Martin Bormann, Hitler's 'deputy' from 1941, saw Nazism and Christianity as incompatible and had a particular loathing for the Semitic origins of Christianity. The concept of 'Positive Christianity' was strongly supported by the Nazi movement, particularly by Alfred Rosenberg, a German philosopher and proponent of the Nazi ideology. Advocating 'Positive Christianity', he planned the "extermination of the foreign Christian faiths imported into Germany", and for the Bible and Christian cross to be replaced with Mein Kampf and the swastika. He believed that Protestant and Catholic churches had distorted Christianity, moving the perception of Jesus away from the Aryan view. Rosenberg wanted to use the idea of positive Christianity as a transition to easily move towards a more fully racialist faith. While Hitler supported and approved of Rosenberg's ideas, he distanced himself to some extent in order to maintain the support of conservative Christians. However, in the world of "The Man in the High Castle," with the power that Hitler has gained, he gradually closed this distance resulting in full support of Rosenberg's racialist faith. Therefore, in "The Man in the High Castle," the Bible as we know it was banned throughout the Reich.
In the world of "The Man in the High Castle," "American Reich" is a hugely popular television series within the Greater Nazi Reich. It centers around the solving of local crimes by two clearly Aryan detectives, Ralph Foreman and Hans Dekker, who operate strictly within the Nazi moral code. The characters promote putting society first, even before family, and doing what is best for the greater good of the Reich. Played by two well-known stars of the Greater Nazi Reich, this detective duo is much loved throughout the Reich globally.
Little has changed in the Neutral Zone, since it was left predominantly ungoverned by the Nazis and Japanese. Most evidently here is the music, which has had neither German nor Japanese influences, and remains true to the American music of the 1940s.
This song, Sukiyaki, spent three weeks at the top of the billboard charts in 1963 and was already a huge hit in Japan before it was released in America. It symbolized Japan's return to the world after the destruction of WWII. It is sung by 21 year old Kyu Sakamoto, who in many ways, was the face of post war Japan. The story of the song however, is one of sadness and loss, looking back on the failure of the protest movement in Japan in the 1950s when there was still an American military presence there. It left many young people feeling disillusioned about the impact of protesting. The lyrics of the song describe trying to stem tears while looking to the future for good fortune, looking back in sorrow, whilst also hopeful that the future will be better.
Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister for Propaganda, had control over all forms of communication in Nazi Germany and ensured that any influences he deemed threatening to the Nazi regime were heavily censored or eliminated altogether. Art, books, movies, music, radio, and newspaper all underwent censorship. While materials by Jewish writers and artists were swiftly banned, purely due to the ethnicity of its creator, non-Jewish materials were also banned if the ideas dissented from the Nazi ideal. In the world of "The Man in the High Castle," Mark Twain would have been a banned author. The essay he wrote in 1880 titled 'The Awful German Language', probably wasn't looked upon favorably by the Nazis.