism since
the 1960s. 73 This popularization started in 1960 with the book Le matin des
magiciens by Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier, in which they claimed
that the NS elite had tried to ally itself with supernatural forces. 74 Neo-Nazi
groups in Europe still draw on these phantasms in justifying Nazism as
an occult battle of the forces of good (here: the Nazis) against evil. This
conspiracy theory is a key feature of the Wolfenstein games from Wolfenstein
3D to Wolfenstein (2009), with the only alteration being that Nazis are the
elemental evil and the Allies an elemental good.
67 Hayton, “Digital Nazis,” 209.
68 Inc. Raven Software et al., Wolfenstein (Activision Publishing, Inc., 2009).
69 Hayton, “Digital Nazis,” 209.
70 Robert Moeller, “Germans as Victims? Thoughts on a Post-Cold War History of World war
II’s Legacies,” History and Memory 17, no. 1 (2005): 161.
71 Raven Software et al., Wolfenstein.
72 Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity
(New York: New York University Press, 2001), 166.
73 Julian Strube, “Die Erfindung des esoterischen Nationalsozialismus im Zeichen der Schwarzen
Sonne,” Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft 20, no. 2 (2012): 224.
74 Pauwels, Louis and Jacques Bergier, Le matin des magiciens: Introduction au réalisme
fantastique (Paris: Gallimard, 1960).
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
group of the Kreisau Circle to the game. Hayton argues that this constellation
resembles the historical and apologetic self-image of Germany as having
been a victim of Nazi rule, rather than the broader German population
having supported or acquiesced to National Socialism. 67 However, one
would need to assume that the resistance group represents the broader
German population in this game in order to affirm a Nazis/Germans binary.
Since the game also features neutral civilian characters, the constellation
“Nazis” vs. “German resistance” is not absolute, and symbolic room is left
for “acquiescing Germans.” In Wolfenstein (2009), 68 however, the Kreisau
Circle becomes a popular mass movement, 69 something which more clearly
transports an idea similar to the historical, apologetic self-image of Germany
as having been a victim of Nazi rule. 70
The connection of Nazi Germany with occult and fictional science is again
the driving force of the plot in Wolfenstein (2009). 71 As a new element of the
narrated world, the historical Thule society is introduced. The video game’s
Thule society is on a quest for a mystic, Aryan controlled energy source, the
“Black Sun,” which they find in a parallel dimension. This energy source is
reminiscent of the historical occultist belief in a “Black Sun” as a source of
occult power and “Vril” as a conceptualization of this occult power. While
these beliefs existed in minor occult groups in 1930s Germany, 72 they have
only been popularized in conspiracy theory and Neo-Nazi esotericism since
the 1960s. 73 This popularization started in 1960 with the book Le matin des
magiciens by Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier, in which they claimed
that the NS elite had tried to ally itself with supernatural forces. 74 Neo-Nazi
groups in Europe still draw on these phantasms in justifying Nazism as
an occult battle of the forces of good (here: the Nazis) against evil. This
conspiracy theory is a key feature of the Wolfenstein games from Wolfenstein
3D to Wolfenstein (2009), with the only alteration being that Nazis are the
elemental evil and the Allies an elemental good.
67 Hayton, “Digital Nazis,” 209.
68 Inc. Raven Software et al., Wolfenstein (Activision Publishing, Inc., 2009).
69 Hayton, “Digital Nazis,” 209.
70 Robert Moeller, “Germans as Victims? Thoughts on a Post-Cold War History of World war
II’s Legacies,” History and Memory 17, no. 1 (2005): 161.
71 Raven Software et al., Wolfenstein.
72 Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity
(New York: New York University Press, 2001), 166.
73 Julian Strube, “Die Erfindung des esoterischen Nationalsozialismus im Zeichen der Schwarzen
Sonne,” Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft 20, no. 2 (2012): 224.
74 Pauwels, Louis and Jacques Bergier, Le matin des magiciens: Introduction au réalisme
fantastique (Paris: Gallimard, 1960).