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2026 - Volume 9 - Number 1

Atlantis, Racism, and Nazism: A Parable Turned Pseudo-Science

Samantha Widd * ORCID: 0009-0009-0150-4925
Oak Park and River Forest High School, Oak Park, UNITED STATES

Open Journal for Studies in History, 2026, 9(1), 11-14 * https://doi.org/10.32591/coas.ojsh.0901.02011w
Received: 29 January 2026 ▪ Revised: 22 March 2026 ▪ Accepted: 29 April 2026

LICENCE: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

ARTICLE (Full Text - PDF)

ABSTRACT:
This essay examines the allegory posed by Plato, the story of Atlantis. The story of Atlantis is a cautionary tale warning against government hubris and the dangers of moral decay. Warning became history in the 19th century when figures such as Donelly proposed the idea of Atlantis being real. Atlantis was distorted further in the 1930s and 40s by Heinrich Himmler in his quest to justify Nazism and the Holocaust. Here I explore the shift from allegory into science and finally into a twisted excuse for the eradication of an entire race of people. I gathered research on the initial myth posed by Plato, then the shift in the narrative during the science heavy 19th century. To bolster my research, I looked into historical figures such as Donnely, Himmler, and Hitler to get a full picture. I include research from historical texts such as, Timaeus and Critias, and Donnelly’s Atlantis: The Antediluvian World. Secondary sources include scholarly analysis of the 19th century and Nazi ideology. Such works include those by Kurlander and Goodrick-Clarke. This essay is a synthesis of the above sources and more with the goal of understanding and examining the evolution of the story of Atlantis and its use.

KEY WORDS: Atlantis, Nazi, Plato, Holocaust, pseudoscience.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR:
Samantha Widd, Oak Park and River Forest High School, Oak Park, UNITED STATES.

REFERENCES:

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