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Fraternal Ties in Nationalist Eyes: the Fate of Freemasonry in the Age of European Nationalism

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Fraternal Ties in Nationalist Eyes: the Fate of Freemasonry in the Age of European Nationalism University of North Georgia Nighthawks Open Institutional Repository History, Anthropology & Philosophy Theses and Department of History, Anthropology & Projects Philosophy Fall 2017 Fraternal Ties in Nationalist Eyes: the Fate of Freemasonry in the Age of European Nationalism Daniel P. Bennett University of North Georgia, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.northgeorgia.edu/histphil_etd Part of the European History Commons, Political History Commons, and the Social History Commons Recommended Citation Bennett, Daniel P., "Fraternal Ties in Nationalist Eyes: the Fate of Freemasonry in the Age of European Nationalism" (2017). History, Anthropology & Philosophy Theses and Projects. 8. https://digitalcommons.northgeorgia.edu/histphil_etd/8 This Open Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of History, Anthropology & Philosophy at Nighthawks Open Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in History, Anthropology & Philosophy Theses and Projects by an authorized administrator of Nighthawks Open Institutional Repository. Fraternal Ties in Nationalist Eyes: The Fate of Freemasonry in the Age of European Nationalism Thesis by DANIEL PATTEN BENNETT Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of The University of North Georgia In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF WORLD HISTORY December 16, 2017 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are numerous people whom I owe a great deal of gratitude to for the completion of this manuscript. I owe a huge thank you to my wife, Shea Bennett for bearing with me through Graduate School. She took double duty through the first year of our child’s life so that I could hide in the office to read or write. God knows how many assignments she proofread for me, in addition to proofreading almost every page of this work. She has been my friend and ally through this whole process and has given some of the best constructive criticism possible for someone who knew so little about what it was I was writing about. She also did a wonderful job of keeping me sane and grounded through the whole endeavor, always helping me to walk away when I needed to. I owe a huge thank you to Arturo de Hoyos, Grand Archivist for the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction for his invaluable assistance in tracking down the Masonic scholar Alain Bernheim in Switzerland. If it were not for Alain Bernheim, this project would have never come to fruition. He answered some American Graduate student’s email regarding Leopold Müffleman and not only that but provided me with material, without which, this work would have been nigh impossible to complete. To Tony Costello of the Manchester Association for Masonic Research for forwarding me a copy of the 1972 Transactions all the way from England helping me to fill in some blanks in my research. To Danny C. Wofford, I thank you for the time you spent sitting at the Atlanta Masonic Center so that I could have hours of access to the Masonic library there. To the Georgia College Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis in allowing me to present this manuscript almost in toto over two annual meetings, thank you. The indulgence of the members allowed me to work out the complications in my argument and realize just how massive a work I had produced. Finally, thank you to Dr. Richard Byers for being one of the most encouraging, helpful, and all-around superb professors and committee chairs that I could have had or worked with. Without him calling me into his office and challenging me to expand the initial case study for my thesis, again, this manuscript would have never been produced. To anyone I might have forgotten who read, critiqued, offered advice, or listened, Thank you. i ABSTRACT Europe’s twentieth century history is filled with stories of minorities, social groups, and institutions facing persecution at the hands of authoritarian, fascist, or nationalist governments. Freemasons, though not usually widely analyzed outside of Masonic research bodies, were one of many groups which faced this onslaught of persecution. Though there have been many reasons proffered for this persecution— support for democratic or republican ideals, Jewish references in Masonic rituals, freethinking attitudes within the Lodge itself—this thesis shows a different side of the story. This thesis demonstrates through a comparative analysis of a number of countries and a case study examining Nazi Germany itself, that in fact what aroused suspicions regarding Freemasons in the minds of European nationalist demagogues more than anything else was the alleged, and in many cases real, internationalist outlook and cosmopolitan attitude of many Lodges in Europe at the time. Most