The book discusses religious descriptions of Nazism. In the secular twentieth century, two important German writers perceive Nazism in religious terms: the unprecedented brutality and violence evoked the ancient image of the devil, reincarnated in a new form. Mann and Hochhuth portray the Nazi regime and the Holocaust in the light of the Judeo-Christian devil and the legend of a pact with the devil. Before the war, Klaus Mann interprets the rise of Nazism as a manifestation of devilishness which lies within man. Mephisto became part of the German mind, dictating its thoughts and actions. After the war, as the atrocities of the Holocaust were known, Hochhuth believes that a transcendental power is directing history; Doctor Mengele is yet another incarnation of the ancient devil, dominating the fate of man.