The Universal League of Freemasons ( ULF )
German public opinion , we can expect the worst , without the possibility for our own masonic groups being able to oppose it in any way . And then ...
I humbly admit that I am no longer able to imagine a policy capable of giving our ideal of understanding and fraternity the impetus and the vigor necessary to defeat the brutal forces preparing their impetuous attacks in the shadows .
I want to hope that I am wrong and that the dark skies will not unleash a storm .
La Fontaine was present in the Hague . He spoke about the situation of pacifism and the congress adopted this resolution :
[ ... ] The duty of all who despise war is now to pursue daily propaganda against those who exalt and encourage it . They must be condemned to the hatred of the masses and especially the youth , whose lives they are conspiring against without mercy . A universal public opinion must assert itself , with irresistible intensity and unanimity , one that is decisive and capable of subduing the unconscionable partisans of the massacres and the carnage of war .
During this same meeting , it was noted that the congress confirmed the situation in Germany (“ the German national group is considered dissolved ”)
57 and that new groups were formed in the Dutch East Indies , Mexico , and Brazil , without any more details . The following tragic appeal can be seen in the first issue of 1934 of La Heroldo : “ Humanity is in danger [ ... ] Masonic people , wake up !”
The reality of the situation in Germany was disastrous . A few months later , the same bulletin returned to this situation :
the upheaval that overthrew almost everything that existed until then . German Freemasonry had to be disbanded for the most part , while the other part decided it would be best to transform into a German-Christian Order , bending to the general standardization . We know what effects this transformation had . In any case , the German group of the League ceased to exist . Brother Müffelmann , Grand Master of the Symbolic Grand Lodge of Germany , who still participated in the congress in the Hague , was arrested soon after with some other brothers and locked in prison for several months and then sent to a concentration camp .
The situation was better for the moment in Austria , but the hounds were circling , as noted in the same issue of La Heroldo :
also , the situation continued to worsen , the economic situation forcing many brothers to resign , the government becoming increasingly suspicious , and work