otion by the mere will or word of the ruler. The taxes go into his treasure, warsare fought for his reputation, and edifices are constructed for his ego. "Thepower, the absolute power, the universe is mine to command, to control..."9 Thepharaohs claimed to be direct descendants of Re. Re, Amon, Osiris, and Horuswere known as "the great gods," while the king was known as "the good god." Adolf Erman described the pharaohs' god-like status as: "the son of Re, who isenthroned in his heart, whom he loves above all, and who is with him, he is ashining embodiment of the lord of all, created by the gods of Heliopolis. Hisdivine father created him to exalt his glory. With these ideas what is morenatural than that the people should consider the king to be the mediator for hiscountry?"10As the pharaoh was the intermediary for his people, the Germans saw theNazis, and more specifically Adolf Hitler, as their mediator to the world, and astheir economic and spiritual savior. The allegiance of the people was easily wonby the Nazis. Following their recent military embarrassments, and a severeeconomic depression, Hitler was able to develop a rigidly hierarchical socialsystem, unprecedented by any other highly industrialized nation-state. Hitlerplaced himself at the head of the social strata; he was the focus for theadoration, aspirations, and affection of every German man, woman, and child. The worship of National Socialism by the German people was best representedin a 1937 press release from the Frankfurter Zeitung: "New housing estate inBraunschweig-Lehndort. . . includes a Protestant church without a tower. Theentire settlement will be dominated by the tower of the Aufbauhaus, which isgoing to the local Party headquarters and the hub of public life."11 RichardGrunberger described this replacement of spiritual symbolism with Nazirepresentation as: "Catholicism without Christianity."12 Yet another example ofthe supplantation of Christia...
