|
 In
1940-1941, the Deutsche Informationsstelle, a department of the
German Foreign Office, located in
Rauchstraße 27, Berlin-W35, produced a series of anonymous propaganda
brochures, which consisted of 46 volumes. These brochures were published
in ten languages. The French series was entitled Information
universelle.[1]
Volume 18 in the series Informations-Schriften (Brochure-18-DE)
was entitled Die Prophezeiungen des
Nostradamus. The contents of this brochure have nothing to do with
the contents of an article with the same title, written by Elisabeth
Noelle and published on June 16, 1940 in the Deutsche Allgemeine
Zeitung. The French version of Brochure-18 (Brochure-18-FR)
was published in 1940 as volume 18 in the series Information Universelle.
The name of the publisher, Editions
Européenes, was a fictitious name.
Like in
Brochure-18-DE, the name of the author of Brochure-18-FR
is not given. The cover of Brochure-18-DE has been used for Brochure-18-FR.
In the rectangular frame at the top of the cover, the German title has
been replaced by the French title. In the rectangular frame at the
bottom of the cover, the indication Informations-Schriften
Nr. 18, Europa-Verlag 1940 is replaced by Numéro 18 Information
Universelle Editions Européennes Paris 1940.
Brochure-18-FR, in contrast with Brochure-18-DE
The
year 1792
The text in
Brochure-18-FR
is almost identical with the text in Brochure-18-DE, the source
text. Brochure-18-FR contains a few extra details. In connection
with the French Republican calendar, the year 1792, mentioned in the
Epistle to Henry II, has been discussed on p.8-9 in Brochure-18-FR.
Compared with the parallel text in Brochure-18-DE, the
description of the introduction of this calender is more detailed; the
translator added a few facts, perhaps to impress his readers as much as
possible. Brochure-18-FR contains the date of the introduction
of the calendar (September 22). The Revolutionäre are
indicated by the words Convention nationale. To the name of
Napoleon, Ier was added. In the table below, the involved
paragraph in Brochure-18-FR is marked yellow. There are no other
added lines, dealing with the situation in France in 1940.
The "word-by-word" quote in
Brochure-18-FR from the Epistle to Henry II is the result of a
translation from German into French and a fitting of this translation to
the comment. The German text contains the words Zeitalter (era,
century, period) and erneuere
(renew). In the quote in Brochure-18-FR, Zeitalter is
translated into computation (calcualtion, computing of the dates
of feasts); erneuere is translated into réformer
(to revise). In the table below, these words are marked blue. At
first sight, the described events in the comment in Brochure-18-FR
seem to match perfectly with the quoted prediction. Actually, the
translator fitted his translation to his comment.
The
year 1792
|
Brochure-18-DE,
p.7 |
Brochure-18-FR,
p.8-9 |
|
Hier sei
nur auf eine Stelle aus dem Brief an Heinrich II. hingewiesen,
wo es wörtlich heißt:
Im Jahre
1792 wird man sich einbilden, daß das Zeitalter
sich erneuere.
Nun begann
mit der Herbst-Tag- und Nachtgleiche, die durch die
französischen Revolutionäre eingeführte neue Zeitrechnung,
die am 9. September 1805 von Napoleon wieder außer Kraft
gesetzt wurde. Die Fixierung dieses Ereignisses durch
Nostradamus gehört zu dem Erstaunlichsten, was wir von ihm
kennen. |
D'une
lettre qu'il adressa à Henri II, nous citons littéralement les
lignes suivantes:
"En
1792 on imaginera réformer
la computation."
En
effet, les Français réformèrent la computation, quand ils
firent la Révolution; la Convention nationale établit que
l'année commençait à l'équinoxe d'automne (22 Septembre).
Napoleon Ier abolit cette réforme le 9 Septembre 1805.
Le fait de Nostradamus, d'avoir si exactement prédit ces
évènements-là, est une chose des plus surprenantes qu'on
sache. |
The
French Century-texts
When Brochure-18-DE was translated into French, German
translations of
Century-texts were translated into French and not - as in the
case of Que se
passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? -
replaced by original French texts. To some extent, this can be seen in
the paragraph in which the year 1792 is discussed. The original French
line in the Epistle to Henry II reads: l'an mil sept cens nonante deux
que l'ô cuydera estre vne renouation de siecle.[2]
The "word-by-word" quotation in Brochure-18-FR
reads: En 1792 on imaginera réformer la
computation.
A far better example is the text of the quatrains 01-01 and 01-02. Brochure-18-DE,
which brochure does not contain French Century-texts and/or
lines, contains a German translation of these quatrains, which open the Centuries.
This translation, a free translation, was copied from Nostradamus und seine Prophezeiungen
für das zwanzigste Jahrhundert (dr. B. Winkler, Görlitz, 1939
[1938]), with the only difference that the first line of quatrain 01-02
in Brochure-18-DE does not contain the word mit as in
Winkler's translation, but the word bei. In Brochure-18-FR,
this German translation was translated into French. As a result, the
French translation is entirely different from the French original text,
not only because of the words, but also because of the fact that the
rhyme scheme a-b-a-b is not maintained. These differences can also be
noted in the other quatrain texts in Brochure-18-FR.
