|
 In
1940-1941, the Deutsche Informationsstelle, a department of the
German Foreign Office, located on 27
Rauchstraße, Berlin-W35, produced a series of anonymous propaganda
brochures, which consisted of 46 volumes. These brochures were brought
into circulation in ten languages. The German series was entitled Informations-Schriften. In 1940,
the volumes 1 - 37 were published.[1]
Volume 18 in the series Informations-Schriften, on this
website indicated with Brochure-18-DE, was entitled Die Prophezeiungen des
Nostradamus. This brochure had nothing to do with a similar entitled
article by Elisabeth Noelle, published on June 16, 1940 in the Deutsche Allgemeine
Zeitung.
The most recent dated fact
in Brochure-18-DE
was the capitulation of Paris on June 14, 1940. This capitulation was
linked to quatrain 05-30. The propaganda message of Brochure-18-DE
was that Nostradamus, who back in the 16th century predicted the
outbreak of the war in 1939-1940 and the defeat of France, also
predicted that England's decline was at hand, that there would be severe
famine, that Hitler would walk upon England's shores and that Germany
would win the war.
In this article, several themes are discussed, such as the question when
Brochure-18-DE was compiled, the people who were involved and the
source material which the compilers used.
The
origin history of Brochure-18-DE
From 1936 to 1944, professor
Friedrich Berber (1898-1984),
judge on nations and state philosopher, was second in command of the Institut für auswärtige
Politik in Hamburg and leader of the Deutschen Instituts für außenpolitische
Forschung. At times, he also was involved in the production of
national-socialist propaganda material, based upon the Centuries and/or
Century-comments.
On July 23, 1940, Berber wrote to dr. Rahn, had of the Information
department of the German Foreign Office, that the Deutsche
Informationsstelle would have compiled a small brochure on
Nostradamus, which would be published as part of the series Informations-Schriften
and only would be used abroad.[2]
In the next paragraphs, it will be explained that this remark refers
to Brochure-18-DE. It has no connection with Der Seher
von Salon, volume 38 in the series Informations-Schriften.
This volume was published in 1941.[3]
The
source material
a.
The cover
The upper rectangular frame on
the cover of Brochure-18-DE contains the words Die
Prophezeiungen des Nostradamus, the title of this brochure. The
lower rectangular fram contains the words Informations-Schriften
Nr. 18, Europa Verlag 1940. The name Europa Verlag is a
fictitious name.
The cover of Brochure-18-DE contains, from the lower left
to the upper right direction, complete French texts or parts of French
texts of the quatrains 01-47, 02-100,
03-24, 03-35, 03-53, 03-57, 05-94, 06-34, 08-37, 09-16, 09-52, 09-55,
09-83, 10-22 and 10-89. Above the first line, quatrain numbers are given
in Roman notation. The quatrains 02-100,
03-57, 05-94, 08-37 and 09-83 are discussed in the text.
Research of the German Century-scholar Wilhelm Zannoth showed
that the quatrain texts on the cover of Brochure-18-DE most likely
originate from the photocopy, made by the Swiss astrologer Karl Ernst
Krafft of a 1568-B.Rigaud-edition of the Centuries.[4]
From January 1940, Krafft was involved in the production of
national-socialist propaganda, based upon the Centuries and/or Century-comments.
b.
An opening poem
Brochure-18-DE opens with a six-line poem which, according to
this brochure, preceeded the text of the first volume of Hundertschaften
und Prophetien (Lyon, 1555). The text of this poem reads as follows:
Ich
gebe in dem Spiel von tausend dunklen Reimen,
Entdeckend und verbergend, was Zukunft will entkeimen.
An Hauptereignissen der größten Potentaten,
Der Neugier eine Folter, wenn sie es will erraten;
Denn eine lange Reih' von Vorfäll'n ist verzeichnet,
Die man erst dann erkennt, wenn sich die Tat ereignet.
According
to Brochure-18-DE, this poem was written by Nostradamus.
