Reddit mentions of The Master Plan: Himmler's Scholars and the Holocaust

Putting a strong state emphasis on ancestral heritage through advocacy of historical research seems like an effective way of promoting nationalism & stronger social ties, so I can see why they put value in this. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of information on the Ahnenerbe in English. Finding accurate info is especially difficult when it comes to this kind of topic - a huge number of pseudohistorical books on SS research have piled up which spread a lot of nonsense about occultism, Atlantis, the Holy Grail, etc., like Ravenscroft's godawful The Spear of Destiny. If you want more information I'd try Heather Pringle's book. I haven't read it myself but I've read her article 'Hitler's Willing Architects' and it's probably the best you'll do until someone translates Kater's Das "Ahnenerbe" Der SS into English.

Which is a pity, because it's a really interesting topic. The expeditions to Tibet, the theories on Aryan origins in India, and the organization's attitude towards Gypsies provide evidence of a more complex attitude towards race than most people usually give the National Socialists credit for. The Ahnenerbe also did a lot to promote interest in and funding for archaeological research, which was partly intended to promote 'blood and soil' ideology, although (according to Speer) Hitler wasn't as sold on its value:

> Why do we call the whole world's attention to the fact that we have no past? It isn't enough that the Romans were erecting great buildings when our forefathers were still living in mud huts; now Himmler is starting to dig up these villages of mud huts and enthusing over every potsherd and stone axe he finds. All we prove by that is that we were still throwing stone hatchets and crouching around open fires when Greece and Rome had already reached the highest stage of culture. We really should do our best to keep quiet about this past. Instead Himmler makes a great fuss about it all. The present-day Romans must be having a laugh at these relegations.

Rosenberg in his Memoirs also talks negatively about Ahnenerbe, although I think that's more because it was overshadowing his own research institutions.