Freemasonry is one of the world's oldest secular fraternal
societies. The essential qualification for admission is a belief in
a Supreme Being and to be of good repute.
Freemasonry is open to men of many religions and it expects them
to continue to follow their own faith. Freemasonry is a system of
morality, not a system of faith or salvation and is complimentary
to the belief of the individual. Indeed, lodge meetings, in order
to ensure harmony, expressly forbid the discussion of either
religion or politics.
Freemasonry asks that each of its members shows tolerance and
respect for the opinions of others and behave with kindness and
understanding to his fellow man. Its members, in varying degrees,
are involved with numerous local, national and international
charitable works, both by charitable giving and by voluntary
efforts and works as individuals.
Freemasonry demands from its members a respect for the law of
the country in which a man works and lives. Freemasonry does not
override the individuals duty to one’s self, one’s
family ones God or work.
Masonic meetings have a set structure and consistent content and
although their organization and ceremonies have been shrouded in
secrecy in the past, are now largely open to public scrutiny one
way or another – United Grand Lodge of England even hires PR
consultants these days to help get their message across fairly.
Whilst Masonic lodges are private, their members are happy to talk
about any virtually any aspect of Freemasonry, except their modes
of recognition.
A Freemason is encouraged to do his duty first to God (by
whatever name he is known) and then, without detriment to his work
or family, to his neighbour (in the broadest sense) through charity
and service. None of these ideas are exclusively Masonic, but the
setting in which they are practiced, the spirit of friendship which
is prevalent among its members and the opportunity for a convivial
dinner after such meetings surely is.
Some governments, mostly authoritarian, and virtually all
totalitarian, regimes have treated Freemasonry as a potential
source of opposition due to its secret nature and international
connections. It has been alleged by Masonic scholars that the
language used by the totalitarian regimes is similar to that used
by some modern critics of Freemasonry.
The Nazis claimed that high degree Masons were willing members
of "the Jewish conspiracy" and that Freemasonry was one of the
causes of Germany's loss of the First World War. In Mein Kampf,
Adolf Hitler writes that Freemasonry has "succumbed" to the Jews
and has become an "excellent instrument" to fight for their aims
and to use their "strings" to pull the upper strata of society into
their alleged designs. He continues, "The general pacifistic
paralysis of the national instinct of self-preservation begun by
Freemasonry" is then transmitted to the masses of society by the
press. In 1933 Hermann Göring, the Reichstag President and one of
the key figures in the process of Gleichschaltung
("synchronization"), states "..in National Socialist Germany, there
is no place for Freemasonry."
The Enabling Act (Ermächtigungsgesetz in German) was passed by
Germany's parliament (the Reichstag) on March 23, 1933. Using the
"Act", on January 8, 1934 the German Ministry of the Interior
ordered the disbandment of Freemasonry, and confiscation of the
property of all Lodges; stating that those who had been members of
Lodges when Hitler came to power, in January 1933, were prohibited
from holding office in the Nazi party or its paramilitary arms, and
were ineligible for appointment in public service. Consistently
considered an ideological foe of Nazism in their world perception
(Weltauffassung), special sections of the Security Service (SD) and
later the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) were established to
deal with the Freemasonry. Freemasonic concentration camp inmates
were graded as “Political” prisoners, and wore an
inverted (point down) red triangle.
In March 1935 According to Joseph Goebbels, the Soviet Union's
recent inclusion in the League of Nations was engineered by 300
"members of the Jewish race and conspirators of Freemasonry." On
August 8, 1935, as Führer and Chancellor, Adolf Hitler announced in
the Nazi Party newspaper, Voelkischer Beobachter, the final
dissolution of all Masonic Lodges in Germany. The article accused a
conspiracy of the Fraternity and “World Jewry” of
seeking to create a “World Republic”. In 1937 Joseph
Goebbels inaugurated an "Anti-Masonic Exposition" to display
objects seized by the state. The Ministry of Defence forbid
officers from becoming Freemasons, with officers who remained as
Masons being sidelined.
During the war, Freemasonry was banned by edict in all countries
that were either allied with the Nazis or under Nazi control,
including Norway and France. Anti-Masonic exhibitions were held in
many occupied countries. Field-Marshal Friedrich Paulus was
denounced as a "High-grade Freemason" when he surrendered to the
Soviet Union in 1943.
The preserved records of the RSHA - Reichssicherheitshauptamt
Office of the High Command of Security Service pursuing the racial
objectives of the SS through Race and Resettlement Office, show the
persecution of the Freemasons. The number of Freemasons from Nazi
occupied countries who were killed is not accurately known, but it
is estimated that between 80,000 and 200,000 Freemasons were
murdered under the Nazi regime.
A Masonic Calculation
When the Nazis succeeded in catching a Freemason, they found
that his papers were in code. This division calculation was among
them. By carefully studying it, a Nazi cryptographer was able to
break the Freemason’s number code. The only assumptions the
cryptographer made were that different letters stood for different
digits and that the Freemason’s arithmetic was correct. Can
you equal the feat?
The following substitutions are acceptable to find the cache.
S 26 HF.BKB
E 28 HJ.ABH
You can check your answers for this puzzle on
Geochecker.com.
