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         The Hidden Face of Masonry in NAZI Germany
                       by Victor A. Engel
                                
 It was at this time that Hitler first expressed his anti-Semitic
attitude, to Kubizek, and, joined an organized group titled, "The
hatred for Jews and non-Aryans was formalized seventeen years
later when the first edition of his book "Mein Kampf" was
published on 18 July 1925. "Mein Kampf," (my struggle or fight)
with life and the world is a political book, partisan, not
troubled with truth- or fact, and clearly stating Hitler's hatred
for Jews, the bourgeois (middle class) and their petty
organizations, the very essence of dilettantism.  He vocalized
his feelings when he declared " . . . an open season on Jews,
Freemasons, social Democrats and Jehovah's Witnesses".

   On, Monday, 30 January 1933, Paul von Benechendorf Hindenburg,
caused this same decadent, border-line maniac, Adolf Hitler, to
be sworn in as Reich Chancellor of Germany.

   Between the years 1933 and 1945 all of Germany
was under the brutal, unbelievably inhumane, and iron fisted rule
of the National Socialist German Workers Party - or NAZI's
(N.S.D.A.P.). Founded in the hellish hearth of an uneducated but
very astute political mind with a genius for understanding the
fundamental history which created the philosophical and
authoritarian Weltanschauung of his countrymen, Adolf Hitler,
himself, became an historical landmark, the very epitome of evil.

  The roots of the real misery which was to become the
architecture for a government structure which must inevitably
crumble, can be found in Hitler's book "Mein Kampf." The first
edition of this turgid book sold only 9,473 copies in 1925. In
1933, upon Hitler's being appointed Chancellor, sales of the book
surpassed the one million mark          . After the war (WWII),
Albert Speer, a close friend of Hitler and architect of Reichstag
Chancellory buildings, armament factories and concentration
camps, wrote in his memoir, while he himself was in prison, that
having read and understood Hitler's ruthless and clearly defined
plans for dictatorship in, "Mein Kampf,"

                    "...for had I only wanted to, I could have
found out even then, (January 1931), that Hitler was proclaiming
expansion of the Reich to the east; that he was a rank
anti-semite; that he was committed to a system of authoritarian
rule; that after attaining power he intended to eliminate
democratic procedures, and would, thereafter, yield only to
force."

  The question arises; why didn't many more intelligent and
educated German men who read this book raise their eyebrows, and
lament over what they had read. Maybe they then could have acted
to prevent the horrors which were to rain down on their beloved
Fatherland. Yet, there were some men in Germany who did
understand, and understanding, attempted to slow down or derail
Hitler and his NAZI juggernauts. Arguing in favor of controlling
the malignancy of the social mushroom growing throughout Germany,
their voices were, for the most part, stilled by murder or
imprisonment. The appeasers and others were afraid of any
initiative that Hitler or his followers would frown upon.

     Hitler blamed the catastrophic results of the Versailles
Treaty, the total failure of the Weimar Republic to achieve some
order from economic chaos, and conflicting ideologic groups
violently struggling to wrest the power of government to
themselves equally, on the Freemasons, the Jews and any other
specific non- Aryan group that he could identify. "As Masonry in
America was linked to the 'Morgan Affair', of 1826 so did Hitler
link Masonry to anti-Semitism.

     To give the devil his due, Hitler did straighten out the
mess he inherited in 1933 when he became Reich Chancellor.
However, his hatred, in the case of Freemasons, culminated in a
special police force; the SSS, (Service for Secret Societies),
then being established:

      ". . .for the purpose of pursuing Freemasons
who were excluded from holding public office by a law of August
13, 1940, and kept under surveillance as enemies of the country."

  My research into a history of masonry in Germany during the
NAZI regime has led me to consider Masonry in the abstract.

  Masonry is an abstract concept if we ask the question: what are
its secrets, its mysteries beyond the esoteric rituals? It is in
this same vein of the abstract that I searched for and identified
a large number of Germans, high in the NAZI hierarchy, whom I
believe were, or ought to have been, Masons. Further, their
organizations may have been "lodges at refreshment." Indulge me
as I present a short list of eligible candidates. First, and
possibly the largest, was the Kreisau Circle. The organizer and
leader of this group, was Count Helmuth Von Moltke, who wrote in
his diary just before his death; "To us, Europe after the war is
a question of how the picture of man can be reestablished in the
breasts of our fellow citizens. "Monitor," page 33, "Brotherly
Love.

