Thread by @_HistoryNerd

During WWII, the Nazis launched a secret war.

They believed Freemasons hid ancient secrets of power and mysticism.

So they raided lodges across Europe, seizing archives of ancient rituals and political influence.

Here's the untold story of the Nazis vs. the Freemasons."

From their founding in the 18th century, Freemasons were shrouded in mystery, with their secretive rituals, symbols, and influence over Enlightenment-era politics.

By the time Hitler rose to power in 1933, Freemasonry was deeply entwined with the liberal democratic ideals the Nazis despised.

To the Nazis, Freemasons were a cornerstone of a "Judeo-Masonic conspiracy" that supported liberal democracy, communism, and resistance to their vision of a new European order.

Leading Nazi figures like Alfred Rosenberg and Heinrich Himmler believed Freemasonry held ancient occult knowledge, possibly even alchemical secrets that could grant power.

As the Nazis marched through Europe, they systematically raided Freemason lodges, seizing documents, artifacts, and archives.

When the German army occupied Paris, they raided the Grand Orient of France and other major lodges, confiscating centuries of Masonic records.

Between 1940 and 1941, the Nazis conducted over 50 raids in France alone, targeting lodges across occupied territories.

Lodges in Belgium, the Netherlands, and beyond faced similar fates.

The looted archives revealed the everyday operations of Freemasonry, but the Nazis were after something more:

1. Esoteric Knowledge: Alfred Rosenberg believed the archives contained mystical secrets akin to the Philosopher's Stone.

2. Political Networks: The Nazis sought evidence of Masonic influence on liberal democracies and anti-fascist resistance movements.

3. Strategic Intelligence: Himmler’s SS meticulously indexed the archives, hoping to uncover resistance plans or hidden power structures.

The stolen archives traveled through the chaos of war:

Germany: Documents were studied in Nazi research centers and stored in Masonic lodges repurposed by the SS.

As Allied bombing intensified in 1943, archives were relocated to medieval castles in Germany, Poland, and the Sudetenland.

Post-War Chaos: When the Nazis fell, the Allies and Soviets scrambled to claim the archives.

The Americans returned many records to their original owners, while the Soviets shipped vast collections to Moscow, keeping them under lock and key.

Under Stalin, the Masonic archives were hidden in KGB-controlled facilities, studied for potential political intelligence.

It wasn’t until after the collapse of the Soviet Union that these archives began to resurface.

In the 1990s, American researcher Patricia Grimstead uncovered the existence of these archives, sparking international efforts to recover them.

In 1999, 750 boxes of Masonic archives were finally returned to France, revealing treasures like 18th-century ritual manuscripts and correspondence from figures like Voltaire and Benjamin Franklin.

The archives offered a glimpse into the rich history of Freemasonry:

1. Historical Rituals: Manuscripts detailing the evolution of Masonic practices.

2. Political Influence: Records showing the role of Freemasons in shaping laws on education, labor rights, and church-state separation.

3. Esoteric Mysticism: Documents from the enigmatic Martinez de Pasqually, a Freemason who blended Judeo-Christian Kabbalah with magical practices.

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