When we think of Nazi persecution during World War II, our minds immediately turn to the Holocaust and the systematic murder of Jews.
But the Nazi regime targeted many groups it deemed threats to their totalitarian control. Among them were Freemasons, who faced arrest, imprisonment, and execution simply for belonging to a fraternity built on principles of liberty, equality, and brotherhood.
Between 80,000 and 200,000 Freemasons were killed under Nazi rule across Europe. Lodges were destroyed, property confiscated, and Masonic symbols banned.
Yet even in concentration camps, Brothers found ways to maintain their fraternal bonds and preserve their values.
Today, memorial sites across Europe tell this forgotten chapter of Masonic history, offering powerful destinations for Brothers seeking to honor those who paid the ultimate price for their beliefs.
Why the Nazis Targeted Freemasons
Adolf Hitler’s hatred of Freemasonry was explicit and unambiguous. In Mein Kampf, he wrote that Freemasonry had been subverted by Jews and become an instrument for their aims.
Nazi propaganda repeatedly linked Freemasons with an imagined Jewish-Masonic world conspiracy, claiming the Craft worked against German nationalism and had caused Germany’s defeat in World War I.
The five core Masonic principles of tolerance, freedom, equality, fraternity, and humanity stood in direct opposition to Nazi ideology.
Freemasonry encouraged independent thought and unity across social lines, exactly what totalitarian regimes cannot tolerate.
The Nazis demanded absolute control over minds and lives. Organizations promoting personal liberty and the pursuit of truth posed real threats to that control.
In 1933, Hermann Göring, President of the Reichstag, declared there was no place in German society for Freemasons. On March 23, 1933, the Enabling Act granted the government power to enact or abolish decrees as they saw fit.
On January 8, 1934, the Nazis used this Act to order the disbandment of all Masonic lodges and confiscation of their properties.
Anyone who was a Freemason before January 1933 became ineligible to hold office in the Nazi Party or its paramilitary wings, and was barred from public service positions.
A special section of the SS Security Service was established specifically to monitor Freemasonry. Later, members were rounded up and sent to concentration camps, where they were classified as political prisoners and forced to wear an inverted red triangle on their uniforms.
The Esterwegen Memorial: Site of Lodge Liberté Chérie
Near the small town of Esterwegen in northwest Germany, about 30 miles from the Netherlands border, stands a memorial that honors one of history’s most remarkable examples of Masonic courage.
The Esterwegen concentration camp operated from 1933 to 1945, initially housing 2,000 political prisoners. By 1943, it held Belgian resistance fighters classified under the Nazi “Nacht und Nebel” (Night and Fog) directive, which targeted political activists for imprisonment, execution, or simply disappearance.
On November 15, 1943, seven Belgian Freemasons imprisoned in Hut 6 founded Lodge Liberté Chérie (Beloved Liberty Lodge). The name came from “La Marseillaise,” the French national anthem.
The founding members were Paul Hanson, who became Worshipful Master, along with Brothers Rochat, Sugg, Hannecart, Somerhausen, Degueldre, and Miclotte. Later, they initiated, passed, and raised Brother Fernand Erauw, making him the only known Master Mason raised in a Nazi concentration camp.
The Brothers met around a table normally used for sorting ammunition cartridges. A Catholic priest who was also imprisoned stood watch, protecting their secrecy and giving the warning if guards approached. In the midst of starvation, forced labor, and constant threat of death, these men held lodge meetings, conducting Masonic ritual from memory with no regalia, no lodge room, no ritual books.
Most of the founding members did not survive. Of the original seven plus Brother Erauw, only two made it through the war. Erauw and Somerhausen were transferred together to Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1944.
They survived the brutal “death march” in spring 1945 as the Nazis evacuated camps ahead of Allied advances. When Erauw reached a Brussels hospital on May 21, 1945, he stood 6 feet tall but weighed only 70 pounds.
Luc Somerhausen sent a detailed report to the Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Belgium in August 1945, documenting the history of Liberté Chérie. He died in 1982 at age 79. Fernand Erauw, the last living member, died in 1997 at age 83.
Today, a memorial created by architect Jean De Salle stands at the Esterwegen Memorial Site. Belgian and German Freemasons dedicated it on November 13, 2004.
The monument is now part of the larger Esterwegen memorial complex, which includes a Documentation and Information Centre that tells the story of the 15 Emslandlager camps established on the Netherlands border.
Visiting Esterwegen: The memorial site is located at Hinterm Busch 1, 26897 Esterwegen, Germany. The Documentation and Information Centre is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Admission is free, though donations are appreciated. The site is accessible by car or via bus from nearby train stations. English-language materials are available, and guided tours can be arranged in advance.
The Masonic memorial sits within the larger camp grounds, a simple but powerful tribute to the Brothers of Liberté Chérie. Standing before it, you can reflect on what it meant for these men to maintain their Masonic identity even when doing so could mean immediate execution.