Actually, its original version was written by Edouard Roesch, whose
translation of the Centuries - the first complete translation into
German - was published in 1850. This translation was entitled Die
erstaunlichen Bücher des Grossen Artztes, Sehers und
Schicksals-Propheten Nostradamus in’s Deutsche übertragen und dem
Verständnisse aufgeschlossen. The poem can be found in the chapter Nostradamus
Leben in volume I, p.23. With some minor differences, it has been
incorporated in Mysterien von Sonne und Seele (dr. H.-H.
Kritzinger, Berlin, 1922 [1921], p.129), Das Schicksalsbuch der
Weltgeschichte (a revised edition by dr. W. Faber of Roesch-1850,
Berlin, 1922, p.9-10) and Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte
von 1547 bis gegen 3000 (Berlin, 1928, p.28).
The text of the poem in Brochure-18-DE matches most perfectly
with the text in Noah-1928. In Roesch-1850, Kritzinger-1922 and
Faber-1922, the text of the fourth line reads: Der Neugier eine
Folter, die sie nicht erraten. In Noah-1928
and Brochure-18-DE, the text of this line reads: Der Neugier eine Folter, wenn sie es
will erraten. Further, the third line of this poem in Noah-1928
and Brochure-18-DE
(and in Roesch-1850) contains the word größten, whereas in Kritzinger-1922
and Faber-1922 it reads grossen. This leads us to the supposition
that the poem in Brochure-18-DE
was copied from Noah-1928, a supposition which is enforced by the fact
that in Noah-1928, this poem came next to the Epistle to Henry II, which
Epistle, according to the 1668-Ribou-edition Noah used, preceeded the Centuries.
In other words: in connection with the arrangement of texts in Noah-1928
(Epistle to Henry II, poem, Centuries), the compilers of Brochure-18-DE
drew the conclusion that the quatrains were preceded by a six-line poem,
and described the contents of the Centuries according to that
conclusion.
c. Century-comments
Brochure-18-DE only contains German Century-texts, no
French Century-texts. The compilers of this brochure translated a
number of Century-texts from French into German and edited them.
They also copied German Century-texts which already existed and
edited them in a number of cases.
In Brochure-18-DE, twenty quatrains were discussed. In the case
of 18 quatrains, the source of the discussions could be ascertained. The
publications which the compilers most frequently consulted, were Nostradamus sieht
die Zukunft Europas (Krafft, 1940d) and Hoe zal deze oorlog
eindigen? (Den Haag, 1940), one of the translations of a text,
written in November-December 1939 by three managers of the German
Ministry of Propaganda: Hans Wolfgang Herwarth von Bittenfeld,
prof. dr. Karl Bömer
and Leopold
Gutterer. With one minor change, the text of quatrain 02-05 was copied
from Englands Aufstieg und Niedergang... (dr. Bruno
Winkler, Leipzig, 1940, p.33).
1.
Nostradamus sieht die Zukunft Europas
In his letter from July 23, 1940, professor Berber wrote that during the
compilation of the Nostradamus brochure, the manuscript would be used
about which he made some remarks in his letter; he also wrote that dr.
Willmanns, head of the
Information IV
department of the German Foreign Office, owned a copy. This manuscript
was entitled Nostradamus
sieht die Zukunft Europas bedoeld. In May-August 1940, Krafft
wrote this manuscript by order of Wilmanns.
A comparison between the order of the quatrains in Brochure-18-DE
and the order in Nostradamus sieht
die Zukunft Europas shows that Krafft's manuscript has been used
during the compilation of Brochure-18-DE. The text in Brochure-18-DE
of the quatrains 02-100, 03-71, 04-37, 05-30, 09-52 and 09-83 matches
quite good the texts in Nostradamus
sieht die Zukunft Europas. The comments in Brochure-18-DE
on these quatrains can be traced back to the comments in Nostradamus sieht
die Zukunft Europas. An undated typescript
of Nostradamus sieht die Zukunft
Europas, owned by the German Institut für
Grenzgebiete der Psychologie und Psychohygiene e.V. (Freiburg in
Breisgau, DE, file nr 20/9 181) contains on p.42-43 the translation of
and the comment on quatrain 05-30, which is more or less the same as the
quatrain text and the comment in Brochure-18-DE.[5]
Like in its translations, the fourth line of quatrain 05-30 is not
included in Brochure-18-DE.
