Introduction

The Judeo-Masonic Conspiracy

(How the bankers took over the World)


German poster from 1935

The Judeo-Masonic conspiracy is the most controversial and widespread conspiracy theory from the whole twentieth century. The people from many countries believed it was a real threat, world leaders openly spoke about it, left an extensive footprint on the press and literature of the time, and many governments went as far as taking drastic measures in an attempt to put an end to it.

But, what is exactly the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy (also known as: the International-Communist-Judeo-Masonic conspiracy, the Judeo-Masonic-Bolshevik conspiracy, and the International-Marxist-Judeo-Masonic conspiracy)? Where, when, how and why did it all start? Which countries and leaders thought of it as a real threat, openly spoke about it, and acted upon it? Who did they thought was behind it? Why did it seem to vanish after World War II? Is there still a Judeo-Masonic conspiracy going on in the world today? Or, did it never exist?

Along this blog I will try to answer all these questions; find the most important world leaders that believed in it, and what exactly did they believe; analyse the effects of this conspiracy, and evaluate to what extent it shaped the world we live in.

But there is no doubt that researching conspiracy theories is an enormously difficult task -at least doing it the right way-; and even more difficult is getting anywhere near to prove they are real -especially when, like in this case, all the alleged conspirators and witnesses are long gone, and the evidences are buried under centuries of dust, mystery and secrecy-. And if all of this was not enough, there is another matter that complicates this particular research even further: the anti-Semitic character surrounding this particular conspiracy theory, and the fact that most of those who previously touched this subject were mainly influenced by a right-wing ideology with well defined political agendas -which is exactly why so many researchers in the past avoided getting deeper into this particular subject, and why many people have never consider it in the first place. And the truth is that this is a sensible matter that has to be treated with especial care; reason why it is my intention to reference all and every single statement on this blog; take into account for my research only credible sources -or otherwise, make the reader aware of it-; avoid other conspiracy theorists and/or speculation as much as possible; and clearly state when I'm just expressing my personal opinion, instead of describing a factual historical account.

Finally, just say that I hope you enjoy reading and discovering all there is to know about this monumental conspiracy theory as much as I enjoyed researching and writing it. Please leave your comments, doubts and questions. Thank you for your visit and for your interest.


... Next chapter: Usury through history


Disclaimer: This blog and its content is not in any way a generalisation of Judaism or Freemasonry, nor it pretends to judge or criticise either of them. All the images, referenced historical accounts and quotes posted on this blog reflect the views and opinions of their respective authors.

Usury in the Bible

"Christ drives the Usurers out of the Temple"
Woodcut from the 16th century by Lucas Cranach the Elder
in "Passional Christi und Antichristi"

The Old Testament:

If thou lend money to [any of] my people [that is] poor by thee, thou shall not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.

(Exodus 22:25)

Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.

(Leviticus 25:36-37)

And this [is] the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth [ought] unto his neighbour shall release [it]; he shall not exact [it] of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD’S release.

(Deuteronomy 15:2)

Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury:

(Deuteronomy 23:19)

Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them.

(Nehemiah 5:7)

I likewise, [and] my brethren, and my servants, might exact of them money and corn: I pray you, let us leave off this usury.

(Nehemiah 5:10)

[He that] putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these [things] shall never be moved.

(Psalms 15:5)

The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower [is] servant to the lender.

(Proverbs 22:7)

Better [is] the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than [he that is] perverse [in his] ways, though he [be] rich. Whoso keepeth the law [is] a wise son: but he that is a companion of riotous [men] shameth his father. He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor. He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer [shall be] abomination.

(Proverbs 28:6-9)

Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; [yet] every one of them doth curse me.

(Jeremiah 15:10)

He [that] hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase, [that] hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and man, hath walked in my statures, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he [is] just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.

(Ezekiel 18:8-9)

[He that] hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? He shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.

(Ezekiel 18:13)

[He that] hath taken off his hand from the poor, [that] hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.

(Ezekiel 18:17)

In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.

(Ezekiel 22:12)

The New Testament:

And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,

(Matthew 21:12)

And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

(Mark 11:15)

And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

(John 2:14-15)

Bibliography:
"The Holy Bible", King James version.

Relevant Quotes

The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building
located on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C.

On the International Bankers

“The inability of the colonists to get power to issue their own money permanently out of the hands of George III and the international bankers was the prime reason for the Revolutionary War.” – Benjamin Franklin (US politician and founding father)

“History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and its issuance.” – James Madison (4th US President)

“The rich will strive to establish their dominion and enslave the rest. They always did. They always will… They will have the same effect here as elsewhere, if we do not, by government, keep them in their proper spheres.” – Robert Hunter Morris (Governor of Pennsylvania and Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court)

“The hand that gives is the above the hand that takes. Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain.” – Napoleon Bonaparte (Emperor of France)

“The money power preys upon the nation in times of peace and conspires against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic than monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy.” – Abraham Lincoln (16th US President)

“The death of Lincoln was a disaster for Christendom… I fear that foreign bankers with their craftiness and tortuous tricks will entirely control the exuberant riches of America, and use it systematically to corrupt modern civilization. They will not hesitate to plunge the whole of Christendom into wars and chaos in order that the earth should become their inheritance.” – Otto von Bismark (1st Chancellor of the German Empire)

“Power from any source tends to create an appetite for additional power… It was almost inevitable that the super-rich would one day aspire to control not only their own wealth, but the wealth of the whole world. To achieve this, they were perfectly willing to feed the ambitions of the power-hungry political conspirators who were committed to the overthrow of all existing governments and the establishment of a central world-wide dictatorship.” – W. Cleon Skousen (American author and political commentator)

“These International Bankers and Rockefeller-Standard Oil interests control the majority of newspapers and the columns of these papers to club into submission or drive out of public office officials who refuse to do the bidding of the powerful corrupt cliques which compose the invisible government.” – Theodore Roosevelt (26th US President)

“It was not accidental. It was a carefully contrived occurrence… The international bankers sought to bring about a condition of despair here so that they might emerge as rulers of us all.” – Louis T. McFadden (US House Representative from Pennsylvania)

“Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men… The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt (32nd US President)

“Banking is conceived in iniquity and born in sin. Bankers own the earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create money and control credit, and with the flick of a pen they will create enough money to buy it back again. Take this great power away from the bankers and all great fortunes like mine will disappear, and they ought to disappear, for this would be a better and happier world to live in. But if you want to continue the slaves of bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create money and to control credit.” – Sir Josiah Stamp (director of the Bank of England)