Sachsenhausen: Where Brothers Continued to Meet
Sachsenhausen concentration camp, located in Oranienburg about 21 miles north of Berlin, was established in 1936 as the northern German component of the concentration camp system.
It served as both an SS training center and the administrative headquarters for all Nazi concentration camps.
Roughly 200,000 prisoners passed through Sachsenhausen between 1936 and 1945, and some 100,000 died there from disease, executions, and overwork.
Dutch Freemasons were sent to Sachsenhausen, including the Grand Master of the Grand Orient of the Netherlands, Hermannus van Tongeren, Sr., who died there in March 1941 after being arrested by Klaus Barbie.
When Erauw and Somerhausen from Lodge Liberté Chérie arrived in 1944, they remained together, their Masonic bond sustaining them through the final year of the war.
Today, Sachsenhausen operates as a memorial and museum. The site opened to the public in 1961, and since German reunification in 1993, the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum has been responsible for exhibitions and research on the camp’s history.
The museum features artwork created by inmates, scale models of the camp, and extensive documentation of the Nazi period and the camp’s subsequent use by the Soviets.
Visiting Sachsenhausen: The memorial site is located at Straße der Nationen 22, 16515 Oranienburg, Germany. It’s easily accessible from Berlin by S-Bahn (S1 line to Oranienburg, then a 20-minute walk or local bus). The site is open daily, Tuesday through Sunday, March through October from 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM, and November through February from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Admission is free. Guided tours in English are available for a fee and should be booked in advance.
The extensive grounds require at least three hours to tour properly. The museum occupies the former camp kitchen building and presents the camp’s history chronologically. While there is no specific Masonic memorial at Sachsenhausen, walking the grounds where Brothers like van Tongeren, Erauw, and Somerhausen were imprisoned connects you to their experience.
Dachau: The Model Camp
Dachau, opened March 22, 1933, just outside Munich, was the first Nazi concentration camp and served as the model for all others.
It was the longest-running camp, operating until liberation on April 29, 1945. More than 200,000 prisoners were registered at Dachau, and at least 41,500 died there.
Freemasons imprisoned at Dachau wore the red triangle of political prisoners. The camp became a training ground where SS officers learned the brutal methods they would later implement at other camps.
Theodor Eicke, Dachau’s commandant from 1933 to 1934, created regulations that served as the blueprint for all Nazi concentration camps.
Among the 1,265 documented Freemasons who died under Nazi repression, most of whom were Jewish or had supported the Weimar Republic, many passed through Dachau. Notable victims included pacifist writer and 1935 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Carl von Ossietzky.
The Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site opened to the public in 1965. The memorial follows the path of new arrivals to the camp, with two barracks reconstructed to show different periods of the camp’s history.
The other 30 barracks are indicated by low cement curbs filled with pebbles. Several religious memorials stand within the site, including Protestant and Catholic chapels and a Jewish memorial.
Visiting Dachau: The memorial site is located at Pater-Roth-Straße 2a, 85221 Dachau, Germany. It’s accessible from Munich by S-Bahn (S2 line to Dachau, then bus 726 directly to the memorial entrance). The site is open daily from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, closed December 24. The former crematorium area closes at 4:30 PM. Admission is free.
Plan to spend at least two to three hours at Dachau. The former maintenance building houses the main museum with extensive photos and displays. Audio guides in English are available, and guided tours run at 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM daily. The experience is somber and emotionally challenging but essential for understanding what Freemasons and others endured.
The Forget-Me-Not: A Symbol of Resistance
In 1938, when the Nazis banned Masonic symbols and rituals, German Freemasons adopted the forget-me-not flower as a discreet symbol of their fraternity.
This small blue flower became a reminder that they would neither forget each other nor the principles of Freemasonry, despite the dangers they faced.
The Grossloge zur Sonne (Grand Lodge of the Sun) developed this symbol so Brothers could recognize each other without wearing the square and compasses, which could lead to arrest or death.
Throughout the Nazi terror, German Freemasons wore the forget-me-not as a quiet but powerful emblem of defiance.
After the war, the forget-me-not became a symbol of Masonic resilience worldwide. The Masonic Brotherhood of the Blue Forget-Me-Not was established to honor Masonic writers and educators and to remember those who maintained their Masonic identity under persecution.
Brother Allen Roberts, who researched and promoted this history, wrote that the forget-me-not represents Freemasons who “would not renounce the Craft and its teachings” and “continued to practice Freemasonry in secret.”
The Poznan Archive: Confiscated Masonic History
One of Europe’s largest Masonic archives exists not in a Masonic building but in an old university library in Poznan, Poland. This collection of 80,000 items dating from the 17th century to the pre-World War II period was assembled by the Nazis during their wartime anti-Masonic purge.
