January 22, 1941, Maryland. A "youthful band of idealists" head out to a remote cabin. Sure, they may be well-stocked with booze, but this isn't a typical party. These guests are planning a black magic hex on Adolf Hitler. LIFE Magazine accompanied the "cult" and reported on the festivities in their February 10th, 1941 issue.
Joined by occultist and author William Seabrook, the partygoers came armed with "a dressmaker’s dummy, a Nazi uniform, nails, axes, tom-toms and plenty of Jamaica rum." They dressed the dummy in the Nazi uniform, and chanted things like "Hitler! You are the enemy of man and of the world; therefore we curse you. We curse you by every tear and drop of blood you have caused to flow. We curse you with the curses of all who have cursed you!"
According to LIFE,
“The occult ceremony climaxes as hexers hammer nails into the heart and throat of the image of Hitler. The hexers called on the pagan deity, Istan, to transmit the image’s wounds to the flesh of the living Hitler . . . chanting in unison: ‘We are driving nails and needles into Adolf Hitler’s heart!’
The ceremony ended with the dummy being decapitated and buried in the woods.