“Rapacious usury, which, although more than once condemned by the Church, is nevertheless under a different from buy with the same guilt, still practiced by avaricious and grasping men… so that a small number of very rich men have been able to lay upon the masses of the poor a yoke little better than slavery itself.” – Pope Leo XIII (257th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church)

“The division of the United States into federations of equal force was decided long before the Civil War by the high financial powers of Europe. These bankers were afraid that the United States, if they remained as one block, and as one nation, would attain economic and financial independence, which would upset their financial domination over the world.” – Otto von Bismark (1st Chancellor of the German Empire)


On Credit vs debt-free money

"A change of a fundamental kind has taken place in the economic structure of Europe whereby the old basis had ceased to be wealth and had become debt. In the old Europe wealth had been measured in lands, crops, herds and minerals; but a new standard had now been introduced, namely, a form of money to which the title 'credit' had been given." - Napoleon Bonaparte (Emperor of France)
 
“In the Colonies we issue our own money. It is called Colonial Scrip. We issue it in proper proportion to the demands of trade and industry to make the products pass easily from the producers to the consumers. In this manner, creating for ourselves our own paper money, we control its purchasing power, and we have no interest to pay to no one.” - Benjamin Franklin (US politician and founding father)

“By the adoption of these principles… the taxpayer will be saved immense sums of interest. Money will cease to be master and become the servant of humanity.” – Abraham Lincoln (16th US President)


On the Central Banks

“I sincerely believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs.” – Thomas Jefferson (3rd US President)

“This institution, having no principle but that of avarice, will never be varied in its object… to engross all the wealth, power and influence of the state.” – William Findley (US House Representative from Pennsylvania)

“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and the corporations which grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.” – Thomas Jefferson (3rd US President)

“Whosoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce… And when you realize that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by a few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate.” – James Garfield (20th US President)

“The powers of financial capitalism had [a] far-reaching [plan], nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences… Each central bank… Sought to dominate its government by its ability to control treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the level of economic activity in the country, and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world.” – Carroll Quigley (Georgetown University professor and Bill Clinton’s mentor)


On the Russian Revolution

“If one understands that socialism is not a share-the-wealth program, but is in reality a method to consolidate and control the wealth, then the seeming paradox of super-rich men promoting socialism becomes no paradox at all. Instead, it becomes logical, even the perfect tool of power-seeking megalomaniacs… Socialism is not a movement of the downtrodden masses, but of the economic elite.” – Gary Allen (American author and journalist)

“The course of Russian history has, indeed, been greatly affected by the operations of international bankers… The Soviet Government has been given United States Treasury funds by the Federal Reserve Board… acting through the Chase Bank. England has drawn money from us through the Federal Reserve banks and has re-lent it at high rates of interest to the Soviet Government… The Dnieperstory Dam was built with funds unlawfully taken from the United States Treasury by the corrupt and dishonest Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve banks.” – Louis T. McFadden (US House Representative from Pennsylvania)

“The state does not function as we desired. The car does not obey. A man is at the wheel and seems to lead it, but the car does not drive in the desired direction. It moves as another force wishes.” – Vladimir Lenin (head of the Soviet State)


On the Federal Reserve

“Most Americans have no real understanding of the operation of the international moneylenders… The accounts of the Federal Reserve System have never been audited. It operates outside the control of Congress and… manipulates the credit of the United States.” – Barry Goldwater (US Senator from Arizona)

“The financial system… has been turned over to… the Federal Reserve Board. That board administers the finance system by authority of… a purely profiteering group. The system is private, conducted for the sole purpose of obtaining the greatest possible profits from the use of other people’s money.” - Charles A. Lindbergh (United States Congressman from Minnesota)

“We have in this country one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever known. I refer to the Federal Reserve Board… This evil institution has impoverished… the people of the United States… and has practically bankrupted our Government. It has done this through… the corrupt practices of the moneyed vultures who control it.” – Louis T. McFadden (US House Representative from Pennsylvania)

“My agency in promoting the passage of the National Banking Act was the greatest financial mistake in my life. It has built up a monopoly which affects every interest in the country.” – Salmon P. Chase (US Senator from Ohio, 23rd Governor of Ohio, US Treasury Secretary, and US Chief Justice)

“This Act establishes the most gigantic trust on earth. When the President signs this bill, the invisible government by the Monetary Power will be legalized… The worst legislative crime of the ages is perpetrated by this banking bill.” – Charles A. Lindbergh (United States Congressman from Minnesota)

“The Federal Reserve definitely caused the Great depression by contracting the amount of currency in circulation by one-third from 1929 to 1933.” – Milton Friedman (Nobel Prize in economy)

“After WWI, Germany fell into the hands of the international bankers. Those bankers bought her and they now own her, lock, stock, and barrel. They have purchased her industries, they have mortgages on her soil, they control her production, they control all her public utilities. The international German bankers have subsidized the present Government of Germany and they have also supplied every dollar of the money Adolph Hitler has used in his lavish campaign to build up a threat to the government of Bruening. When Bruening fails to obey the orders of the German International Bankers, Hitler is brought forth to scare the Germans into submission. Through the Federal Reserve Board… over $30 billions of American money… has been pumped into Germany… You have all heard of the spending that has taken place in Germany… modernistic dwellings, her great planetariums, her gymnasiums, her swimming pools, her fine public highways, her perfect factories. All this was done on our money. All this was given to Germany through the Federal Reserve Board. The Federal Reserve Board… has pumped so many billions of dollars into Germany that they dare not name the total.” – Louis T. McFadden (US House Representative from Pennsylvania)


On the Gold/Silver Standards

“I went to America in the winter of 1872-73, authorised to secure, if I could, the passage of a bill demonetizing silver. It was in the interest of those I represented –the governors of the Bank of England- to have it done. By 1873, gold coins were the only form of coin money.” – Ernest Seyd (author, banker, and economist)

“I think it can hardly be disputer that the statesman and financiers of Europe are ready to take almost any means to reacquire rapidly the gold stock which Europe lost to America as the result of the World War I.” - Louis T. McFadden (US House Representative from Pennsylvania)

“Allegations of missing gold from our Fort Knox vaults are being widely discussed in European financial circles. But what is puzzling is that the Administration is not hastening to demonstrate conclusively that there is no cause for concern over our gold treasure –if indeed it is in a position to do so.” - Edith Roosevelt (second wife of Theodore Roosevelt)


... Next: Usury in the Bible


Bibliography:
William Still, “The Money Masters: How International Bankers Gained Control of America”, Still Productions, 1996.

