Whiteabbey Masonic Centre
Remembrance Group
“Remembering our fallen Masonic Brothers and Heroes since 1914”
Remembrance Day Service
11th November 2015
Conducted by Revd Campbell B Dixon MA MBE
Order of Service
All stand
Sentences of Scripture:
Psalm 46.1
God is our refuge and strength;
a very present help in trouble.
Micah 6.8
What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to
walk humbly with your God?
Hymn
O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home;
Beneath the shadow of thy throne
thy saints have dwelt secure;
sufficient is thine arm alone,
and our defence is sure.
Before the hills in order stood,
or earth received her frame,
from everlasting thou art God,
to endless years the same.
A thousand ages in thy sight
are like an evening gone;
short as the watch that ends the night
before the rising sun.
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
bears all our years away;
they fly forgotten, as a dream
dies at the opening day.
O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
be thou our guard while troubles last,
and our eternal home.
We meet in the presence of God. We commit ourselves to work in penitence and
faith for reconciliation between the nations, that all people may, together, live in
freedom, justice and peace.
We pray for all who in bereavement, disability and pain continue to suffer the
consequences of fighting and terror.
We remember with thanksgiving and sorrow those whose lives, in world wars and
conflicts past and present, have been given and taken away. We remember in particular all those from Masonic Orders who have paid the supreme sacrifice and those who carry or have carried the scars of war for our liberty and freedom.
The Act of Remembrance
They shall grow not old,
as we that are left grow old;
age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning,
we will remember them.
Response (all) :“We will remember them.”
The Last post
Silence to be kept for a short period
Reveille
The Kohima Epitaph Is said by;Lt Col Harry Walker
When you go home tell them of us and say,
For your tomorrow we gave our today.
The call: “In Flanders Fields”Is said by; Lt Col Harry Walker
In Flanders` fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders` fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high,
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders` fields.
Ever-living God, we remember those whom you have gathered from the storm of war
into the peace of your presence; may that same peace calm our fears, bring justice to
all peoples and establish harmony among the nations, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
All sit
A reading from Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8; Read by ; Helen Brooker
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
All stand
Hymn:
Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us
o’er the world’s tempestuous sea;
guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us,
for we have no help but thee;
yet possessing every blessing,
if our God our Father be.
Savior, breathe forgiveness o’er us;
all our weakness thou dost know;
thou didst tread this earth before us;
thou didst feel its keenest woe;
self-denying, death defying,
thou to Calvary didst go.
Spirit of our God, descending,
fill our hearts with heavenly joy;
love with every passion blending
pleasure that can never cloy;
thus provided, pardoned, guided,
nothing can our peace destroy.
All sit
Scripture reading from Matthew chapter 5 verses 1-12; Read by; Ewell Crookes MBE
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down his
disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of
evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they
persecuted the prophets who were before you
Address: Rev`d Campbell Dixon
Let us pray
Let us pray for all who suffer as a result of conflict, and ask that God may give
us peace: for the Service men and women who have died in the violence of war, each
one remembered by and known to God;
May God give peace.
Response: God give peace.
For those who love them in death as in life, offering the distress of our grief and
the sadness of our loss;
May God give peace
Response: God give peace.
For all members of the Armed Forces who are in danger this day, remembering
family, friends and all who pray for their safe return;
May God give peace.
Response: “God give peace.”
For civilian women, children and men whose lives are disfigured by war or terror,
calling to mind in penitence the anger and hatreds of humanity;
May God give peace.
Response: God give peace.
For peace-makers and peace-keepers, who seek to keep this world secure and free;
May God give peace.
Response: God give peace.
For all who bear the burden and privilege of leadership, political, military
and religious; asking for gifts of wisdom and resolve in the search for reconciliation
and peace;
May God give peace.
Response: God give peace.
O God of truth and justice, we hold before you those whose memory we cherish,
and those whose names we will never know. Help us to lift our eyes above the
torment of this broken world, and grant us the grace to pray for those who wish us
harm. As we honour the past, may we put our faith in your future; for you are the
source of life and hope, now and for ever. Amen.
Almighty God,
stretch forth your mighty arm
to strengthen and protect the armed forces:
grant that meeting danger with courage
and all occasions with discipline and loyalty,
they may truly serve the cause of justice and peace;
to the honour of your holy name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come;
thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil
For thine is the kingdom, the power,
and the glory for ever and ever.
Amen
All stand
Hymn
Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide:
when other helpers fail and comforts flee,
help of the helpless, O abide with me.
