--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Michał Grynberg, ed., Words to Outlive…" description: "\"“Michał Grynberg, ed., Words to Outlive Us: Eyewitness Accounts from the Warsaw Ghetto, trans. Philip Boehm (London: Granta Books, 2003), p. 46. At one..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc2/diane-ackerman-1035_books_micha-grynberg-ed-words-to-outlive-us-ey_2981395.png" --- # Michał Grynberg, ed., Words to Outlive Us: Eyewitness… ![“Michał Grynberg, ed., Words to Outlive Us: Eyewitness Accounts from the Warsaw Ghetto, trans. Philip Boehm (London: Granta Books, 2003), p. 46. At one point Himmler invited Werner Heisenberg to establish an institute to study icy stars because, according to the cosmology of Welteislehre, based on…” quote by Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc2/diane-ackerman-1035_books_micha-grynberg-ed-words-to-outlive-us-ey_2981395.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc2/diane-ackerman-1035_books_micha-grynberg-ed-words-to-outlive-us-ey_2981395.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc2/diane-ackerman-1035_books_micha-grynberg-ed-words-to-outlive-us-ey_2981395.png) > ““Michał Grynberg, ed., Words to Outlive Us: Eyewitness Accounts from the Warsaw Ghetto, trans. Philip Boehm (London: Granta Books, 2003), p. 46. At one point Himmler invited Werner Heisenberg to establish an institute to study icy stars because, according to the cosmology of Welteislehre, based on the observations of the Austrian Hanns Hörbiger (author of Glazial-Kosmogonie\[1913\]), most bodies in the solar system, our moon included, are giant icebergs. A refrigeration engineer, Hörbiger was persuaded by how shiny the moon and planets appeared at night, and also by Norse mythology, in which the solar system emerged from a gigantic collision between fire and ice, with ice winning. Hörbiger died in 1931, but his theory became popular among Nazi scientists and Hitler swore that the unusually cold winters in the 1940s proved the reality of Welteislehre. Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke's The Occult Roots of Nazism explores the influence of such magnetic lunatics as Karl Maria Wiligut, "the Private Magus of Heinrich Himmler," whose doctrines influenced SS ideology, logos, ceremonies, and the image of its members as latter-day Knights Templars and future breeding stock for the coming Aryan utopia. To this end, Himmler founded Ahnenerbe, an institute for the study of German prehistory, archaeology, and race, whose staff wore SS uniforms. Himmler also acquired Wewelsburg Castle in Westphalia to use immediately for SS education and pseudoreligious ceremonies, and remodel into a future site altogether more ambitious, "creating an SS vati-can on an enormous scale at the center of the millenarian greater Germanic Reich."   "In”” [Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Nazi leaders embraced pseudoscientific theories to legitimize ideology, showing how fringe ideas can infiltrate power structures. **In simple terms:** Nazi use of weird science to justify beliefs. Key Takeaway Question sources of authority and evidence. Themes history politics science psychology Mood cautious critical Type historical analytical When to use this quote - academic research - political analysis - education - media literacy Key Concepts propaganda mythmaking ideology Questions to Reflect On - How can societies guard against pseudo‑science in governance? - What role does charismatic leadership play in spreading false ideas? A Different Perspective Such theories can be dismissed as absurd, yet they can still influence policy if unchallenged. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Fire and ice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fire-and-ice/) [Himmler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/himmler/) [Norse Mythology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/norse-mythology/) [Solar system](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solar-system/) ## Related quotes > [“He was a strange mix of Heinrich Himmler and Barney the Dinosaur.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-eriksson/he-was-a-strange-mix-of-heinrich-himmler-and-barney-the-dinosaur/) [Jonas Eriksson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-eriksson/) > [“In 1940, Heinrich Himmler, wanting to extend SS influence to the rocket program, pressured Wernher von Braun into joining the organization despite his lack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-river-editors/in-1940-heinrich-himmler-wanting-to-extend-ss-influence-to-the-rocket/) [Charles River Editors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-river-editors/) > [Can Ken Starr ignore the apparent breadth of the sympathetic response to the President's speech? 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At one point Himmler invited Werner Heisenberg to establish an institute to study icy stars because, according to the cosmology of Welteislehre, based on the observations of the Austrian Hanns Hörbiger (author of Glazial-Kosmogonie[1913]), most bodies in the solar system, our moon included, are giant icebergs. A refrigeration engineer, Hörbiger was persuaded by how shiny the moon and planets appeared at night, and also by Norse mythology, in which the solar system emerged from a gigantic collision between fire and ice, with ice winning. Hörbiger died in 1931, but his theory became popular among Nazi scientists and Hitler swore that the unusually cold winters in the 1940s proved the reality of Welteislehre. Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke's The Occult Roots of Nazism explores the influence of such magnetic lunatics as Karl Maria Wiligut, \"the Private Magus of Heinrich Himmler,\" whose doctrines influenced SS ideology, logos, ceremonies, and the image of its members as latter-day Knights Templars and future breeding stock for the coming Aryan utopia. To this end, Himmler founded Ahnenerbe, an institute for the study of German prehistory, archaeology, and race, whose staff wore SS uniforms. Himmler also acquired Wewelsburg Castle in Westphalia to use immediately for SS education and pseudoreligious ceremonies, and remodel into a future site altogether more ambitious, \"creating an SS vati-can on an enormous scale at the center of the millenarian greater Germanic Reich.\"   \"In”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Diane Ackerman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/micha-grynberg-ed-words-to-outlive-us-eyewitness-accounts-from-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/micha-grynberg-ed-words-to-outlive-us-eyewitness-accounts-from-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc2/diane-ackerman-1035_books_micha-grynberg-ed-words-to-outlive-us-ey_2981395.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc2/diane-ackerman-1035_books_micha-grynberg-ed-words-to-outlive-us-ey_2981395.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc2/diane-ackerman-1035_books_micha-grynberg-ed-words-to-outlive-us-ey_2981395.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Michał Grynberg, ed., Words to Outlive Us: Eyewitness Accounts from the Warsaw Ghetto, trans. 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