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Forget Me NotDave [no longer around] said Oct 23, 2007, 12:49 PM: |
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The Forget-Me-Not
He stated that soon after Hitler's rise to power, as early as 1934, it became apparent that Freemasonry in Germany was in great danger. In the same year, the German Grand Lodge of the Sun in Bayreuth (one of the prewar German Grand Lodges) realized the imminent problems facing them and elected to wear a little blue flower, the Forget-Me-Not, in lieu of the traditional Square and Compasses, as a mark of identity for Masons, When the German military or the Gestapo inquired, “Was ist das?” the simple reply was “Eine Blume” (a flower).  It was felt that the new symbol would not attract attention from the Nazis, who were in the process of confiscating and appropriating Masonic Lodges and property. Masonry had gone underground and it was necessary that the brethren should have some readily recognizable means of identification.  Throughout the entire Nazi era, a little blue flower in a lapel marked a brother. In the concentration camps and in the cities, a little blue forget-me-not distinguished the lapels of those who refused to allow the Light of Masonry be extinguished.  When in 1947, the Grand Lodge of the Sun was reopened in Bayreuth, a little blue pin, the shape of a forget me not was proposed and adopted as the official emblem of the first Annual Convention of those who had survived the bitter years of semi-darkness, bringing the Light of Masonry once again into the Temples. A year later, at the first Annual Convention of the United Grand Lodges of Germany, A.F. and A.M., the pin was adopted as an official Masonic emblem honouring those valiant brethren who carried on their work under adverse conditions. Thus did a simple little flower blossom forth into a meaningful emblem of the Fraternity, becoming perhaps the most widely worn pin among Freemasons in Germany. [My wife gifted me a Forget Me Not lapel pin for my birthday at the beginning of this year. I have proudly work it since -despite the pin falling of several times! I think it is a beautiful reminder, not only of the Masonic Brethern who refused to let the light of Freemasonry die during those dark times -but also to everyone, of every faith and walk of life, who suffered under Nazi occupation and rule. Thanks] |
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