Conclusion

Spanish poster from 1930
“The invisible world government.
The Jewish program to subdue the world”

So, if all this is true, and there really has been a Jude-Masonic conspiracy for hundreds of years, why don’t we hear about it? Well, the case is that, mainly since WWII, if you believe in the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy you are either: an anti-Semite (like the Tsars), a fascist (like Mussolini), a racist (like Hitler), a fanatic (like the Japanese government era), or a religious fundamentalist (like Franco). Resuming: you either believe in it because you hate the Jews or because you are against Freemasonry.

The case is that it is true that the plot originated in the usury practiced by some European Jews, and that some individuals of Jewish origin and some secret societies -like freemasonry- were fundamental for the conspiracy to progress. But it is also true that not all international bankers are Jewish or members of a Masonic lodge; as well as it is not true that all Jews practiced usury, that not every Jew that practiced usury had anything to do with the conspiracy nor with the international bankers, and it is also quite likely that even the Jewish individual and the secret societies directly involved in the plot did not know they were doing so, nor that there even was a worldwide conspiracy going on. In other words: they were simply used by the international bankers, and for the bankers benefit. Usury has no nationality, creed, ethics or political affiliation; just the profit margin matters. What I'm saying is that, more likely than not, these individuals or secret societies unknowingly worked to fulfil the bankers’ agenda. It was the bankers who chose, funded and supported those causes, countries, secret societies, groups or individuals that would ultimately help them achieve their goals, while they pursued their own agendas; like in the case of Weishaupt's Illuminati against church and state, or the Bolsheviks against the Tsar. The Bankers had no interest in Illuminism or Bolshvism; they were just useful for them at that moment. This tactic is still used to this day by some governments, which support revolutionary or terrorist groups against their enemies; even though their ultimate goals differ, or are even opposed. For example: the US funding and supporting the Mujahidin in their cold war against the Soviets. As later events have revealed, the US had no interest in the Mujahidin taking control of Afghanistan -they were actually opposed to the idea-; they just needed them at that time in order to get the USSR out of the Middle East.

Paradoxically, what really helped the conspiracy succeed more than anything else were the actions of those who believed there was a conspiracy, and the fact that the wrong groups were unjustly blamed for it –reason why it misleadingly bares their name-. As we saw throughout my research, many world leaders spoke and acted against this conspiracy, however, none of them harmed the real perpetrators; they focused on the easiest and most innocent targets, on which they unleashed their vengeance: the Jewish communities and/or the freemasonic fraternities. And in my opinion this was their biggest mistake, the reason why they are repudiated by history, and why this conspiracy is rejected worldwide since then. The prevalent reasoning regarding the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy became: since the Jews and the freemasons were blamed for this conspiracy, and after WWII it was shown that neither conspired, then there really was no Judeo-Masonic conspiracy. As you can see, that line of thought is completely wrong.

I believe it never made any sense calling it “Jude-Masonic”, and actually, this name has built up an impermeable shield around this cabal of international bankers, which automatically disqualifies anyone who mentions it as simply being moved by hatred against the Jews or the freemasons. In fact, it’s not even a good idea to mention the "international bankers", as it is assumed that what you really mean is "Jewish bankers"; and therefore your motivations become clear. Regarding this issue, I would like to clarify, in case anyone had any doubts, that when I said "international bankers" along this blog, I really meant bankers of all nationalities races and creeds. If I wanted to mean Jewish bankers I would have said so; in the same way I said "Jewish usurers" when referring to the Jews that practiced usury in Europe during the Middle Ages. All these issues have allowed the bankers to walk free from any type of suspicion for the second half of the 20th century and until now, and it has been fundamental for their complete takeover. [*]

So, in which stage is the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy nowadays? Well, I have no doubt that most governments around the world are controlled or at least influenced by it -in one way or another- and with them most aspects of our lives and our institutions (like the media, education system, the arts, and so on). The problem is that the plot has thickened so much that it would be practically impossible to know which events are directly related to it and which ones are not, and who is knowingly involved in it and who is not. Actually, we are all involved whether we like it or know it to some extent and we are all a little bit responsible for its success, since we were all brought up to accept and use their services and the practice for which they were despised throughout history: usury.

The End

… Next: relevant quotes


[*] It is worth noting that this theory still has a strong presence in some countries. For example: a survey carried out in Russia in 1990 revealed that 18% of Russians still believe there is a Zionist plot against them related to the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy, and that another 25% also do not discard the possibility (Source: Boris Sokolov, “Bloody fake century”, Grani.ru, 2003, http://grani.ru/Society/History/m.42967.html).

The Big Brother

Image from the film "1984"
based on the novel of the same title by George Orwell

We already saw how the bankers were able to influence most western governments (or got rid of uncooperative ones), how they introduced their central banks in most countries, how they took most of the gold and silver out of the hands of the ordinary citizen, and we can see their power every day by simply looking at who owns the biggest building in town. But the bankers’ greatest achievement was an even bigger task: completely changing society at their will and for their own benefit.

I already covered in previous chapters how they influenced (or got rid of) the rulers around the world to change the state laws regarding usury and the central banks; which in the English-speaking world happened as early as 1545, with Henry VIII’s “An Acte Agaynst Usurie”. But I left out the second biggest obstacle in their way: the Roman Catholic Church. In Christendom, usury was forbidden to clergy by the council of Nicaea as early as 325 A.D. Later, during the Third Council of the Lateran, in 1172, usury was also banned for the rest of the population, and was decided that no one who accepted interests on a loan would be give neither the sacraments nor a Christian burial. [1] It is now known that many important members of the clergy were accepting loans from the Templar Knights –whose interests were paid disguised as fees for their services-, [2] so in 1311 Pope Clement V proclaimed usury a heresy and abolished all secular legislation which allowed it [3] just one year before he disbanded the Templar order in 1312. The last change came with Pope Benedict XIV in 1745, with the encyclical “Vix Pervenit: On Usury and Other Dishonest Profit”, and was applied to the whole of the Roman Catholic Church in 1836 during the reign of Pope Gregory XVI. [4] Even though this encyclical condemned usury, it allowed extrinsic interests to be paid on loans; as long as they were not an intrinsic part of the contract. [5] Papal historian John Pollard argues that this contributed to the dependence of the Holy See upon Jewish bankers like James de Rothschild. [6] And from that moment on the Church gradually retreated from actively enforcing the bans on usury, and as charging interest became legally and ethically accepted (see further down) the encyclical's relevance faded; though it was never formally retracted [7] –except in some country; coincidentally: France after the revolution-. [4]