     Next in line is " . . . the Wednesday Club, a group of
sixteen individuals who gathered once a week to discuss
philosophy, art, science and literature and who as time went on,
- or ran out -, formed one of the centers of the opposition."
"Monitor," page 56, "The Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences."
General Ludwig Beck, Chief of the General Staff, Colonel General,
Freiherr Wener von Fritsch, Commander-in-Chief of the Army (until
January 1938) were founding members of this group.

     The Bauen Haus Gruppe was composed of professional musicians
only. Many, unbeknown to Hitler, were Jewish and often played
Wagner's music to please him.

     I want to focus on another group, the "Berliner Kreis." This
group was one angle of a triangle with the, "Zossen Gruppe," and
the, "Westlosung Komitee." The "Zossen Gruppe," had a direct
entre to Hitler and the Reichstag via Dr. Richard Fischer,
general manager, and Ernest Helmuth Engel, Chief electrical
Engineer (my uncle), of the Berlin Electricity Works.

     The Westlosung underground anti-Hitler group is of
fundamental interest to this paper. It had a roster of eminent
men in the NAZI civilian and military hierarchy.

     An examination of the biography of one of their members,
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, will show the stark truth of the
psyche of not only the general himself but also that of a great
number of the educated and intelligent German citizens during the
Hitler/NAZI regime. We may look at the internal, and not the
external, qualifications of these men to answer the question
(Monitor page 63); was this man, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, a
Mason at heart? If the answer is yes, then, the same criteria
will apply to a long list of others, serving and dying, in the
numerous anti-Hitler groups.

     Erwin Rommel, was born 15 November 1891, in Heidenheim in
the old Duchy of Swabia.

   "The Swabian . . . had and has recognized characteristics.
   He was stable, stolid rather than emotional, in sometimes
   self-consciously dour contrast to his ebullient neighbor in
   Bavaria. He was careful with money, thorough, prudent.
   He was a loyal Wurttemberger, but felt himself superior to
   anybody else in the kingdom. Above all he had common
   sense, a level head, and shrewdness. Rommel, despite his
   panache, his later flair for showmanship, the romantic
   aura his achievements created, was a Swabian through
   and through".

  Rommel in his youth was reared in a basically Prussian
dominated warrior society. The path to an officer's commission
was, in the pre-World War I German army, cluttered with social
(caste), educational, and physical obstacles. Overcoming each of
these obstacles, Erwin Rommel was commissioned a Lieutenant in
January 1912, and assigned to the 124th Wurttemberg Infantry
Regiment. As a young officer he was growing in a warrior society.
At the commencement of WWI, 28 June 1914, Lt. Erwin Rommel was a
wholly true, faithful and dedicated German soldier. However, he
never ignored the human factor of his command. He was a hard man
and a hard leader of men, but, one who personally knew the limits
of a soldiers endurance. In his first encounter with an armed
opponent he showed an audacity, a willingness to seize an
opportunity and act prudently and decisively.

     Rommel had the instincts of a natural warrior. But, to him,
throughout his life as a soldier he showed chivalry. he saw and
treated all his captured enemies as fellow human beings. (Again
Ref. monitor page 33 - brotherly love.)  Rommel, knew even at
this early stage in his career that a primary function of
authority was command welded to leadership.

     In September 1914 Rommel was promoted to Captain and proudly
wore the Iron Cross II, class, earned in combat in the Argonne.
(The same decoration Hitler earned for exemplary courage and
bravery in combat: all else aside, Hitler was a brave man.) David
Fraser in his book "Knights Cross wrote":

    "Rommel's character as a commander was essentially
    heroic, a character thrusting, Rupert - like in its vigor.
    Such men are not always also reflective. Rommel was".

    Empirical Germany surrendered on 11 November 1918. The
subsequent treaty of Versailles was unrealistic in its reparation
demands. As Sir Winston Churchill wrote,
  "The economic clauses of the treaty were malignant and
  silly to an extent that made them obviously futile".

