Sex Cult Guru Backed By Bronfmans Once Said Leader Was Hitler Reincarnated
The arrested leader of a sex cult backed by heiresses of the prominent Jewish philanthropic Bronfman family reportedly once said that another high-ranking official in the movement was a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler.
Reporter Frank Parlato has heavily covered NXIVM, the movement whose leader, Keith Raniere, has been arrested on sex trafficking charges. Parlato reported last year that Raniere once explained to his followers that one of his duties is to purify the world of the bad karma belonging to past Nazis and make them ethical human beings. Each of his disciples were told by Raniere who they were in a past life. If the women did not obey his orders, they were told they would return to the kind of behavior they exhibited during their Nazi past.
The Hitler in the group was reportedly the NXIVM organization’s president, Nancy Salzman. She had previously been told that she was a Jewish concentration camp victim.
Raniere has since 2003 been the head of NXIVM, which characterizes itself as a self-help organization. Raniere’s promise to participants was to introduce “a new ethical understanding” and “self-determination.” Authorities said that he took advantage of his position of power by branding women, locking them into having a master-slave relationship with him and coercing the women into sex out of fear.
Raniere was arrested in March near a resort in Mexico on sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit forced labor charges. He remains behind bars awaiting trial in Brooklyn. The cult is reportedly still operating in some capacity thanks to Raniere’s most devoted followers.
Salzman, as well as financial supporters Clare and Sara Bronfman, could face their own indictments, cult survivor and expert Steven Hassan told Vice.
Contact Haley Cohen at hcohen@forward.com
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