But getting western countries to legalise usury, and convincing the Roman Catholic Church to stop prosecuting usurers was not the end of the story; they had to change society’s view on usury if they succeed. We can clearly see how the public regarded usurers in an example from Dante’s “Divine Comedy”, which places them in the inner ring of the seventh circle of hell, below suicides; in a ring only shared by blasphemers and sodomites. But with the state and the church eating from the bankers’ hand, changing public opinion would be no problem; though I have to admit that in my opinion it was a brilliant move. Since the bankers could not change the nature of usury itself, they would simply change its definition. You see, before the 19th century the definition of usury was: the charge of interest or fees on a loan. However, since they began influencing state and church, the definition of usury became: the charge of interests or fees above those allowed by the law. This was not only brilliant because of its simplicity, but because it would also legitimise their activities, and because anyone who charged more interests than them (any independent lender outside of the banker's system) could be accused and charged with usury; which still happens to this day. It is also curious that in almost every country around the world it is an offense to use violence or threats to collect interest on a loan; activity which is usually referred to as loan-sharking. However, if you failed to pay a bank’s loan, you will probably know that soon after the bank’s threats the state will also begin to harass you on their behalf, and would even go as far as using violence against you; if they need to in order to confiscate your goods or evict you from your own home.

But these are only a couple of example of the power the bankers exerted to model society at their will and for their own benefit. The meaning of many other terms were also changed along the last two centuries; a practice that George Orwell coined “newspeak” in his prophetic novel “1984”; [8] as he would also prophesized the "Big Brother" state, constantly surveying and manipulating public opinion on behalf of its hidden masters: the usurers (a.k.a. the international bankers).


... Next Chapter: Conclusion


Bibliography:
Wikipedia: Usury (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usury).

References:
[1] John T. Noonan, Jr. "Development of Moral Doctrine" 54 Theological Stud., 1993.
[2] Mindworks Media Group Inc for The History Channel, “Decoding the Past: The Templar Code, the crusade for secrecy”, A & E Television Networks, 2005.
[3] Moehlman, 1934, p. 6-7.
[4] Bryan Stanley Turner, “Max Weber: Critical Responses”, p. 143, Routledge, 1999.
[5] Vix Pervenit.
[6] John Pollard, 2005, p. 24-26.
[7] Wikipedia: Vix Pervenit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vix_Pervenit).
[8] Wikipedia: Newspeak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspeak).

The World is not enough

"Uncle Sam": 1917 poster used by the US
to recruit soldiers for both World Wars

As we saw earlier, the bankers were able to obtain vast fortunes through two dubious practices: usury (explained in chapter 1), and fractional reserve banking (by which governments allows bankers the exclusive right to loan money that does not exist, by multiplying their deposits by a number of times [1] [usually 10] –times by which their profits are multiplied-). And they also gained a great deal of power and influence, as well as further wealth, through another dubious type of entity: the privately owned central banks (which give them the exclusive privilege to lend to governments and to other banks money that also does not exist, therefore devaluating our money, and then charge interest on it). [2]

But unparallel wealth and influence over governments was not enough for the bankers; they wanted to own the whole monetary system. So they engineered a new scheme that would virtually strip every person from their legal right to convert currencies back into specie (precious metals), or buy specie with their paper money at a fixed rate: [3] The fiat currencies were about to be adopted worldwide, and the next target was every human being on earth -stripping them of their "wealth" and substituting it with "credit".

By World War I most nations had legalized the central bank’s monopoly on bank notes. But governments still promised to redeem notes in specie on demand. However, with the excuse of the costs of the war governments suspend redemption in specie. [3]

During the First World War, production of gold sovereigns was stopped. The British government suspended the convertibility of Bank of England notes to gold in 1914 to fund military operations during World War I. Although the gold standard was restored in 1924 by Winston Churchill, the gold was at a higher price and coins saw little circulation. In 1920, the silver standard, maintained at a 92.5% purity (sterling silver) since 1552, was reduced to a 50% purity. Furthermore, after WWII, in 1947, the remaining silver coins were replaced with cupro-nickel; [4] which, for the ordinary citizen, meant that for every coin of precious silver he had, he was given an identical one made of worthless metal.

In the US the measures were less subtle, and in 1933 president Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 6102; which allowed the government to confiscate every single piece of gold (with the exception of rare coins) from all US citizens, and prevented them from buying or owning any gold until 1971. The sentence for owning any gold was a $10,000 fine or 10 years imprisonment. [5] The gold of the American people was transported and kept from them in Fort Knox; only accessible to foreign official institutions -allowed to redeem US dollars into Fort Knox's gold- under the Bretton Woods agreement from 1944; after which the IMF and the international monetary system were created.

All participants in WWII abandoned the gold standard to finance the war with the central bank’s generated inflation. During the 1939–1942 period, the UK depleted much of its gold stock in purchases of munitions and weaponry from the U.S. and other nations. Baron John Maynard Keynes (who influenced the Western leading economies) proposed to put the power to print money in the hands of the privately owned Bank of England. But Keynes also warned: "By a continuous process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens. By this method, they not only confiscate, but they confiscate arbitrarily; and while the process impoverishes many, it actually enriches some.” [6]

However, the US Treasury continued to issue money against its silver deposits; and these silver certificates were shredded upon redemption. Congress repealed the legal foundation for Silver Certificates on June 4, 1963; but President John F. Kennedy responded with Executive Order 11110 that the Treasury should continue to "issue silver certificates against any silver bullion, silver, or standard silver dollars in the Treasury". $10 and $20 notes (redeemable in silver) were in the process of being printed when Kennedy was murdered that same year; putting an end to the whole issue.

On August 15 1971, President Nixon announced that the US would no longer redeem currency for gold or any other precious metal, forming the final step in abandoning the gold and silver standards.

But how does all this translates for the ordinary citizen? Well, appart from the fact that we were stripped from our real wealth and were given "credit" instead, and the fact that the privately owned central banks can print new currency -making your money worth less-, which is then lended to commercial banks, who are allowed to multiply it by 10 for the purpose of lending it again -and therefore reducing your money's worth even further-, it means that for every dollar you (or your family) had under the gold standard, you should have 55 of today's dollars. In the same way: for every pound you (or your family) had under the silver standard, you should have 35 of today's pounds. Furthermore, it also means that, as Keynes warned, our governments can take as much wealth from us whenever they please by simply devaluating our currencies.