   In the same treaty the German army was emasculated. Along with
other inane clauses, the Weimar Republic, economic chaos and the
fertile ground for Adolf Hitler were created. Where could an
officer of Rommel's outstanding war record and reputation be
fitted in?

     The answer lay in the formation of the Reichswehr - (Army of
the Weimar Republic as permitted under the Versailles treaty). It
was here that Rommel came under the influence of General Hans von
Seeckt, whose influence on the president of the republic, enabled
him to create a unique officers Heeresleitung or `army
management' system which was, in the 1920's, within treaty
limits. It was the acorn from which the mighty oak - the
Wehrmacht - was to grow. General von Seeckt, was an oxymoron in
that he relied on traditional military ideas while, at the same
time he understood the need to incorporate modern technology and
progressive ideas of policy if he was to create a Nussknacker
Arme (literally a hard nut to crack).

     Rommel reveled in this tutelage with the added teaching that
he must serve the state, only, and above all look to civilian
supreme command.

     The genius of Rommel's character lies in his intuitive
recognition and acceptance of these teachings. It must be
recognized that the very acceptance and adherence to this
teaching would years later in WWII be used to cast a shadow on
his character. ( "Monitor," page 37. ea. charge paragraph 3)

     He was promoted to Major in April 1932 and saw his first
book "The Infantry Attacks," published in the same year.

     Engrossed in his professional career he was also a simple
and loving husband and father.

     In October 1933 Rommel was promoted to Lt. Col. and given
command of a (Jager-Hunter) battalion in the Harz mountains.
   "He was adept at converting practical experience into
   military maxims of near-universal application and at
   explaining, convincingly, the link between the two. He
   exemplified instinctive practice and later derived theory
   from it. Few soldiers have so impressively undertaken and
   recorded action, while simultaneously drawing lessons
   therefrom".

   Rommel's friendly and unpretentious personality immediately
attracted the loyalty of the Battalion. His professional
competence was outstanding in a tough and challenging command.
When the occasion arose he could easily laugh - with others, or
even at himself.

   Rommel never joined the NAZI party and although partially
insulated by his military duties appeared to be congenial to what
political actions he did see and understand. His iron bound
loyalty to State and Supreme Civilian command undoubtedly played
a part in his firm support of Hitler during the late 1930's.
After all Hitler had started the wheeis of industry turning,
pushed aside the spiteful, vengeance of the Versailles Treaty,
retook traditional German lands, and above all, returned his
beloved military to its rightful and honorable place in Germany.

     In spite of the atrocities which were becoming ever more
virulent, Rommel himself was devoid of any anti-Semitic feelings.
His Battalion Medical Officer was Jewish and was counted in his
inner circle of friends and confidants.

     Rommel was promoted to Major General 1 June 1939. His first
command in his new rank was the "Sicherungs Battalion" (Security
Battalion) for the Fuhrer's Hdqtr.'s train. Along with his
security functions he attended Hitler's daily "Situation
Reports," while riding herd on Hitler's sorties from the train to
personally see the results of the "Blitzkrieg" (lightning or
`shock' war) in Poland, Rommel saw the justification of his ideas
on the use of mobile armored units; i.e., tanks.

     Although Rommel understood the inhumanity of war and was
himself a natural warrior he was, never-the-less, revolted by the
consequences of war's inhumanity to man.

     The first hint of a question of Hitler's purposes arose as
he watched Hitler seemingly enjoy the destruction of a weak enemy
by overwhelming force for the sake of death and destruction
itself. Rommel knew the tactical advance of today was needed for
the strategic gain of tomorrow. However, this could and should be
accomplished with minimum casualties and destruction of property.

     It was on 10 May 1940 when orders were passed to Rommel's
command, the 7th Panzer (tank/armored personnel car (APC))
division to advance across the Belgian frontier and on into
France. For Rommel World War II had started. At this point,
    ". . .Rommel's conduct and characteristics in command,
    "as a general officer," set the pattern for almost the whole
    of the rest of his career."    He," . . . imposed his
    personality on his division. It was a very distinctive
    personality - brisk, incisive, intolerant of slackness or
    infirmity of purpose, inventive, questioning, essentially
    businesslike, enormously energetic."

