A History of the Fraternitas Saturni / 23
Interregnum The great storm-cloud broke over the Fraternitas Saturni and all other Masonic and quasi-Masonic lodges in Germany on January 30, 1 9 3 3 , when Adolf Hitler, Führer of the NSDAP, took the oath as chancellor of Germany. By the next month emergency powers had been invoked and many groups thought to be of a subversive nature, from Communists to Masons, were suppressed. This began a process in which secret societies and occult orders of all kinds began to be systematically suppressed. Most sources on the history of the FS state that the lodge was closed and banned in 1933. 3 1 Certainly Gregorius' bookstore and the publishing house would have been closed down by 1934. In 1 9 3 5 another wave of "voluntary" dissolutions of secret societies followed. Finally, in a declaration of Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler in 1 9 3 7 , all occult and quasi-Masonic organizations, even the völkisch ones that had generally and originally been supportive of National Socialist aims, were banned. These völkisch groups included those founded by Guido von List and Lanz von Liebenfels. Early in this cycle of bannings Gregorius is said to have emigrated first to Switzerland and then to Cannero, Italy. There he remained until October of 1943, when he was arrested and extradited back to Germany through pressure from the Nazi government. He was released on his own recognizance after only one year, and apparently allowed to continue his occult studies after his release. After the war ended in 1 9 4 5 , Gregorius set about refounding the FS. There is more than one odd aspect