Quatrain
05-30
| Brochure-18-DE,
p.9 |
Krafft-1940d,
p.42-43 |
Überall
im ganzen großen Land werden
In Stadt und Land die Soldaten ihre Quartiere beziehen.
Nachdem Rom zur Beteiligung veranlaßt wurde,
Wird Befehl gegeben, Paris überraschend zu besetzen.
Und
wenige Tage nach Italiens Eintritt in den Krieg wurde ja auch in
der Tat Paris kampflos besetzt.
|
"Überall
um die grosse Metropole werden Soldaten ihre Quartiere beziehen
in Land und Stadt. Nachdem Rom veranlasst wurde (zur Beteiligung)
wird (der Befehl) gegeben, Paris überraschend zu besetzen. Auf
der Brücke wird es zu einer grossen Anhäufung kommen".
[...] Wann aber hätte je ein so
"überraschendes Hinzuspringen auf Paris"
stattgefunden wie bei der unerwartet schnellen Besetzung vom
14.Juni 1940 durch die deutschen Truppen? So sind wir geneigt,
in diesem Vierzeiler eine Voraussage für die gegenwärtigen
Ereignisse zu erblicken. Letzte Zweifel aber verstummen
angesichts der Feststellung, dass paris überraxchend besetzt
wird, "Rome incité", d.h. wörtlich: "Nachdem
Rom zum Handeln veranlasst worden ist". Die überraschende
Besetzung von Paris wird alsi stattfinden, wenn Italien durch
den Gang der Ereignisse zum Handeln, zum Eintrit in den Krieg
veranlasst worde. |
The link in Brochure-18-DE of quatrain 09-83 (Sol vingt
de taurus...) to May 10, the day upon which the Germans started
their offensive, can be traced back to the comment on p.39-40 in Nostradamus sieht die Zukunft Europas.
The link of quatrain 04-37 to the progress of the German invasion in
France can be traced back to the comment on this quatrain on p.41 in Nostradamus sieht die Zukunft Europas.
Quatrain 08-37 has not been copied from Nostradamus sieht die Zukunft
Europas. In Brochure-18-DE, this quatrain was linked to the
beheading in 1649 of the British king Charles I, a link which is also
present in Loogs Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus (Pfullingen in
Württemberg, 1921 [1920]) and in Noah-1928. Krafft linked this quatrain
to the coming defeat of England in the war which began in 1939.
The text in Brochure-18-DE of the quatrains 01-01, 01-02, 08-37
and 09-52 are composed according to the rhyme scheme a-b-a-b-. The
source of the quatrains 01-01 and 01-02 is Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen?; in Brochure-18-DE,
the Dutch text of these quatrains is translated into German. For the
moment, the source of the texts of the quatrains 08-37 and 09-52 is
unclear.
The comment in Brochure-18-DE on quatrain 03-57 contains a
reference to the description of the Bastarnians, given by Tacitus: a
German tribe, living near the Vistule river. This reference can be
traced back to Loog-1921. In Nostradamus sieht die
Zukunft Europas, Krafft wrote nothing about Tacitus' description of
the Bastarnians.
In many cases in Brochure-18-DE, the quatrain texts are edited.
The text of quatrain 05-30 for example raises the impression that it
is the result of translating all four lines of this quatrain.
Actually, the fourth line was not translated or discussed at all. The
text of quatrain 04-37 only has three lines, copied from Nostradamus
sieht die Zukunft Europas. In the German text of quatrain 03-57, the
original France non point was not translated. The word Latine in
the fourth line of quatrain 02-05 was translated into "Latium",
the land, conquered by Aeneas. This fact was linked to quatrain 05-74.
