November 15th 1943 was the day seven Freemasons created a Masonic lodge while imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp and in recent times a sculpture commemorating them was unveiled.

Liberté Chérie (French for "Cherished Liberty") was a Masonic Lodge founded in 1943 by Belgian Resistance fighters and other political prisoners at Esterwegen concentration camp. It was one of the few lodges of Freemasons founded within a Nazi concentration camp during the Second World War.

The lodge was created on November 15th, 1943 inside Hut 6 of Emslandlager VII and located in Esterwegen, Lower Saxony, Germany.

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 priest stood watch, so that the brethren could hold their meetings, and protected their secrecy.

The seven Freemasons who created the lodge were:
Paul Hanson, Luc Somerhausen, Jean Sugg, Franz Rochat, Guy Hannecart, Amédée Miclotte, and Degueldre.

The superstition that Friday the 13th is unlucky may have become associated with Freemasonry through the Knights Templar, a group that is said to have discovered secrets of the Masons: 

The Knights Templar
According to conspiracy theorists, the Knights Templar discovered information about the Holy Grail and the bloodline of Christ, and may have had connections with Freemasons. In 1307, King Philip IV ordered the arrest of de Molay and other Knight Templar leaders which then led to the torture & execution of Templars in a number of European countries on Friday, October 13. This date is said to have influenced the superstition of Friday the 13th

Founded around 1118 as a monastic military order devoted to the protection of pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land following the Christian capture of Jerusalem during the First Crusade, the Knights Templar quickly became one of the richest and most influential groups of the Middle Ages, thanks to lavish donations from the crowned heads of Europe, eager to curry favour with the fierce Knights. By the turn of the 14th century, the Templars had established a system of castles, churches and banks throughout Western Europe. And it was this astonishing wealth that would lead to their downfall.

For the Templars, that end began in the early morning hours of Friday, October 13, 1307.

In the days and weeks that followed that fateful Friday, more than 600 Templars were arrested, including Grand Master Jacques de Molay, and the Order’s treasurer. But while some of the highest-ranking members were caught up in Philip’s net, so too were hundreds of non-warriors; middle-aged men who managed the day-to-day banking and farming activities that kept the organization humming. The men were charged with a wide array of offenses including heresy, devil worship and spitting on the cross, homosexuality, fraud and financial corruption.

In the spring of 1314, Grand Master Molay and several other Templars were burned at the stake in Paris, bringing an end to their remarkable era, and launching an even longer-lasting theory about the evil possibilities of Friday the 13th.

Liberté chérie (French for "Cherished Liberty") was a Masonic Lodge founded in 1943 by Belgian Resistance fighters and other political prisoners at Esterwegen concentration camp. It was one of the few lodges of Freemasons founded within a Nazi concentration camp during the Second World War.

The lodge was created on November 15th, 1943 inside Hut 6 of Emslandlager VII and located in Esterwegen, Lower Saxony, Germany.

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 priest stood watch, so that the brethren could hold their meetings, and protected their secrecy.

The seven Freemasons who created the lodge were:

Paul Hanson, Luc Somerhausen, Jean Sugg, Franz Rochat, Guy Hannecart, Amédée Miclotte, and Degueldre.

Yesterday Buckinghamshire Freemasons made Masonic history … AGAIN.

All 3 ceremonies carried out at Freemasons Hall, London using every temple by 47 Lodges.

A truly BIG event !

We look forward to sharing images from the day in the coming week.

Yesterday Buckinghamshire Freemasons made Masonic history … AGAIN.

All 3 ceremonies carried out at Freemasons Hall, London using every temple by 47 Lodges.

A truly BIG event !

We look forward to sharing images from the day in the coming week.