   For example; as in any war, the roues to be taken by advancing
army units were necessarily detailed in every order from
Headquarters. Rommel, recognized that the exigencies of
conditions extant would require variations from preplanned
routes. He, therefore, marked his maps with a broad path and
entitled his route, "Durchgang #7"! (Passage or, entryway, for
7th Panzer Div.).

     This "Durchgang," was to continue with few stops until 22
June 1940 when an armistice was concluded between Germany and
France.

     In January 1941, Rommel was promoted to Lt. General. One
month later, 12 February 1941, he landed in Tripoli, and took
command of the German troops in Libya. He immediately launched
his campaign to conquer Libya and Egypt.

     On 21 June 1942, Rommel was promoted to "Field Marshal."
With this promotion Rommel was now in command of the famous
"Deutsches Afrika corps." He also became de-facto commander of
the entire German/Italian campaign(s) in Africa. He made himself
personally known to every man in the Afrika Corps. With;
    ". . .his emphatic facial expressions, his remarkable eye
    for detail, his abrupt, precise soldierly manner.
    Memorable too was his voice, sharp, incisive, and the
    ferocious language with which - not always fairly, but the
    stuff of legend never-the-less, - he castigated
    shortcomings, particularly of senior officers. Rommel
    could show much charm but his tongue was rough. Yet
    every where he went he taught."

    Rommel would not tolerate any indignities be imposed on
captured and unhurt enemies and demanded the wounded be given the
same medical care as his own troops. Rommel was in some ways an
anachronism. A man who enjoyed the "game" of war, yet was
certainly aware of the consequences of his leadership. He was
always the chivalrous professional soldier.

     Sir Winston Churchill, in his office as British Prime
minister of the British Parliament, was to say of Rommel:
     "He deserves the salute I made him in the House of
     Commons in January, 1942, when I said of him, "We have
     a very daring and skillful opponent against us, and, may I
     say across the havoc of war, a great general." He also
     deserves our respect because, although a loyal German
     soldier, he came to hate Hitler and all his works, and took
     part in the conspiracy of 1944 to rescue Germany by
     disglacing the maniac and tyrant. For this he paid the
     forfeit of his life."

      At the same time Sir Churchill went on to say;
         " In the sombre wars of modern democracy chivalry finds
         no place . . . still, I do not regret or retract the tribute I
         paid to Rommel, unfashionable though it was judged."

   In the battle of the, "Kasserine Pass," (19-21 February 1943).
Rommel almost succeeded in causing the collapse of the Allied
front. This near defeat of the Anglo- American armies was the
worst debacle vis-a-vis the Germans until the "Battle of the
Bulge" redeemed the American Army.

     Field Marshal Rommel had this to say of the green American
troops that they; ". . .gave a splendid account of themselves."
The battle of the Kasserine Pass was Rommel's last campaign in
Africa. Although he could clearly count this battle as a victory,
he knew the strategic war had been lost. The watershed of his
loyalty to Hitler occurred on 3 November 1942. As his El Alamein
line was collapsing, Rommel sent a message to Berlin requesting
permission to retreat to a more defensible position and a secure
seaport to evacuate the Afrika corp. Hitler responded by telling
Rommel that " . . . not a step was to be yielded," and further,
that there was " . . . no other road than that to victory or
death." Upon receipt of this message;
    "Rommel talked without restraint or discretion. He said
    that if the Panzerarmee remained where it was it would be
    totally destroyed in three days. Hitler, Rommel said
    frankly, was a lunatic, determined from sheer obstinacy
    on a course which would lead to the loss of the last
    German soldier and, one day, to the total destruction of
    Germany."

   Although much more may be said about Field Marshall Erwin
Rommel, as a superb tactical general, it is in his persona, we
see a man who stands erect, and steps forward. It is in this
guise that Erwin Rommel stands before the altar of history. The
North African campaign of WWII will always be associated with
Rommel while his British and American opponents quietly slide
into the shadows of time.

     Rommel left Africa 9 March 1943. In a farewell party before
leaving, he told a close friend, in privacy, that Germany had
lost the war. Further, that he (Rommel) might be able to convince
Hitler to create a stalemate for time in the East for the purpose
of negotiating a peace with the Western Allies. He also hinted
that he had the necessary connections of bringing about the fall
of Hitler and the NAZI's. (Although tenuous, this is a first link
of Rommel to the, "Westlosung Komitee.)

