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Liberté chérie (Freemasonry)
Encyclopedia
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
founded within a Nazi concentration camp
Nazi concentration camps
Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...
during the Second World War.
The Lodge
On the 15 November 1943 - seven BelgianBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
Freemasons
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
and resistance fighters - founded the Masonic Lodge Loge Liberté chérie (French: "Beloved Liberty Lodge") inside Hut 6 of Emslandlager VII (Esterwegen
Esterwegen
Esterwegen is a municipality in the Emsland district, in Lower Saxony, Germany.In 1933 a concentration camp was established in Esterwegen. In 1936 the camp was dissolved and used till 1945 as a prisoner camp, for political prisoners and later for prisoners of the decree Nacht und Nebel.- Well known...
). The name of the lodge was derived from La Marseillaise
La Marseillaise
"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song, originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792. The French National Convention adopted it as the Republic's anthem in 1795...
.
The original seven Freemasons of Loge Liberté chérie were:
- Paul Hanson,
- Luc Somerhausen,
- Jean De Schrijver,
- Jean Sugg,
- Henri StoryHenri StoryHenri Albert Oscar Lucien Marie Ghislain Story was a Belgian businessman and liberal politician in Ghent. He was born on 27 November 1897 in a prominent liberal family of textile business people. The Story family was connected with other families such as, Mechelynck and Rosseel...
, - Amédée Miclotte,
- Franz Rochat, and
- Guy Hannecart.
and they later Initiated, Passed and Raised Brother Fernand Erauw, another Belgian.
According to M. Franz Bridoux, former prisoner in Esterwegen’s hut N°6, the founding members of “Loge Liberté Chérie” were Messrs Rochat, Sugg, Hannecart, Hanson, Somerhausen, Degueldre and Miclotte.
Messrs. De Schrijver and M. Story arrived well after the establishment of the Lodge and were not be founding members, but members only.
Paul Hanson was elected Master. The Brethren met for Lodge Work in Hut 6 around a table, which was otherwise used for cartridge sorting. A Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
Priest stood watch, so that the Brethren could hold their meetings; and protected their secrecy.
Hut 6 was used for foreign Nacht und Nebel
Nacht und Nebel
Nacht und Nebel was a directive of Adolf Hitler on 7 December 1941 signed and implemented by Armed Forces High Command Chief Wilhelm Keitel, resulting in the kidnapping and forced disappearance of many political activists and resistance 'helpers' throughout Nazi Germany's occupied...
, (German: "Night and Fog"), prisoners. The Emslandlagercamps were a group of camps whose history is represented by a permanent exhibition in the Documentation and Information Centre in Papenburg
Papenburg
Papenburg is a city in the district of Emsland in Lower Saxony, Germany, situated at the river Ems. It is known for its large shipyard, the Meyer-Werft, which specializes in building cruise liners.-Districts:...
. Altogether 15 camps were established on the Netherland
Netherland
Netherland is a critically acclaimed novel by Joseph O'Neill. It concerns the life of a Dutchman living in New York in the wake of the September 11 attacks who takes up cricket and starts playing at the Staten Island Cricket Club.-Plot summary:...
s border, with central administration in Papenburg.
Luc Somerhausen described Erauw‘s Intitiation, etc., as just as simple ceremonies. These ceremonies, (to whose secrecy they asked the community of Catholic Priests for assistance, "with their prayers"), "...took place at one of the tables... ...after a very highly simplified ritual
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....
- whose individual components were however explained to the initiate; that from now on he could participate in the work of the Lodge".
More than hundred prisoners were in Hut 6, and locked up nearly around the clock - allowed to leave only for a half-hour walk per day, under supervision. During the day half of the Camp had to sort cartridges and radio parts. The prisoners of the other half of the Camp were forced to work under dreadful conditions in the surrounding peat bogs. The nutrition was so miserable that the prisoners lost 4 kg body weight each month, on average.
After the first ritual meeting, with admission of the new brother, further meetings were thematically prepared. One was dedicated to the symbol of the Great Architect of the Universe, another “The future of Belgium”, and a further, “The position of women in Freemasonry”. Only Somerhausen and Erauw survived detention, and the Lodge stopped “working” at the beginning of 1944.
The Lodge members
Lodge Master, Paul Hanson was moved, and died in the rubble of his prison, during an Allied air bombardment on EssenEssen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
, 26 March 1944.
Jean Sugg, and Franz Rochat, belonged to the "Philanthropic Friends" Lodge (Les Amis Philanthropes, Lodge No. 5 of the Grand Orient of Belgium
Grand Orient of Belgium
The Grand Orient of Belgium The Grand Orient of Belgium The Grand Orient of Belgium (French: Grand Orient de Belgique, Dutch: Grootoosten van Belgie (G.O.B.) is a Belgian cupola of masonic lodges which is only accessible for men, and works in the basic three symbolic degrees of freemasonry.-History:...
).
Dr. Franz Rochat, a University Professor, Pharmacist and director of an important pharmaceutical laboratory, was born on 10 March 1908 in Saint-Gilles
Saint-Gilles, Belgium
Saint-Gilles or Sint-Gillis is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium.Saint-Gilles has a multicultural identity stemming from its diverse population...