I need thy presence every passing hour;
what but thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless;
ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s dark sting? where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if thou abide with me.
Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes;
shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies;
heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
The act of commitment is made:
Let us commit ourselves to responsible living and faithful service.
Will you strive for all that makes for peace?
Response: “We will.”
Will you seek to heal the wounds of war?
Response: “We will.”
Will you work for a just future for all humanity?
Response: “We will.”
Merciful God, we offer to you the fears in us that have not yet been cast out by love:
May we accept the hope you have placed in the hearts of all people, and live lives of
justice, courage and mercy; through Jesus Christ our risen Redeemer.
Amen
The National anthem,
God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the Queen.
The Blessing
God grant to the living grace,
to the departed rest,
to the Church, the Queen, the Commonwealth
[or to the Church, the State] and all people,
unity, peace and concord,
and to us and all God’s servants,
life everlasting.
And the blessing of God Almighty,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you all
and remain with you always.
Amen
Bugler: Corp Philip Whiteside Organist: Dr Norman Close
Master Of Ceremonies
Lt Col Harry Walker
Our after dinner speakers tonight will be;
The Worshipful The Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey
Alderman Thomas Hogg.
Dr Ian Adamson OBE
The Masonic Holocaust
Could I first of all thank Geoffrey Houston for inviting me here tonight.
When the Nazis came to power, policy towards the Freemasons was equivocal. Efforts to eliminate the Freemason did not receive top priority. Those lodges that espoused tolerance and equality and had international connections or connections through their leaders to the Social Democrats or liberal democrats were subject to persecution and often pressured into “voluntary” dissolution. A few conservative German lodges that were willing to accommodate themselves to the regime were able to continue some form of existence for only a little longer. Nevertheless, the regime intended to exclude those who refused to give up their Masonic connections.
In early 1934, the chief of the Nazi Party Court System ruled that Masons who did not leave their lodges prior to January 30, 1933, could not join the Nazi party. That same month, Prussian Minister of the Interior Hermann Goering issued a decree calling upon the lodges to “voluntarily” dissolve, but requiring such voluntary actions to be submitted to him for approval. In addition, lodges and their branches in various cities throughout Germany were exposed to arbitrary violence from local SS and SA units, though this terror does not appear to have been centrally directed.
Increasing pressure in the public and professional sectors forced individuals to choose between remaining in their lodges or limiting their career opportunities. Many former lodge members holding positions in the civil service were forced or harassed into retirement. In May 1934, the Ministry of Defense banned membership in lodges to all personnel—soldiers and civilian employees. During the summer of 1934, after Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich completed their takeover and centralization of the Gestapo, the German police forcibly closed down many Masonic lodges and branch headquarters of the Masons and confiscated their assets, including their libraries and archives.
On October 28, 1934, Reich Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick issued a decree defining the lodges as “hostile to the state” and hence subject to having their assets confiscated. Finally, on August 17, 1935, citing the authority of the Reichstag Fire Decree, Frick ordered all remaining lodges and branches dissolved and their assets confiscated.
Nazi propaganda continued to link Jews and Freemasons; Julius Streicher’s virulent publication Der Stuermer (The Assault Trooper) repeatedly printed cartoons and articles that attempted to portray a “Jewish-Masonic” conspiracy. Freemasonry also became a particular obsession of the chief of Security Police and SD, Reinhard Heydrich, who counted the Masons, along with the Jews and the political clergy, as the “most implacable enemies of the German race.” In 1935 Heydrich argued for the need to eliminate not only the visible manifestations of these “enemies,” but to root out from every German the “indirect influence of the Jewish spirit”—“a Jewish, liberal, and Masonic infectious residue that remains in the unconscious of many, above all in the academic and intellectual world.”
Heydrich created a special section of the SS Security Service (Sicherheitsdienst;SD), Section II/111, to deal specifically with Freemasonry. The SD was particularly interested, as its personnel believed that Freemasonry exercised actual political power, shaped public opinion through control of the press, and was thus in a position to provoke war, subversion, and revolution. Later, Section VII B 1 of the Reich Security Main Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt; RSHA), an amalgamation of the SD and the Security Police formed in 1939, took over the section devoted to investigating Freemasonry.
