Heinrich Himmler's stash of books on witchcraft is discovered in Czech library after being hidden for 50 years 

• German SS chief amassed a 13,000 volume library on the occult
• Had warped belief mysticism was proof of Aryan racial superiority
• Some books were part of the Norwegian order of Freemasons' library 

By ALLAN HALL IN BERLIN FOR MAILONLINE and BEN TUFFT FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 09:27 EST, 18 March 2016 | UPDATED: 17:40 EST, 18 March 2016

Heinrich Himmler, SS chief under Hitler, was obsessed with the occult and mysticism

A rare library of books on witches and the occult that was assembled by Nazi SS chief Heinrich Himmler in the war has been discovered in the Czech Republic.

Himmler was obsessed with the occult and mysticism, believing the hocus-pocus books held the key to Ayran supremacy in the world.

The books - part of a 13,000-strong collection - were found in a depot of the National Library of Czech Republic near Prague which has not been accessed since the 1950s.

Norwegian Masonic researcher Bjørn Helge Horrisland told the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang that some of the books come from the library of the Norwegian order of Freemasons in Oslo, seized during the Nazi occupation of the country.

In 1935 Himmler founded the 'H Sonderkommando' - H standing for Hexe, the German word for witch - to collate as much material as possible on sorcery, the occult and the supernatural. 

The bulk of the collection was called the 'Witches Library' and concentrated on witches and their persecution in medieval Germany.

One of Himmler's quack theories was that the Roman Catholic Church tried to destroy the German race through witch hunts.

He also discovered that one of his own ancestors was burned as a witch.  Read more...