Constantine’s Crossing (Konstantinovo raskršće) primarily refers to a popular supernatural historical-thriller novel from Serbia, now adapted for TV. Written by Serbian author Dejan Stojiljković and originally published in 2009. It is set in World War II, in occupied Niš, Serbia (the birthplace of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, thus explaining the title)

SS Major Heinrich Kahn is sent by Heinrich Himmler and Adolf Hitler to find Constantine the Great’s ancient battle sword and armory hidden beneath the city’s catacombs. Amidst the wartime chaos, Allied bombings, and a local civil war, a series of gruesome murders plague the town, whispering of a dark, non-human or vampiric threat.

Warning if you plan to watch it: the clip and one of the pictures are spoilers.

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This plot is more plausible than it sounds.

Was Hitler likely to have believed that ancient weapons possessed supernatural powers? No.

Would he allow Himmler and other subordinates to pursue such irrational ideas? Yes.

In fact, the premise of that Serbian novel is remarkably close to some actual Nazi activities. The search for Constantine’s sword is fictional, but has historical counterparts. The SS officer Otto Rahn genuinely searched for evidence connecting the medieval Cathars to the Holy Grail legend. His writings attracted the attention of SS chief Heinrich Himmler, and stories subsequently circulated about Himmler organizing a great expedition to recover a magically powerful Grail.

These particular stories are now generally regarded as exaggerations and embellishments, but historian Eric Kurlander posited in “Hitler’s Monsters: A Supernatural History of the Third Reich” that supernatural thinking had more influence on Nazism than historians have traditionally acknowledged. Other historians dispute aspects of Kurlander’s thesis, but it does seem that Himmler was busy trying to reconstruct a mythical history that would justify the regime’s existence. One could easily imagine Himmler dispatching an SS officer on a mission to find a mystical sword, although there is no reason to assume that Hitler would have been involved.

Himmler was a genuine occult enthusiast, fascinated by ancient pagan religions, reincarnation, mysterious artifacts, and the possibility that forgotten civilizations possessed knowledge that modern humanity had lost. He explored the possibility that the Germanic peoples were heirs to an ancient, spiritually superior civilization. He promoted Germanic pagan mythology, took reincarnation seriously, and sponsored research into supposedly lost Aryan traditions.

He intended to make Wewelsburg Castle an ideological center of the SS, envisioning it as a gathering place for the organization’s elite, complete with elaborate ceremonies. His grandest plans were never completed, and later claims about magical rituals there are unsupported.

In 1935 Himmler helped establish the Ahnenerbe, an organization ostensibly dedicated to studying ancestral Germanic heritage. In practice, it produced ideological pseudoscience alongside some conventional research. Its activities included investigations of ancient runes, Germanic mythology, and supposed Aryan origins. Himmler’s circle even supported an expedition to Tibet in 1938–39, partly inspired by theories about the geographical origins of the Aryans.

Hitler, however, actually ridiculed Himmler’s mysticism. According to Albert Speer, Hitler once exclaimed:

“What nonsense! Here we have at last reached an age that has left all mysticism behind it, and now he wants to start that all over again.”

Speer’s recollection can’t be regarded as a verbatim record, but it fits other evidence of Hitler’s impatience with occult enthusiasts. In fact, Hitler’s regime cracked down on astrologers, clairvoyants, and other occult practitioners, particularly after Rudolf Hess’s bizarre flight to Scotland in 1941, which the regime blamed partly on his involvement with astrologers.

Epilogue:

There’s one surprising piece of evidence that complicates the picture of Hitler as a complete skeptic. Historian Timothy Ryback examined books from Hitler’s personal library, including a 1923 volume entitled “Magic: History, Theory and Practice,” by Ernst Schertel. Hitler’s copy contained numerous pencil markings, suggesting he had actually read and considered parts of it. Among the passages he marked was one proposing that a person must possess something demonic within himself to create a new world. That is fascinating evidence of his intellectual engagement with occult ideas, although underlining a passage doesn’t establish that he believed in literal magic.