     After a brief leave Rommel was given command of Army Group
`B'. This assignment was for the purpose of moving German troops
into Northern Italy. The soft southern flanks of Germany had to
be defended and, as a practical matter, Hitler, rightly, had no
confidence in the fealty of his Italian allies. No sooner had
Rommel arrived at his new headquarters than he was asked to sign
the execution orders of two Italians caught in the act of
sabotage. Rommel promptly overturned the order and ordered the
men to be placed in a POW camp. Rommel was a hard man when
conditions of war required it. But he never condoned death when
it could be avoided and lesser punishment would serve.

     On 21 November 1943, Rommel returned to Europe and was given
the responsibility of inspecting and supervising defenses against
a predictable Allied invasion.

     Again the character of this great General comes forth.

     Realizing that needed manpower for construction was in short
supply, French civil labor must be recruited. "Rommel, insisted
that it must be the labour of well- rewarded volunteers only."
(Emphasis Added)

     One last look at Erwin Rommel the man.

     As late as Sunday 29 May an enemy officer Lt. George (Lanyi)
alias Lane, a Jewish Hungarian in exile was captured while on a
commando mission from England. Charged with sabotage (ergo,
execution), he was told that he was first to meet, "a very
important person." This "very important person", was, of course
Field Marshall Erwin Rommel." as Lane entered Rommel's HQ Office,
he arose from his desk and met his "opponent", his "enemy," half
way with his hand outstretched to shake hands. How many general
officers meet Lieutenants that way under any conditions?

     On 7 June 1944, Rommel's earlier predictions of Germany's
ultimate disaster were confirmed: a land war on two fronts - East
and West.

     The day before Col. von Stauffenberg was to set a bomb at
the feet of Hitler in the Rastenburg HQ conference of 16 July
1944, Rommel sent an "ultimatum" letter to General Kluge, Chief
of staff of Reserve Army. The gist of the ultimatum was that
Hitler was to abdicate and turn the government over to General
Ludwig Beck and the Zossen Gruppe or he (Rommel) would open the
"Western Gate," thereby allowing the Anglo-American armies to
reach Berlin before the Russians. This action of deposing Hitler
and, in effect, causing a unilateral cease fire by the Germans
was known as "Operation Valkyrie."

     It is not known exactly when General Rommel was enlisted
into the Westlosung Komitee. Maybe as early as 3 November 1942
when he received Hitler's "stand fast" orders at the Alamein
front and vented his rage to a close friend, Gen. Warning an
active participant in the Berlinerlosung Gruppe; (the Berlin
division of the Zossen Gruppe). It is characteristic that Rommel
would not hear of assassinating Hitler but only endorsed his
removal from power and imprisonment. The conspirators withheld
the fact that Hitler's death was being planned.

     As the plot unfolded, and failed, Rommel was severely
wounded by a strafing attack as he toured the front near Caens.
His part in the 20 July 1944, Putsch against Hitler ended in his
apparent suicide on 14 October 1944.

     Field marshal Erwin Rommel was in every respect an exemplary
soldier. Even more than that, he was a man, sound in mind and
members.

     Was Rommel a Mason? Probably not. Where his friends and
military cohorts Masons? There is a high probability that many
were. Even higher than the codes of honesty and trust among the
German officers in the highest ranks, (especially those of the
old "Prussian School"), would these men have held the code of
trust inculcated, and precious among Masons? Without this
ultimate level of trust no conspiracy of any kind could have
advanced as far as the "Raustenburg Bomb," or the "20 July
Putsch," did. The ever watchful eye of Himmler's Gestapo, (whose
people were not all fools), would have detected any plot which
had a lesser level of confidence among its members; each for each
other.

     Were the various "Gruppen," Masonic lodges, "at
refreshment?" Maybe some yes, and some no. Certainly the Kriesau
group, as such, was not, in its larger, active context a Masonic
lodge. Did a select group of its membership, including military
and civilian people, constitute a lodge within the larger group?
Almost assuredly. It would take another paper to prove this
point.

     In consideration of the praise by Sir Winston Churchill and
the other references to the internal and not the external
character of Field Marshal Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel, would
you, have been willing to sign his petition for Initiation,
Passing and Raising as a Master Mason? 
                                
                           Footnotes
