Relations between Spanish Archaeologists and Nazi Germany (1939–1945): A preliminary examination of the influence of Das Ahnenerbe in Spain

Abstract

Julio Martínez Santa Olalla, appointed Commissioner-General for Archaeological Excavations at the Spanish Ministry of National Education and Fine Arts in 1939, established, with the support of the Falange (Spain’s fascist political organisation), relations with the Third Reich’s Das Ahnenerbe, a research institute that formed part of the Allgemeine SS commanded by Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler. The first collaboration between the two institutions comprised the excavation of the Visigothic necropolis of Castiltierra (Segovia).In October 1940, during Himmler’s official visit to Spain, the personal relationship established between Himmler and Martínez Santa Olalla resulted in a plan to set up a Falange-sponsored institution for archaeological research modelled on that of Das Ahnenerbe. Political, academic and personal relations were maintained between Martínez Santa Olalla and SS members Sievers, Wüst, Langsdorff and Jankuhn, and also with the Amt Rosenberg directed by Reichsminister Alfred Rosenberg, until the fall of the Nazi regime. This study analyses these and other relations between Spanish archaeologists and Nazi Germany between 1939 and 1945.