The German text of the first two lines of this quatrain read: aus Troerblut wird ein deutsches Herz
geboren, das zu sehr hoher Macht gelangen wird. In the comment,
Hitler was presented as the German Aeneas.
2.
Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen?
From a remark on p.7 in Brochure-18-DE, it can be derived that
the compilers used one of the translations, published in 1940, of the
text, written by Herwarth von Bittenfeld c.s. in November-December 1939:
Noch
ausführlicher beschäftigt ihn die französische Revolution und die auf
sie folgende Zeit Napoleons I,
dem er rund ein Dutzend Strofen
gewidmet hat.
In
Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen?, it reads on p.18:
Daar
wij ons nu toch bij Napoleon
Bonaparte bevinden, verdient het wel de aandacht dat Nostradamus
aan hem ongeveer een dozijn van
zijn vierregelige verzen heeft gewijd. Het eene is in zijn
raakheid nog verbluffender - en bewonderenswaardiger - dan het andere.[6]
Neither
Loog, nor Faber, Wöllner, Noah, or Dennert explicitly wrote the number
of quatrains which, according to them, could be linked to Nostradamus.
In Nostradamus und seine Prophezeiungen für das zwanzigste
Jahrhundert (dr. B. Winkler, Görlitz, 1939 [1938]), such a number
also was not given. However, on p.27, after the discussion of the
quatrains which according to Winkler deal with Napoleon Bonaparte, it
reads:
Die
Vorhersagen über Napoleon I. gehören mit zu den klarsten der
Zenturien. Sie sind leicht zu übersetzen und ihre Deutung macht kaum
Schwierigkeiten.
Von den Vierzeilern, die
sich auf Napoleon III.
beziehen, es sind etwa ein
Dutzend, seien hier diejenigen mitgeteilt, die von der Schlacht
bei Sedan und von seinem Tode handeln.
As
far as I can see, Herwarth von Bittenfeld c.s. consciously or
unconsciously wrongly copied the quoted lines from Winkler-1939, with
the result that the number of about a dozen of quatrains was linked to
Napoleon Bonaparte instead of to Napoleon III. This link re-occurred in Brochure-18-DE.
The quatrains 01-01 and 01-02 in Brochure-18-DE and the
description of Nostradamus' study room in his house in Salon-de-Provence
are also present in the translations of the text by Herwarth von
Bittenfeld c.s. The reference to Tacitus is also present in these
translations.
Maichle reports that on April 12, 1940, Krafft ordered four copies of Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen?
From the Netherlands, these copies were sent to him on April 29,
1940.[7]
the question is why Krafft ordered these copies and what he did with
them. Perhaps, a copy of Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen? was handed
over to the compilers of Brochure-18-DE.
Concluding,
the source material of Brochure-18-DE most probably contained:
-
Krafft,
K.E.: Les Propheties de Maistre Michel Nostradamus, Bildgetreuer,
vergrösserter Abdruck einer Ausgabe der "Prophéties",
erschienen bei Benoist RIGAUD Lyon unter dem Datum 1568.
Frankfurt am Main.
-
Krafft,
K.E.: Nostradamus sieht die Zukunft Europas.
-
Loog,
C.: Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus: erstmalige Auffindung des
Chiffreschlüssels und Enthüllung der Prophezeiungen über Europas
Zukunft und Frankreichs Glück und Niedergang, 1555-2200.
Pfullingen in Württemberg, 1921 (1920).
-
Noah,
B: Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte von 1547 bis gegen
3000. Berlin, 1928.
-
"Pasteur":
Hoe zal deze oorlog
eindigen? een
belangwekkende en actueele beschouwing op grond der voorspellingen
van Michel Nostradamus gegeven in "Les vrayes Centuries et
Prophéties"; samengesteld uit de nagelaten geschriften van
Jean François Pasteur.
The Hague, 1940, or one of the other versions of the text,
written by Herwarth von Bittenfeld c.s.[8]
-
Winkler,
dr. B.: Englands Aufstieg und Niedergang nach den
Prophezeiungen des großen französischen Sehers Michel Nostradamus
aus den Jahren 1555 und 1558. Leipzig, 1940.