. He was a worker in the underground press, and the resistance publication "voice of the Belgians". He was arrested on 28 February 1942, arrived at Untermansfeld April 1944, and died there on 6 April 1945.
Jean Sugg was born at the 8 September 1897 in Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
and was of Swiss German
Swiss German
Swiss German is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland and in some Alpine communities in Northern Italy. Occasionally, the Alemannic dialects spoken in other countries are grouped together with Swiss German as well, especially the dialects of Liechtenstein and Austrian Vorarlberg...
origin. He co-operated with Franz Rochat in the Underground Press, translated German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Swiss texts, and contributed to clandestine publications, including, La Libre Belgique
La Libre Belgique
La Libre Belgique is a Belgian newspaper in French. In Belgium, it can be roughly seen as an equivalent of Flemish De Standaard. The paper is widely perceived as pro-catholic...
, La Légion Noire, Le Petit Belge and L'Anti Boche. He died in a concentration camp on 8 February 1945.
Dr. Amédée Miclotte was a High School Teacher. He was born on 20 December 1902 in Lahamaide, and belonged to the Lodge "Union et Progrès". He was last seen in detention, on 8 February 1945.
Jean De Schrijver, was a Colonel in the Belgian Army. He was born on 23 August 1893 in Aalst
Aalst, Belgium
Aalst is a city and municipality on the Dender River, 19 miles northwest from Brussels. It is located in the Flemish province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city of Aalst itself and the villages of Baardegem, Erembodegem, Gijzegem, Herdersem, Hofstade,...
, and Brother of the lodge "La Liberté" in Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
. On 2 September 1943 he was arrested on charges of espionage and possession of arms, and died in February 1945.
Henri Story
Henri Story
Henri Albert Oscar Lucien Marie Ghislain Story was a Belgian businessman and liberal politician in Ghent. He was born on 27 November 1897 in a prominent liberal family of textile business people. The Story family was connected with other families such as, Mechelynck and Rosseel...
was born on 27 November 1897 in Ghent. He was a member of the Lodge "Le Septentrion" in Ghent. He died on 5 December 1944.
Luc Somerhausen, a journalist, was born on 26 August 1903, in Hoeilaart
Hoeilaart
Hoeilaart is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. The name Hoeilaart is of Gallic-Celtic origin, coming from "Ho-Lar," meaning a high clearing in the woods. Residents are called Hoeilanders or Doenders. The municipality only comprises...
. He was arrested on 28 May 1943 in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. He belonged to the lodge "ACSO III" and was Deputy Secretary of the Grand Orient of Belgium (Grand Orient de Belgique).
Fernand Erauw, an Assessor at the Audit Office, and Reserve Officer with the Infantry, was born on 29 January 1914, in Wemmel
Wemmel
Wemmel is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality only comprises the town of Wemmel proper. On January 1, 2006 Wemmel had a total population of 14,774. The total area is 8.74 km² which gives a population density of 1,690 inhabitants per km².The...
. He was arrested on 4 August 1942, as a member of the “Secret Army”. He escaped and was finally arrested in 1943.
Guy Hannecart (1903–1945) a lawyer and leader of "La Voix des belges". He was also member of the lodge "les Amis Philanthropes N°3"
Survivors Erauw and Somerhausen met again 1944 in the Oranienburg Sachsenhausen
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
concentration camp, and remained inseparable from then on. In the spring 1945 they were involved in the “Death Marches”, and although Erauw was 1.84 m tall, he weighed only 32 kg on 21 May 1945 — in the Saint Pierre Hospital in Brussels.
In August 1945 Luc Somerhausen sent a detailed report to the Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Belgium, in which he delineated the history of the "loge Liberté chérie". Luc Somerhausen died in 1982 at the age of 79. The last witness, Fernand Erauw, died at the age of 83, in 1997.
The Memorial
A memorial, created by Architect Jean de Salle, was raised by Belgian and German Freemasons on Saturday November 13, 2004. It is now part of the memorial site of the Esterwegen Cemetery. Wim Rutten, the Grand Master of the Belgian Federation of the "Le Droit HumainLe Droit Humain
The International Order of Co-Freemasonry Le Droit Humain is a global Masonic Order, membership of which is available to men and women on equal terms, regardless of nationality, religion or ethnicity. The Order is founded on the ancient teachings and traditions of Freemasonry, using Masonic ritual...
" said during an address:
- "We are gathered here today on this Cemetery in Esterwegen, not to mourn, but to express free thoughts in public." - "In memory of our brothers; human rights should never be forgotten."
External links
- Weblog
- Christian Laporte: La lumière dans les ténèbres des camps
- http://www.diz-emslandlager.de
- For a brief Wikipedia history of Belgian freemasonry in French see :fr:Franc-maçonnerie en Belgique
- La création de la Loge Liberté Chérie au camp d'Esterwegen by Franz Bridoux: http://mauriceorcher.blogspot.com/2009/01/cration-de-la-loge-libert-chrie-au-camp.html