... Next chapter: The Big Brother


Bibliography:
Wikipedia: Silver standard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_standard)
Wikipedia: Gold standard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard)

References:
[1] Wikipedia: Fractional-reserve banking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional-reserve_banking)
[2] Wikipedia: Central bank (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_bank)
[3] Wikipedia: Fiat currency (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_currency)
[4] Wikipedia: Sterling Pound (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_Pound)
[5] Julian D.W. Phillips, “US Gold Confiscation”, BullionVault, 17th August 2009
[6] Earl A. Thompson, "The Gold Standard: Causes and Consequences", 1997; in David Glasner, “Business cycles and depressions: an encyclopedia”, New York, Garland Publishing, pp. 267–272.

The Empires strike back

"The Big Three": Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill
meeting at the Tehran Conference in 1943,
in representation of the Russian, American and British empires

Maybe it’s just a coincidence [though at this stage I don’t believe in coincidences anymore], but I just realised from the previous chapter that those nations who most prominently spoke and fought against the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy were the same ones that would later be tagged as “the Axis powers” (Germany, Italy and Japan) by the allies during WWII. And even though Spain kept a neutral position during WWII -probably due to the state in which it was after the Civil War- it gave moral, economic, and military assistance to the Axis powers. [1]

Furthermore, it is also an odd coincidence that those countries who most prominently fought against the Axis powers were the ones already controlled and/or financed by the banking dynasties –as we saw earlier- (the United States, Great Britain, the USSR, and France before its defeat in 1940). [2]

There were many causes and interests involved in WWII for me to suggest that it happened because of the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy. But the fact is that after WWII the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy simply vanished, even in those countries that believed -and openly said- it was a very real threat before the war.

It is also worth mentioning that the US and Britain forced Japan into the war (through a steel and oil embargo in August 1941, [3] which Japan needed to fight the war against China), and that the US also got involved in the war by allowing the Japanese fleet, as a result of the embargo, to attack Pearl Harbor in December 1941 (having previous knowledge of it way before it happened). [4]

We all know what happened to the Axis powers by the end of war, so I’m going to skip that part of the story. Well, except for that one country that escaped WWII.

As we saw earlier, Franco did not only believe in the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy, he was obsessed by it. But, if he was so obsessed, why didn’t he blame the Jews like everyone else? A possible answer to this question comes from a peculiar source. During the 1920s Winston Churchill also believed there was an international conspiracy going on, but he also didn’t blame the Jews (at least not all of them); unlike the Tsars, Hitler, and many others. Churchill thought there were two types of Jews: "National Jews" –honourable and useful for whatever country they lived in, and also "International Jews". [5] About these last ones he wrote:

“In violent opposition to all this sphere of Jewish effort rise the schemes of the International Jews. The adherents of this sinister confederacy are mostly men reared up among the unhappy populations of countries where Jews are persecuted on account of their race. Most, if not all, of them have forsaken the faith of their forefathers, and divorced from their minds all spiritual hopes of the next world. This movement among the Jews is not new. From the days of Spartacus-Weishaupt to those of Karl Marx, and down to Trotsky (Russia), Bela Kun (Hungary), Rosa Luxembourg (Germany), and Emma Goldman (United States), this world-wide conspiracy for the overthrow of civilization and for the reconstitution of society on the basis of arrested development, of envious malevolence, and impossible equality, has been steadily growing. It played, as a modern writer, Mrs. Webster, has so ably shown, a definitely recognizable part in the tragedy of the French Revolution. It has been the mainspring of every subversive movement during the Nineteenth Century; and now at last this band of extraordinary personalities from the underworld of the great cities of Europe and America have gripped the Russian people by the hair of their heads and have become practically the undisputed masters of that enormous empire.” [5]

But who exactly were those “international Jews”? I guess Churchill could not agree with Franco in that they were the freemasons; since he was one of them since 1901 (as well as Roosevelt; sitting beside him in the picture above). [6] Well, who knows? Churchill never spoke again of this issue after the 1920s. But he did say once: “If a man is not a liberal at 20, he has no heart. If he is not a conservative by the time he's 40, he has no brain”. So, did he change his heart for his brain, chose the most convenient side, and shut up?

Franco, on the other side had very clear who was behind the conspiracy, and was able to pinpoint the source to just one country: the one that was not only ran, but also founded by freemasons. Franco always believed that during the Spanish-American War the Cuban rebels [no, not Castro’s revolutionaries; the previous ones] were aided and funded by Masonic lodges and the US to take the Spaniards out from Cuba; [7] and from other Spanish colonies like Puerto Rico (also in the Caribbean), and Philippines and Guam (in the Asian-Pacific). The Cuban war (also known as the American-Spanish War) started when the USS Maine sank off the coast of Havana in 1898, where 266 US sailors died. [8] The Spaniards were blamed by the US and the American public supported their US officials; who had already geared up for war. [9] However, the last two private investigations, carried out by Admiral Hyman G. Rickover in 1976 and National Geographic in 1999, came to the conclusion that the USS Maine sank after suffering an internal explosion, and not an external attack by Spain; as the warmongers claimed. [8] As a result of the war, Spain lost all its colonies.

During the Civil War (1936-1939), Spain was under an embargo by Britain and France, and later isolated through the post-WWII period. Until the US decided that Spain was of strategic interest to them, and in the period from 1969 to 1977 they sent a Jewish official by the name of Avraham Ben Elazar (best known as Henry Kissinger). The main objectives were to install US bases in Spain, and to support Juan Carlos I de Borbón into the Spanish throne. [10] They achieved both objectives.


... Next chapter: the world is not enough


References:
[1] Wikipedia: Axis powers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_powers)
[2] Wikipedia: Allies of World War II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allies_of_World_War_II)
[3] Kennedy Hickman, “World War II Pacific: Moving Towards War”, About.com, The New York Times Company, 2010.
[4] Rear Admiral Robert A. Theobald (USN Retired), “The Final Secret of Pearl Harbor - The Washington Contribution to the Japanese Attack (with Foreword by Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey)”, Devin-Adair Company, New York, 1954.
[5] Winston Churchill, “Zionism versus Bolshevism: A Struggle for the Soul of the Jewish People”, Illustrated Sunday Herald, 8 February 1920, page 5
[6] W.Bro. Yasha Beresiner, “Masonic papers”, Pietre-Stones Review of Freemasonry, 2007 (http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/beresiner7.html)
[7] Jaime de Andrade (Francisco Franco) “Raza”, Ediciones Numancia, Madrid, 1942
[8] Wikipedia: Spanish-American War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish...93American_War)
[9] Louis A. Pérez, “The Meaning of the Maine: Causation and the Historiography of the Spanish-American War”, the Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 58, No. 3, August 1989, pp. 293-322.
[10] Charles T. Powell, “Historia y política: Ideas, procesos y movimientos sociales”, ISSN 1575-0361, Nº 17, 2007, pp. 223-251.