The
compilers of
Brochure-18-DE
In this article, it has
been explained that according to Berber's letter to Rahn from July 23,
1940, the Deutsche
Informationsstelle planned to have a brochure on Nostradamus
compiled as part of the propaganda series Informations-Schriften
and that Krafft's Nostradamus sieht die Zukunft
Europas, probably the copy, owned by Wilmanns, would be consulted.
In this article, the name of Krafft is mentioned more than once. His
name is not only mentioned in connection with Nostradamus
sieht die Zukunft Europas, but also in connection with the photocopy
he made of a 1568-B.Rigaud-edition of the Centuries, from which
material was copied for the cover of Brochure-18-DE, and in
connection with his order of April 12, 1940, of four copies of Hoe zal deze oorlog
eindigen? Perhaps one of these copies was used during the compilation of Brochure-18-DE.
Berber's letter does not show that Krafft was the author of Brochure-18-DE.
It also does not show that Krafft played an active part in supplying
material; the copy of Nostradamus sieht die
Zukunft Europas which was used, was owned by Wilmanns. By the end of
June 1940, when he wrote a memo about the impact of the
Nostradamus-propaganda, Wilmanns added a copy of Que se passera-t-il
entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941?, the French version of
the text by Herwarth von Bittenfeld c.s., which in April 1940 was
brought into circulation in Geneva[9]
Whether or
not Wilmanns was involved in the compilation of Brochure-18-DE or
a certain mr. Wilhelm, whose name was also mentioned by Berber in
connection with Nostradamus sieht
die Zukunft Europas and who later edited Kritzinger's text of Der Seher von Salon,
is something which further research has to point out.
A
list of discussed quatrains in Brochure-18-DE
|
Page |
Quatrain |
Link |
Source |
|
4 |
01-01 |
Method
of Nostradamus |
"Pasteur",
p.13 |
| 4 |
01-02 |
Method
of Nostradamus |
"Pasteur",
p.13 |
| 4 |
08-76 |
Rise
of Cromwell |
Krafft-1940d,
p.16 |
|
6 |
08-37 |
Beheading
of Charles I |
? |
|
8 |
09-52 |
Molotov
- Von Ribbentrop pact, German attack on France, 1940 |
Krafft-1940d,
p.37 |
| 8 |
09-83 |
Beginning
of the Westfeldzug, May 10, 1940 |
Krafft-1940d,
p.39 |
|
9 |
04-37 |
Progress
of the German invasion in France, May-June 1940 |
Krafft-1940d,
p.41 |
| 9 |
05-30 |
Italy
starts to participate in the war, capitulation of Paris |
Krafft-1940d,
p.42 |
| 9 |
03-57 |
1939:
German invasion in Poland which brings England into a crisis |
Krafft-1940d,
p.47; "Pasteur", p.29 |
| 10 |
10-100 |
Announcement
of the end of the 300-year supremacy of England, which started
in 1603 |
Krafft-1940d,
p.49-50 |
| 10 |
02-100 |
Chaos
in England |
Krafft-1940d,
p.52 |
|
11 |
03-71 |
Famine
in England |
Krafft-1940d,
p.51 |
|
11 |
02-75 |
Air
raids on England, famine |
Pasteur,
p.30 |
| 11 |
02-83 |
Famine
in England by a German blockade |
Pasteur,
p.31 |
| 12 |
02-05 |
England
will be attacked on the sea |
Winkler-1940,
p.33 |
| 12 |
05-74 |
Hitler
will walk upon England's shores |
Krafft-1940d,
p.58 |
| 13 |
05-94 |
Großdeutschland:
the victorious Westfeldzug |
Krafft-1940d,
p.62 |
| 13 |
03-58 |
Birth
of Hitler |
"Pasteur",
p.34 |
| 13 |
03-67 |
Rise
of national-socialism |
? |
|
14 |
10-31 |
German
victory and supremacy |
"Pasteur",
p.35 |
The
fortune of Brochure-18-DE
Page 9 of the first number of the year 1941
of the national-socialist weekly Märkische Adler, the official
NSDAP-magazine for the Ostmark, published on January 3, 1941, contains the article Gibt es Propheten?. In this article, the
contents of Brochure-18-DE are summarized. The article contains
the German texts of the quatrains 09-83, 05-30, 03-57, 02-75, 05-94 and
03-67. These texts originated from Brochure-18-DE.
In Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn... (De Tombre, Arnhem,
1941, the Dutch translation of a national-socialist brochure by dr. Alexander Centgraf),
the search for a key to the Centuries is discussed on p.23.
There, it reads:
"Veeleer
heeft Nostradamus, naar hij zelf in
zijn proloog zegt, in een spel van "duizend
duistere rijmen" de volkeren en de menschen in onzekerheid
willen laten [...]".
The
words in zijn proloog (tr.: in his preface) can be linked to
the remark in Brochure-18-DE that the six-line poem preceded
the text of the first volume of Hundertschaften
und Prophetien (Lyon, 1555). In other words: Brochure-18-DE is
one of the sources Centgraf consulted while compiling the German
source text of Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn...
Expression
of thanks
The author wishes
to thank Jacques Halbronn D.Litt for sending photocopies of Brochure-18-DE
and Brochure-18-FR, and Wilhelm Zannoth, for his research on
French quatrain texts on the cover of these brochures
De Meern, the
Netherlands, January 8, 2007
T.W.M. van Berkel
actualized on August 13, 2007
Notes
-
Van Berkel: Information
on the Informations-Schriften (a national-socialistis
series of propaganda brochures, Berlin,
1940-1941). [text]
-
Maichle:
Die
Nostradamus-Propaganda der Nazis 1939-1942, PA AA 66711, July 23,
1940. [text]
-
Maichle:
Die
Nostradamus-Propaganda der Nazis 1939-1942, PA AA R 66658, January
17, 1941 and January 28, 1941. [text]
-
Zannoth
to Van Berkel, April 18, 2004. [text]
-
In Comment Nostradamus a-t-il
entrevu..., the parallel text can be found on p.99. In Einführung zu den Prophéties
de Maistre Michel Nostradamus, a brochure which Krafft completed
medio August 1940 and which was published in October 1940 as a
supplement to a photocopy of a 1568- B.Rigaud edition of the Centuries,
it reads on p. XVIII: Rome incité (V.30), - 'nachdem Rom (zur
Beteiligung) veranlaßt worden war'. On p.XIX, it reads: Dann heißt
"assaut"(V.30) nicht mehr 'Sturm' sondern ad-saltus - 'der
hinzu-Sprung, die überraschende Besetzung'.[text]
-
Parallel texts: "Belgrade":
p.8 (PA AA R 66658); "Norab"-1940a: p.21; "Rossier"-1940b: p.3 (PA AA R 66658). [text]
-
Maichle: Die
Nostradamus-Propaganda der Nazis 1939-1942, PA AA R 66726. [text]
-
The name Jean François Pasteur
is a fictitious name. [text]
-
Maichle: Die
Nostradamus-Propaganda der Nazis 1939-1942, PA AA R 66658
"Nostradamus-Propaganda". [text]
©
Politischen Archiv Auswärtigen Amt, Berlin
In connection with this article, photocopies have been studied of the
brochures Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps
1941? (Genève, 1940, on this website indicated with "Rossier"-1940b) and its Serbian pendant (Sma
nai gonosu 1940?, Belgrade, 1940, on this website indicated
with "Belgrade").
The original documents are owned by the Politischen Archiv Auswärtigen Amt (ref:
PA AA R 66658).
Every copy, print, multiplification or other use of parts of the
contents of these brochures, published on www.nostradamusresearch.org,
requires a written permission of the Politischen Archiv Auswärtigen Amt,
D-11013 Berlin.
|