Under orders from SS chief Heinrich Himmler, the Nazis seized archives from Masonic lodges across Europe.
The collection includes fine prints, speeches, membership lists, lodge regalia, educational texts, and even menus from Masonic celebrations.
Among its treasures is a first edition of the 1723 Masonic constitution, written just six years after the first lodge was created in England.
Initially tolerated, Freemasons became subjects of Nazi conspiracy theories in the 1930s, seen as liberal intellectuals whose secretive circles could become centers of opposition. Lodges were broken up and their members imprisoned and killed both in Germany and throughout occupied Europe.
The collection was formally established as an archive in 1959, during the Communist era when Freemasonry was also banned in Poland.
Curators have studied it for decades, and it remains open to researchers and visitors, including representatives of German Masonic lodges seeking to recover their pre-war history.
Visiting the Poznan Archive: The archive is housed at the University Library in Poznan, Poland. Researchers can access materials by appointment. Select items are on public display, and the library occasionally hosts exhibitions drawing from the collection. For Freemasons researching their lodge’s history or interested in European Masonic heritage, this archive represents an invaluable resource, though it exists only because of the Nazi persecution it documents.
Rebuilding After Destruction
When Allied forces liberated the camps in 1945, they found Freemasonry almost completely destroyed across Europe. German Freemasonry had been the first to disappear, well before the war began.
All Grand Lodges ceased activity. Violence against members had begun in February 1933, with property looted and arrests widespread.
Some German lodges attempted to appease the Nazi regime by redefining themselves as Christian orders and altering rituals to include references aligned with Nazi ideology.
They severed ties with foreign Grand Lodges and expelled Jewish Freemasons or those who had supported the Weimar Republic. Despite these desperate concessions, German Freemasonry did not escape destruction.
Norway, the Netherlands, France, and other occupied countries saw their lodges banned, property seized, and members arrested. In every country under Nazi occupation or control, Freemasonry faced systematic persecution.
Recovery took years. In February 1953, German Grand Master Theodor Vogel told the Grand Masters Conference in Washington that it had been “immensely difficult” after 15 years of ban and persecution to found lodges again and build them up.
American Freemasons, through the Masonic Service Association, provided crucial support for European Freemasonry’s resurrection.
Planning Your Journey to WWII Masonic Memorial Sites
Visiting these sites requires emotional preparation. You will walk through places where Brothers were tortured and murdered simply for being Freemasons.
You’ll see the barracks where they slept, the grounds where they worked, and the crematoriums where their bodies were burned.
But you’ll also witness the power of Masonic principles. At Esterwegen, seven men risked death to open a lodge. At Sachsenhausen, Brothers sustained each other through unimaginable horror.
Across Europe, Freemasons wore the forget-me-not flower, quietly declaring that no regime could make them abandon their values.
Most visitors combine these memorial sites with tours of Berlin, Munich, or other German cities.
The camps are easily accessible by public transportation and often included in organized historical tours. However, visiting independently allows for personal reflection at your own pace.
Bring a notebook or journal. The experience of visiting these sites often prompts deep reflection that you’ll want to record. Many Brothers who visit these memorials report that the experience fundamentally changed their understanding of what it means to be a Freemason.
Consider visiting with other Brothers if possible. Having someone to discuss the experience with, someone who shares your Masonic perspective, enriches the journey.
Some lodges organize group trips to European WWII memorial sites specifically for this purpose.
Honoring the Memory
The story of Masonic persecution during World War II reminds us that our principles carry weight beyond lodge rooms and ritual work.
Tolerance, freedom, equality, fraternity, and humanity aren’t abstract concepts. They’re values worth defending, even at the cost of life itself.
The Brothers of Lodge Liberté Chérie could have simply waited until the war ended to resume their Masonic practice. Instead, they opened a lodge in Hut 6 of a Nazi concentration camp, knowing discovery meant immediate execution. That decision speaks volumes about what Freemasonry meant to them.
Hermannus van Tongeren, Grand Master of the Grand Orient of the Netherlands, could have fled or gone into hiding. Instead, he continued his Masonic work until Klaus Barbie arrested him.
He died at Sachsenhausen, faithful to his obligations to the end.
The thousands of unnamed Freemasons who died in camps across Europe made similar choices. They refused to renounce their memberships even when doing so could have saved their lives.
They wore the forget-me-not flower as a quiet declaration that Masonic principles matter more than personal safety.
When you visit these memorial sites, you’re not just learning history. You’re standing where Brothers stood who chose death rather than compromise their values.
You’re witnessing the ultimate proof that Freemasonry is more than a social club, more than tradition, more than ritual. It’s a way of life worth dying for.
That’s the lesson these memorial sites teach. That’s why every Freemason should consider making this pilgrimage at least once. Not to dwell on darkness, but to understand light.
Not to glorify suffering, but to honor courage. Not to remember death, but to celebrate principles that death cannot destroy.