held an idealistic view of what the Masonic Fraternity as a whole could bring to a world recently wracked and torn by war and bloodshed: a fraternal union of all humanity without reference to race, color, creed, or national origin. This internationalist outlook made Freemasons threatening to right-wing nationalist European governments. An institution that put the needs of humanity as a whole before the needs of the state and national glory, was not a welcome institution in many of the affected countries during this period. Therefore, for many, Freemasons formed both a potential and a real “fifth column” which placed them in the crosshairs of many governments of twentieth century Europe. Masons themselves paid a heavy price, losing their Lodges, their possessions, and ultimately their lives. What these governments ultimately failed to extract from many of them though, was their integrity. ii NOMENCLATURE 3WK Grosse Nationalmutterloge Zu den drei Weltkugeln A&ASR Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite ERR Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg FO Freimaurerorden (i.e. GLL) FzaS Freimaurerbund zur aufgehended Sonne GLL Grosse Landesloge der Freimaurer von Deutschland LFRC Law for the Repression of Freemasonry and Communists LPR Law of Political Responsibilities NSDAP Nationalsocialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei RSHA Reichsicherheitshauptampt RYZF Grossloge von Preussen, gennant (Royal York) Zur Freundschaft SA Sturmabteilung SD Sicherheitsdienst SGvD Symbolische Grossloge von Deutschland SS Schutzstaffeln iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements…………………………………………...............................................i Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………ii Nomenclature……………………………………………………………………………..iii Table of Contents................................................................................................................iv Chapter 1: Introduction………………………………………...………………………….1 Chapter 2: Historiographical Overview and Historical Arguments……………………....12 Chapter 3: A Brief History of the Beginnings and Propagation of European Freemasonry………………………………………………......44 Chapter 4: The Protocols and the Judeo-Masonic Conspiracy……………………………68 Chapter 5: History of Repression and Anti-Masonry Movements in Europe…………….84 Chapter 6: Case Study: Rebuilding the Temple: Repression, Resistance, and Rebirth of Freemasonry in Nazi Germany and Its Occupied Territories………..….107 Chapter 7: Post-War Reemergence of Freemasonry in Europe………………………….158 Chapter 8: Conclusion………………………...………………………………………...168 References iv 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION On January 26, 2016, news broke of a foiled terrorist attack on a Masonic building in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The planned attack on the Humphrey Scottish Rite Masonic Center by Samy Mohamed Hamzeh was thwarted by FBI informants and undercover agents posing as sympathetic accomplices and weapons dealers, respectively. Hamzeh had initially wanted to attack Israelis in the West Bank, but opted instead for an attack on the Masonic Center. After taking a tour of the building to scout out the area, his plan was to “ʻcommit a mass shooting intended to kill dozens of people’” which he hoped would set off broader clashes worldwide. The plan was for the three-man team to first kill the receptionist and then after posting a watch, enter the Lodge room and “ʻspray everyone in the room.’” His goal was to massacre everyone and anyone possible within the Lodge rooms, but he had anticipated killing at least thirty people. When questioned about his motives, his response was quite telling. Hamzeh stated that “ʻThey are all Masonic; they are playing with the world like a game, man, and we are like asses, we don't know what is going on, these are the ones who are fighting, these are the ones that need to be killed, not the Shi'iat, because these are the ones who are against us, these are the ones who are making living for us like hell.’”1 1 John Diedrich, "FBI Thwarts Mass Shooting at Milwaukee Masonic Center," The Milwaukee- Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, January 26, 2016, accessed June 21, 2016, http://archive.jsonline.com/news/crime/fbi-thwarts-mass-shooting-at-milwaukee-masonic-temple- b99659005z1-366609371.html. 2 Two points of note regarding this news item should stand out. One is that to Hamzeh, an attack on the Masonic Center which had been part of the Milwaukee community since the mid-1800s served as a comparable substitute for attacks on Israelis themselves. The second is Hamzah’s belief that Freemasons in Milwaukee—and by association Masons everywhere—exerted control of events half a world away, thus “playing the world like a game.” Hamzah truly believed that in striking out against Freemasons, he could thus gain retribution for attacks on Sunni Muslims while possibly triggering a larger battle against Masonic “forces” or the forces they “controlled.”
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