As Nazi Germany prepared for war in 1937–1938, the regime relaxed pressure on the rank and file of the dissolved lodges. Hitler amnestied members of the rank and file who renounced their former loyalties in April 1938 and efforts were made in the public sector to decide on continued employment of former lodge members on a case to case basis. Many civil servants who had been forced to retire due to their Masonic connections were recalled into service after the war began and the ban on former Masons serving in the Wehrmacht (German armed forces), even at the officer rank, was relaxed. The Nazi party continued to ban former Masons from membership, though exceptions were made after 1938 in both the Nazi party and even the SS.
As they conquered Europe, the Germans forcibly dissolved Masonic organizations and confiscated their assets and documents wherever they established an occupation regime. After a lodge was closed, it was ransacked for membership lists, important library and archival items, furnishings, and other cultural artifacts. Items seized would be sent on to the appropriate German agency, primarily the SD and later, the RSHA.
As part of their propaganda campaign against Freemasonry, the Nazis and other local right-wing organizations mounted anti-Masonic exhibitions throughout occupied Europe. German-occupied Paris hosted an anti-Masonic exhibition in October 1940, as did German-occupied Brussels in February 1941. Displaying Masonic ritual and cultural artifacts stolen from lodges, such exhibitions aimed to ridicule and direct hatred towards Freemasons and to heighten fears of a Jewish-Masonic conspiracy. German wartime propaganda, particularly in the army, charged that the Jews and Masons had provoked World War II and were responsible for the policies of US President Franklin Roosevelt, who was identified as a Freemason.
Some of Germany’s Axis partners decreed police and discriminatory measures against Masons. In August 1940, the Vichy France regime issued a decree declaring Masons to be enemies of the state and authorizing police surveillance of them. The French wartime authorities even created a card file that identified all members of the Grand Orient of France, a leading French Masonic organization; the card file survived the war and was later microfilmed for the holdings of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, Washington, DC, which I have visited with my friend David Campbell on behalf of the Somme Association.
In 1942, Alfred Rosenberg was authorized by a Hitler decree to wage an “intellectual war” against the Jews and Freemasons. To that end, Hitler permitted Rosenberg’s “Deployment Staff of Reich Leader Rosenberg (Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg; ERR) to seize and evaluate Masonic archives and libraries to best equip them to carry on the “methodical intellectual fight” that was “necessary to win the war.” The members of ERR were guaranteed the support of the High Command of the German Armed Forces (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht; OKW) in fulfilling their mission.
After the end of World War II, vast collections of Masonic archives and library collections that had been seized by German authorities were captured, in turn, by Allied and Soviet forces. For example, a significant Masonic archive was found in Silesia, in eastern Germany, by Soviet troops in the last days of World War II. The Soviet authorities shipped the records to Moscow, where they were held in secret archives. Other Masonic-related materials were recovered in Poland; some of this material has been microfilmed and stored in the archive of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Since the end of the Cold War, many Masonic-related collections have been returned to their countries of origin, while others continue to be held in foreign repositories.
Because many of the Freemasons who were arrested were also Jews and/or members of the political opposition, it is not known how many individuals were placed in Nazi concentration camps and/or were targeted only because they were Freemasons. Some former lodge members, as individuals, participated in or were associated with German resistance circles; and some were arrested and murdered during World War II.
The preserved records of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (the Reich Security Main Office) show the persecution of Freemasons during the Holocaust. RSHA Amt VII (Written Records) was overseen by Professor Franz Six and was responsible for “ideological” tasks, by which was meant the creation of antisemitic and anti-Masonic propaganda. While the number is not accurately known, it is estimated that between 80,000 and 200,000 Freemasons were killed under the Nazi regime. Masonic concentration camp inmates were graded as political prisoners and wore an inverted red triangle.
The small blue forget-me-not flower was first used by the Grand Lodge Zur Sonne, in 1926, as a Masonic emblem at the annual convention in Bremen, Germany. In 1938 a forget-me-not badge—made by the same factory as the Masonic badge—was chosen for the annual Nazi Party Winterhilfswerk, the annual charity drive of the National Socialist People’s Welfare, the welfare branch of the Nazi party. This coincidence enabled Freemasons to wear the forget-me-not badge as a secret sign of membership.
After World War II, the forget-me-not flower was again used as a Masonic emblem at the first Annual Convention of the United Grand Lodges of Germany in 1948. The badge is now worn in the coat lapel by Freemasons around the world to remember all who suffered in the name of Freemasonry, especially those during the Nazi era.
Many Thanks to;
Whiteabbey Lodge of Past Masters 993.
Without L993 acting as our sponsor this event would simply not have got off the ground.