The final solution

Poster for the 1941 Serbian Anti-Masonic exhibition.
"Who is going to overstretch it?
Nobody, because the Jews balance it."

As we saw in previous chapters, most of those who feared the Judeo-Masonic Conspiracy thought that the Jews where behind it; arguing, in one way or another, that each of them played their part in the plot. The final solution (Ger.: “Die Endlösung”) was the Nazi response to tackle the “Jewish question”; which emerged in Central and Western Europe during the Enlightenment and the French Revolution to the historic unequal civil, legal and national status of the Ashkenazi Jews. [1] However, even though the final solution is commonly associated with the Jews, they were not the only ones prosecuted in reference to this issue, and Germany was not the only country to adopt measures against it.

Adolf Hitler believed that Freemasonry had succumbed to the Jewish plot and that it was an instrument to tear down the racial and civil barriers that stopped the Jews from gaining strong political positions. [2] The Nazis thought that high degree Freemasons were part of the Jewish conspiracy, and in 1933 the German parliament passed the Enabling Act (Ger.: “Ermächtigungsgesetz”), which allowed the disbandment of Freemasonry, the confiscation of the property of all Lodges, and the imprisonment of freemasons in concentration camps –as political prisoners; forced to wear an inverted red triangle. [3] It is believed that between 80,000 and 200,000 freemasons perished under the Nazi regime. [4]

Previous to the Nazi’s raise to power, in Italy, Freemasonry was a refuge and a sanctuary for Jews and Christians who believed in individual and political liberty. This was to change when Benito Mussolini openly became a dictator, and engaged in a campaign against Freemasonry. Mussolini’s Black Shirts were sent to harass, humiliate, beat, and kill Italian freemasons; and to loot and burn their lodges. In 1924, Benito Mussolini decreed that every member of his Fascist Party who was a Mason must abandon either one or the other organization. One year later Freemasonry was dissolved in Italy, under the claim that it was a political organisation. When the freemasons protested in 1925, Mussolini responded: “Masonry must be destroyed and Masons should have no right to citizenship in Italy. To reach this end all means are good, from the club to the gun, from the breaking of windows to the purifying fire... The Masons must be ostracized... Their very life must be made impossible." [5] With regards to the Jews in Italy, and even though there were many anti-Semitic policies, they were far better off than in other countries; in part due to the Italian population's complacent behaviour. [6]

It is claimed that the prosecution of freemasons in Spain began with Primo de Rivera´s dictatorship (from 1923 to 1930). [7] In September 1928, one of the two Grand Lodges in Spain was closed and approximately two-hundred masons, most notably the Grand Master of the Grand Orient, were imprisoned for allegedly plotting against the government. References to a "Judeo-Masonic plot" were a standard component of Franco’s speeches and propaganda. According to Francoists, the Republican Regime, which Franco overthrew, had a strong Masonic presence. [8] In reality Spanish Masons were present in all sectors of politics and the armed forces. [9] Franco produced at least 49 pseudonymous anti-Masonic magazine articles and an anti-Masonic book during his lifetime. According to Franco: "The whole secret of the campaigns unleashed against Spain can be explained in two words: masonry and communism... we have to extirpate these two evils from our land.” [10] During the military coup of 1936, many Freemasons trapped in areas under Nationalist control were arrested and summarily killed. It was reported that Masons were shot, tortured and murdered by organised death squads in every town in Spain. A list was assembled with 80,000 suspected masons, even though there were little more than 5,000 masons in Spain. The slightest suspicion of being a mason was often enough to earn a place in a firing squad. By 16 December 1937, according to the annual Masonic assembly held in Madrid, all masons that had not escaped from the areas under nationalist control had been murdered. [11] After the victory of dictator General Francisco Franco, Freemasonry was officially outlawed in Spain on 2 March 1940. Being a mason was automatically punishable by a minimum jail term of 12 years. Masons of the 18º and above were deemed guilty of ‘Aggravated Circumstances’, and usually faced the death penalty. [10] The suppression of Freemasons in Spain continued for 39 years until the dictator's death in 1975. [12] Even though the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy is associated with anti-Semitism, it is worth noting that Franco did not target the Jewish community in Spain. Furthermore, he favoured the Sephardi Jews during the war. [13]

The Japanese government also believed that the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy was very real, and in 1938, a Japanese representative to the World-Service congress hosted by Ulrich Fleischhauer stated, on behalf of Japan, that "Judeo-Masonry is forcing the Chinese to turn China into a spearhead for an attack on Japan, and thereby forcing Japan to defend herself against this threat. Japan is at war not with China but with Freemasonry, represented by General Chiang Kai-shek, the successor of his master, the Freemason Sun Yat-Sen." [12]

Many other countries also accused and targeted the freemasons in reference to the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy, like: the United Kingdom (1799), Hungary (1919), the Soviet Union and all other communist countries (with the exception of Cuba), and the United States (after the kidnapping and murder of Captain William Morgan in 1826).


... Next chapter: the empires strike back


Bibliography:
Wikipedia: Suppression of Freemasonry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suppression_of_Freemasonry)

References:
[1] Wikipedia: Jewish question (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_question)
[2] Adolf Hitler, “Mein Kampf”, volume 1, chapter 11 (Manheim translation)
[3] Katz, "Jews and Freemasons in Europe"; cited in “The Encyclopedia of the Holocaust”, volume 2, page 531.
[4] Christopher Hodapp, “Freemasons for Dummies”, 2005, p. 85, Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing Inc.
[5] “Freemasonry and Mussolini”, 2003, Lodge St Bryde No 579.
[6] Daniel Carpi, “Between Mussolini and Hitler: The Jews and the Italian Authorities in France and Tunisia”, The Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry Series 17. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, 1994.
[7] Sven G. Lunden, “The Anhilation of Freemasonry”, The American Mercury Newspaper, 1941.
[8] General Mola, “Tempestad Calma Intriga Y Crisis”, quoted in: William G. Carr, “Pawns In The Game”
[9] Wayne H. Bowen, “Spain during World War II”, p. 249, University of Missouri press, 2006.
[10] Matthew Scanlan, "Freemasonry and the Spanish Civil War: Part II"
[11] Matthew Scanlan, "Freemasonry and the Spanish Civil War: Part I, the Path to War"
[12] Paul M. Bessel, "Bigotry and the Murder of Freemasonry", 1994.
[13] Wikipedia: Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judeo-M...spiracy_theory).

