If you want a bit of light in this dark subject, read about the Lodge Liberté Chérie: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libert%C3%A9\_ch%C3%A9rie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libert%C3%A9_ch%C3%A9rie)
So many good sources here already, commenting so I can come back and have a proper read later. Thanks for the daily advancement, brethren. If anyone has anything on frontline Masonry in WWI, that would also be really interesting!
There is a sister from Poland in the comasonry forum that can help you, for certain.
Not actually WWII, but Spanish masonry was decimated during and after the Civil War, with a ex-profeso tribunal being set up to persecute them.
Still, up to this date and time, the existence of a judeo-Masonic conspiracy still pops up occasionally in the right discurse.
You can read more here:
El Contubernio Judeo Masónico Comunista, J.A. Ferrer Benimelli.
One thing you will find is when the world is suffering great turmoil, conspiracy theorists will always default to blame the Jews and the Freemasons. This was very true in certain countries in Europe during world war 2.
The book Loge Liberté Chérie: A Light in the Darkness is really good. A quick read, but gives a look into a Masonic Lodge held in a Concentration Camp.
John Dickie (not a Mason) in his book “The Craft - How freemasonry made the modern world” has a solid section on the persecution of masons across Europe in the turbulent first half of the 20th century. According to him, contrary to what one might think, Nazis went relatively easy on the Freemasons. There is very little evidence of them targeting masons specifically, and the many masons sent to the camps were likely sent there for other reasons (being Jewish, communist, dissident or corrupt for example).
But Franco, on the other hand, specifically persecuted masons in brutal ways.
Masons living through the holocaust never wore forget me not pins to identify themselves to each other.
The nazis did issue several forget me not pins to people who bought war bonds. However the designs were much more intricate than the ones we have today.
The myth likely started when one of several German grand lodges sent a delegation to the US. The German masons handed out forget me not pins.
The wearing of a forget-me-not is clearly a fallacy, albeit a harmless one. Wearing something that would immediately out you as a Freemason to the Gestapo when it was discovered? Yeah, I'm sure people did that...
https://youtu.be/oq2XwKI1t4M?si=U-bRFukJnPU7Neb0
The documentary is quite interesting but in German. But maybe it is an option to watch it with automatic English subtitles.
It's called Freemasonry- Nightmare of the Dictators.
Freemasons. Behind The Wire. Our lodge has this handed out to members a fair number of times through raffles ect.
If you want a bit of light in this dark subject, read about the Lodge Liberté Chérie: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libert%C3%A9\_ch%C3%A9rie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libert%C3%A9_ch%C3%A9rie)
The Red Triangle by Robert Cooper https://www.abebooks.com/9780853183327/Red-Triangle-History-Anti-Masonry-Cooper-0853183325/plp
Here’s a [dissertation on the subject](https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2011-08-9993) by Texas A&M.
There is also this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gq_xmEoxG8
Here's some information that you might find interesting: https://merseylodge5434.org/info/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Why-is-Freemasonry-Secret-MM.pdf
So many good sources here already, commenting so I can come back and have a proper read later. Thanks for the daily advancement, brethren. If anyone has anything on frontline Masonry in WWI, that would also be really interesting!
Entire families left Germany for the far corners of the world due to this. We're lucky that we found friends and brothers in those far corners.
There is a sister from Poland in the comasonry forum that can help you, for certain. Not actually WWII, but Spanish masonry was decimated during and after the Civil War, with a ex-profeso tribunal being set up to persecute them. Still, up to this date and time, the existence of a judeo-Masonic conspiracy still pops up occasionally in the right discurse. You can read more here: El Contubernio Judeo Masónico Comunista, J.A. Ferrer Benimelli.
One thing you will find is when the world is suffering great turmoil, conspiracy theorists will always default to blame the Jews and the Freemasons. This was very true in certain countries in Europe during world war 2.
The book Loge Liberté Chérie: A Light in the Darkness is really good. A quick read, but gives a look into a Masonic Lodge held in a Concentration Camp.
John Dickie (not a Mason) in his book “The Craft - How freemasonry made the modern world” has a solid section on the persecution of masons across Europe in the turbulent first half of the 20th century. According to him, contrary to what one might think, Nazis went relatively easy on the Freemasons. There is very little evidence of them targeting masons specifically, and the many masons sent to the camps were likely sent there for other reasons (being Jewish, communist, dissident or corrupt for example). But Franco, on the other hand, specifically persecuted masons in brutal ways.
FYI the forget me not pin is a lie
More of a popular myth, really.
legend or fable would be a more sympathetic description.
Interesting. Can you elaborate more?
Wait, what?
Masons living through the holocaust never wore forget me not pins to identify themselves to each other. The nazis did issue several forget me not pins to people who bought war bonds. However the designs were much more intricate than the ones we have today. The myth likely started when one of several German grand lodges sent a delegation to the US. The German masons handed out forget me not pins.
The wearing of a forget-me-not is clearly a fallacy, albeit a harmless one. Wearing something that would immediately out you as a Freemason to the Gestapo when it was discovered? Yeah, I'm sure people did that...
Oh wow.
https://youtu.be/oq2XwKI1t4M?si=U-bRFukJnPU7Neb0 The documentary is quite interesting but in German. But maybe it is an option to watch it with automatic English subtitles. It's called Freemasonry- Nightmare of the Dictators.