The
quatrains 01-01 and 01-02
|
Le
Pelletier, II, p.21 |
Brochure-18-DE,
p.4
(Winkler-1939, p.12) |
Brochure-18-FR,
p.5-6 |
|
Quatrain
01-01
Estant assis de nuict secret estude,
Seul reposé sur la selle d'aerain:
Flambe exigue sortant de solitude,
Fait prosperer qui n'est à croire vain. |
Quatrain
01-01
Sitz ich des Nachts, geheimen Dingen offen,
In stiller Einsamkeit auf ehrnem Seherthron,
Läßt bald mich das verlorene Flämmchen hoffen,
Daß meinem Glauben wird der rechte Lohn. |
Quatrain
01-01
La nuit me trouve accessible aux choses secrètes,
Dans la silencieuse solitude assis sur mon trône de visionnaire,
La petite flamme perdue me fait espérer
Que ma foi obtiendra la juste récompense. |
|
Quatrain
01-02
La vierge en main mise au milieu de Branches
De l'onde il moulle & le l'imbe & le pied:
Vn peur & voix fremissent par les manches:
Splendeur diuine. Le diuin pres s'assied. |
Quatrain
01-02
Wenn ich die Rute bei den Händen fasse,
Netzt bald die Welle Saum und Füße mir.
Ich höre eine Stimme und erblasse.
Himmlisches Licht! Das Göttliche ist hier! |
Quatrain
01-02
Lorsque je prends la baguette dans ma main,
Je sens le contact de l'onde dans la bordure de mon habillement
et dans mes pieds.
J'entends une voix et je pâli,
Lumière céleste! Voici le divin! |
Page
15 closes with the first line of quatrain 10-31. Here, it can also be
noted that this line was translated from German into French and is not
identical with the original French line. In Brochure-18-DE, the
translation of this line is correct. In Brochure-18-FR, the word Nach
was not translated in the meaning of "towards" but in the
meaning of "next to". As a result, the text in Brochure-18-FR
reads that the Holy Empire will come after Germany instead of to
Germany.
-
Le
Pelletier, II, p.208: Le sainct empire viendra en
Germanie
-
Brochure-18-DE,
p.14: Nach
Deutschland wird kommen das Heilige Reich!
-
Brochure-18-FR,
p.14: Après
l'Allemagne viendra l'empire saint!
In Brochure-18-NL, the same translation mistake has been
made.[3]
The
propaganda message
In Brochure-18-FR,
the same quatrains are discussed as in Brochure-18-DE,
the German source text, in the same order and with the same links.
However, on p.14 of Brochure-18-FR, the text of the first two
lines of quatrain 05-94 is lacking. The words
La Grande Allemagne, borrowed fromt he first line of quatrain 05-94,
are present. The Dutch and German version of Brochure-18 do
contain the first two lines of quatrain 05-94. As far as I can see, the
lacking of quatrain 05-94 is caused by missing of the text rather than
omitting the text deliberately. In Brochure-18-FR, the invasion
in France in May 1940 has been linked to quatrain 09-83; the
capitulation of Paris has been linked to the quatrains 04-37 and 05-30.
In other words: in Brochure-18-FR, Germany's hang for expansion
was not kept secret.
The propaganda message of Brochure-18-FR was that Nostradamus,
who back in the sixteenth century predicted the beginning in 1939-1940
of the war and France's defeat, also had predicted the coming decline of
England, famine in England, Hitler walking upon England's shores and
that Germany would win the war.
A
list of discussed quatrains in Brochure-18-FR
|
Page |
Quatrain |
Link |
|
5-6 |
01-01 |
Method of Nostradamus |
|
6 |
01-02 |
Method of Nostradamus |
|
7 |
08-76 |
Rise of Cromwell |
|
7-8 |
08-37 |
Beheading of Charles I |
|
9 |
09-52 |
Molotov - Von Ribbentrop pact,
German attack on France, 1940 |
|
9 |
09-83 |
Beginning of the Westfeldzug,
May 10, 1940 |
|
10 |
04-37 |
Progress German invasion in France,
May-June 1940 |
|
10 |
05-30 |
Italy starts to participate in the
war; capitulation of Paris |
|
10-11 |
03-57 |
1939: German invasion in Poland
which brings England into a crisis |
|
11 |
10-100 |
Announcement
of the end of the 300-year supremacy of England, which started
in 1603 |
|
11 |
02-100 |
Chaos
in England |
|
12 |
03-71 |
Famine in England |
|
12 |
02-75 |
Air raids on England, famine |
|
12-13 |
02-83 |
Famine in England by a German
blockade |
|
13 |
02-05 |
England
will be attacked on sea |
|
13 |
05-74 |
Hitler
will walk upon England's shores |
|
14 |
(05-94) |
Großdeutschland:
the victorious Westfeldzug |
|
14 |
03-58 |
Birth
of Hitler |
|
14 |
03-67 |
Rise
of national-socialism |
|
15 |
10-31 |
German
victory and supremacy |
Expression
of thanks
The author wishes
to thank Jacques Halbronn D.Litt for sending photocopies of the French
and German version of Brochure-18. On the cover of the copy of
the French version and on p.3, there is a stamp of the library of the
German Embassy in Paris:
|
AMBASSADE
D'ALLEMAGNE
____________
BIBLIOTHEQUE
24,
Rue Hamelin, PARIS-XVI |
De Meern, the
Netherlands, January 8, 2007
T.W.M. van Berkel
Notes
-
See:
Van Berkel: Information
on the Informations-Schriften (a national-socialistist series
of propaganda brochures, Berlin,
1940-1941). [text]
-
Le Pelletier, volume II, p.157. [text]
-
Brochure-18-NL, p.15. [text]
|