Hitler’s Struggle (part V: Hitler and the Bankers)

Three new players, one old game

By the end of WWI Germany was not only hopelessly broke, but on top had to make front to the war reparation payments imposed during the Treaty of Versailles for 269 billion gold marks (the equivalent to 100,000 tonnes of pure gold); a quantity that was considered excessive by many economists, [1] and which was reduced by 50% in 1929. According to Louis T. McFadden (US House Representative for Pennsylvania): “After WWI, Germany fell into the hands of the international bankers. Those bankers bought her and they now own her, lock, stock, and barrel. They have purchased her industries, they have mortgages on her soil, they control her production, they control all her public utilities. The international German bankers have subsidized the present Government of Germany and they have also supplied every dollar of the money Adolph Hitler has used in his lavish campaign to build up a threat to the government of Bruening. When Bruening fails to obey the orders of the German International Bankers, Hitler is brought forth to scare the Germans into submission. Through the Federal Reserve Board… over $30 billions of American money… has been pumped into Germany… You have all heard of the spending that has taken place in Germany… modernistic dwellings, her great planetariums, her gymnasiums, her swimming pools, her fine public highways, her perfect factories. All this was done on our money. All this was given to Germany through the Federal Reserve Board. The Federal Reserve Board… has pumped so many billions of dollars into Germany that they dare not name the total.”

But unlike Bruening, and even though he had already figured out the whole plot (the Judeo-Masonic Conspiracy), Hitler had no intention to disapoint the bankers. At the contrary, he would work with them towards his own agenda; even though he never trusted the international bankers; not even his own governor of the Reichsbank, Hjalman Schacht -who was a German prominent member of the club of international bankers, and whom, along Montague Norman (governor of the Bank of England) masterminded the Bank of International Settlements (BIS); set to facilitate the enormous reparation payments from WWI between countries, and which was instrumental for Hitler to carry out his plans-. This is how Hitler described Schacht: "It was its consulate skill at swindling other people which made him indispensible at the time. After all, see that the whole gang of financiers as a bunch of crooks, what possible point was there at being scrupulously honest with them. Before each meeting of the International Bank at Basle, half the world was anxious to know whether Schacht would attend or not. It was only after the assurance that he would be there, that the Jew bankers of the entire world packed their bags and prepared to attend. In spite of his ability I could never trust Schacht; for I have often seen how his face lit up when he succeeded in swindling someone out of a 100 marks note."

Apart from the investments from the Federal Reserve described above –and those of other Wall Street private banks, like: Warburg, JP Morgan, Khan Loeb, and Chase-Manhattan-, [2] under Hjalman Schacht and Montague Norman the BIS also transferred investments from the European allied powers into Germany for the expansion of her economy. And even though, since the Nazis came into power in 1933, there were no new investments, existing ones continued to be renewed annually. By 1939, and through the BIS alone, 294 million Gold Swiss Francs were pumped into Germany; which were primarily used for the full re-armament of the country in preparation for war. Hitler was using the greed of the bankers to fund his military campaigns and to loot the gold from the conquered countries; which would be used to repay the bankers and to fund further military campaigns. In 1938, the first thing Hitler did after annexing Austria was to demand the Austrian gold held by the BIS; which transferred 22 tons of gold to the Reichsbank. Next, after invading Czechoslovakia, Hitler also demanded the BIS their gold. However, the Czechs had previously deposited it in a safe haven with the Bank of England. However, at the request of the BIS, £6 million were transferred out of the arks of the Bank of England, and into the Reichsbank, by order of its governor Montague Norman.

After Norman transferred the Czech gold out of the Bank of England, the BIS decided to appoint a new and neutral president, an American by the name of Thomas McKittrick. Under his direction –and after WWII broke out in full- business continued as usual for Hitler and the bankers. The gold from Poland, Holland and Belgium was also transferred to the Reichsbank after these countries were invaded by the Nazis. Even the gold looted from the prisoners in the concentration camps (gold watches, pens, jewellery and even teeth extracted from the victims) was laundered through the BIS into Swiss Francs; even when at least two of its directors had previous knowledge of its origin, for which they were convicted in Nuremberg: Emil Puhl (BIS director and vice-president of the Reichsbank) and Walter Funk (BIS director and president of the Reichsbank). US Intelligence reports shows that the BIS continued to transfer gold from the Nazis all along WWII, until late 1945; and even though I could not find the amounts profited by all the international banks involved in the funding of Hitler and in helping with the laundering and looting, according to Sir Edward Playfair (by then with The HM Treasury) by 1944 Germany was paying £760 thousand per year on pre-war investments to the BIS, and getting 1/3 of it back in dividends; the rest was kept as profit by the Bank of England.

The war ended, but Hitler never turned against the bankers –even though he knew exactly who was responsible for the plot against Germany-, nor the bankers turned against Hitler -even though they knew what he was up to-; at the contrary, they continued doing business all along the war, enjoying safe passage through the axis powers in private planes, and as it has being recently revealed, many British and American commercial banks were eager to please the Nazis -like Chase-Manhattan and Barclays Bank, who froze all Jewish accounts and fired all Jewish employees-. On the other hand, innocent Jews, Freemasons, and left-wingers from Germany and the occupied territories took the blame for the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy... and paid the ultimate price.

But there was someone who stood up against the bankers -thanks to whom this chapter was even possible-: the US Secretary of Treasury under Roosevelt Henry Morgenthau; who not only figured out the whole plot since day one, but put together a 32 portfolios dossier on the funding of Hitler by the BIS, the Bank of England, and other National and Commercial banks; and who always urged Roosevelt to act against the bankers; and who had his career destroyed for challenging the international bankers.

With Hitler out of the way, it was now time for the bankers to take care of a previous investment; or in this case, get rid of them if they didn’t finally comply: I'm talking about the Soviets and their new leader, Joseph Stalin. It was the end of WWII, but the beginning of the Cold War.


... Next chapter: the final solution


Bibliography:
Paul Elston, “Banking with Hitler”, Laurence Rees, Time Watch, BBC, 1998

References:
[1] Olivia Lang, "Why has Germany taken so long to pay off its WWI debt?", BBC News, Retrieved October 3, 2010.
[2] Anthony C. Sutton, “Wall Street and the rise of Hitler”, G S G & Associates Pub, 1976.

Hitler’s Struggle (part IV: the Eternal Jew)

Poster for the Anti-Semitic documentary “Der ewige Jude” (The eternal Jew)
Produced by the Nazi Party in 1940

Hitler believed that while the German people died in the front for the fatherland, the Jews were busy plotting against Germany, profiteering from the war and gaining political position. In fact Hitler was not alone in his views, and many accusations against the Jews spread throughout Germany during and after WWI; the main one: lack of patriotism. This rumour reached the highest echelons of the German government and in 1916 the High Command ordered a census to confirm these allegations. Known as “the census of the Jews” (Judenzählung), it attempted to find if the Jews were really avoiding their patriotic duty during the war. But the results were never published; which spread even further an anti-Semitic sentiment throughout Germany –as many anti-Semitic groups used the government’s silence as confirmation of their claims-. [1]

So… was it true; were the German-Jews conspiring against Germany from the inside? Well… yes and no.

In regards to the lack of patriotism, the allegations were completely false; the Jews had the highest rate of representation in the German army from any other ethnic minority; a rate that was at least as high as that of the Bavarian non-Jewish population -bastion of German nationalism. [1] Over 100,000 out of a total German-Jewish population of 550,000 served during WWI; 12,000 Jews perished fighting for Germany, and another 32,000 were decorated for bravery. [2] As a matter of fact, Hitler’s First Class Iron Cross was awarded by recommendation of his Jewish commanding officer, Lieutenant Hugo Gutmann. [3]

Now, in regards to the Jews fighting against the Germany of the Kaiser that Hitler supported –the undemocratic Old World Order which prevented ethnic minorities from ever achieving full emancipation- this was true in most cases; and why not? Even though the situation of the German-Jews gradually improved since the turn of the century, they were still discriminated in many aspects; situation that was aggravated by the fact that all lower classes, whatever the ethnic background, also suffered from the discrimination and the exploitation of the ruling classes. Under those circumstances many Jews turned to left-wing ideologies like socialism, and fought not only for the end of ethnic discrimination, but also for the equality between classes. [4] These were the so called “Liberal-Jews”; and even though they had a different political view from the Kaiser and his supporters, their ideals were also shared by many Germans who thought Social Democracy was the best solution to Germany’s problems.

These Liberal-Jews didn’t seem to be the cause of the problem for Hitler; and even he wasn’t much concerned about them at first. After all, they were also Germans, but from a different religion; and he condemned the attacks of the German anti-Semitic groups against the Jews for religious reasons; saying that such an attitude was unworthy of the German people. But during Hitler’s period in Vienna, and due to the large number of Jews that lived there under hardship –unlike in Linz- he began to entertain the idea that the Jews might not be Germans after all, stating in his Main Kampf: “Yet I could no longer very well doubt that the objects of my study were not Germans of a special religion, but a people in themselves; for since I had begun to concern myself with this question and to take cognizance of the Jews, Vienna appeared to me in a different light than before. Wherever I went, I began to see Jews, and the more I saw, the more sharply they became distinguished in my eyes from the rest of humanity. Particularly the Inner City and the districts north of the Danube Canal swarmed with a people which even outwardly had lost all resemblance to Germans.”

But even then, Hitler had many doubts; and during those times he claims to have being tormented by a fear of doing injustice to the Jews. However, during his study of the Jewish question, Hitler came across a new Jewish movement that was gaining strength throughout the world; a radical movement that exalted the Jewish national character and aimed no less that for a Jewish homeland and self-determination for the Jewish people: [5] “And whatever doubts I may still have nourished were finally dispelled by the attitude of a portion of the Jews themselves. Among them there was a great movement, quite extensive in Vienna, which came out sharply in confirmation of the national character of the Jews: this was the Zionists.” It was all clear for Hitler now; the Zionists had confirmed that the Jews were not really Germans, and therefore their loyalty must lay elsewhere.

It didn’t matter to Hitler whether or not only a small portion of Jews supported Zionism, while the vast majority were Liberal-Jews that rejected it; the Jews had confirmed their distinct character as a nation, and therefore for him any disagreements between them was just a matter of forms: “It looked to be sure, as though only a part of the Jews approved this [Zionist] viewpoint, while the great majority condemned and inwardly rejected such a formulation. But when examined more closely, this appearance dissolved itself into an unsavory vapor of pretexts advanced for mere reasons of expedience, not to say lies. For the so-called liberal Jews did not reject the Zionists as non-Jews, but only as Jews with an impractical, perhaps even dangerous, way of publicly avowing their Jewishness. Intrinsically they remained unalterably of one piece. In a short time this apparent struggle between Zionistic and liberal Jews disgusted me; for it was false through and through, founded on lies and scarcely in keeping with the moral elevation and purity always claimed by this people."

It was at that moment when Hitler experienced what he called “his greatest transformation”, and succumbed to anti-Semitism. From that moment on he would be disgusted at the sole thought of a Jew; and he couldn't stand their gradual integration in all aspects of German life: art, literature, the press, finances, and even politics; the Jews were everywhere! And there could be no coincidence; since all of them were Jews, and according to the Zionists the Jews were a nation, they could only be part of the same plot; a plot controlled from outside Germany on which every Jew played his role; no matter how opposite their ideologies were: “I began to study again, and now for the first time really achieved an understanding of the content of the Jew Karl Marx's life effort. Only now did his Capital become really intelligible to me, and also the struggle of the Social Democracy against the national economy, which aims only to prepare the ground for the domination of truly international finance and stock exchange capital.”


… Next Chapter: Hitler’s Struggle (part V: Hitler and the Bankers)


Bibliography:
Adolf Hitler, “Mein Kampf”, Eher Verlag, Munich, 1925

References:
[1] Bavarian National Exhibition, “Deutsche Jüdische Soldaten”, the Military Research Office of the Federal German Defence Forces; cited in: Herbert Loebl, “Juden in Bamberg”, 2002, [accessed from www.juden-in-bamberg.de]
[2] Bryan Mark Rigg, “Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers”, p.72, University Press of Kansas, 2002
[3] Robert Payne, “Life and Death of Adolf Hitler”, Dorset Press, 1995
[4] Ashley Lazarus, “Faith and Fate, the history of the Jewish people in the 20th century: Episode I, The Dawn of the Century“, Berel Wein/Destiny Productions, 2007
[5] Wikipedia: Zionism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zionism)