|
 In
1940-1941, the Deutsche Informationsstelle, a section of the
German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, located in the
Rauchstraße 27, Berlin-W35, produced a series of anonymous propaganda
brochures, which consisted of 46 volumes. These brochures were published
in ten languages. The German series was entitled Informations-Schriften.
The French series was entitled Information Universelle.[1]
Volume 18 in the series Informations-Schriften, to which in
this article is referred with the words Brochure-18-DE, was entitled Die Prophezeiungen des
Nostradamus. In no way, the contents of this brochure are connected with
an eponymous article by Elisabeth Noelle, published on June 16, 1940 in
the Deutsche Allgemeine
Zeitung. The French translation of this brochure was published in 1940 as volume 18
in the series Information Universelle. This brochure consisted of
15 pages.
On p.496 of Repertoire
Chronologique Nostradamique, the French Century-scholar
Robert Benazra gave a short description of an 8-page brochure, published
in 1940, also entitled Les
prophéties de Nostradamus. According to the cover, this brochure
was printed by F. Beroud, 25, rue Michel-le-Comte, Paris-3.
Like Brochure-18-FR,
the Beroud-edition does not contain the name of the author. For
the cover of
the Beroud-edition, the cover of Brochure-18-FR has been used,
which in its turn is a copy of the cover of Brochure-18-DE. On
this cover, French quatrain texts are printed, from the lower left side to the upper right side. In the
rectangular frame at the bottom of the cover, the text Numéro 18,
INFORMATION UNIVERSELLE, EDITIONS EUROPEENNES PARIS, 1940 has been
replaced by Beroud's name and address (IMPRIMERIE F. BEROUD 25 Rue
Michel-le-Comte - Paris 3).
The text of the Beroud-edition does not contain pictures.
In the Beroud-edition,
the text of Brochure-18-FR has been composed
again, with the result that the text is printed on 8 pages instead of
15. It is not clear to me for what reason it was decided to compose the
text again.
Like Brochure-18-FR, the text in the Beroud-edition
is of one piece. In both versions, the quatrains are discussed in the
same order and with the same comment, but the numbers of the discussed
quatrains are not given.
The propaganda message of the Beroud-edition 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.
Like in Brochure-18-FR, the text in the Beroud-edition
of the first two lines of quatrain 05-94 is missing; the words La
Grande Allemagne, borrowed from the first line of quatrain 05-94,
are present. In the German and Dutch version of Brochure-18, however,
the first two lines of quatrain 05-94 are present. The lacking of
quatrain 05-94 in Brochure-18-FR and the
Beroud-edition is, as far as I can see, the result of a disappearance of
the text rather than the result of a deliberate omission. In both
brochures, the German attack on May 10, 1940 on France is linked to
quatrain 09-83 and the capitulation of Paris is linked to the quatrains
04-37 and 05-30. In other words, Germany's desire for expansion was not
kept silent in these brochures.
Discussed
quatrains in the Beroud-edition
|
Page |
Quatrains |
Link |
|
2-3 |
01-01,
01-02 |
Method of Nostradamus |
|
3-4 |
08-76 |
Rise of Cromwell |
|
4 |
08-37 |
Beheading of Charles I |
|
4-5 |
09-52 |
Molotov - Von Ribbentrop pact,
German attack on France, 1940 |
|
5 |
09-83 |
Beginning of the Westfeldzug,
May 10, 1940 |
|
5
|
04-37
|
Progress German invasion in France,
May-June 1940
|
|
5
|
05-30
|
Italy starts to participate in the war;
capitulation of Paris
|
|
5-6 |
03-57 |
1939: German invasion in Poland
which brings England into a crisis |
|
6 |
10-100 |
Announcement
of the end of the 300-year supremacy of England, which started
in 1603 |
|
6
|
02-100 |
Chaos
in England |
|
6
|
03-71 |
Famine
in England |
|
6
|
02-75 |
Air
raids on England, famine |
|
7 |
02-83 |
Famine in England by a German
blockade |
|
7
|
02-05
|
England will be attacked on sea
|
|
7
|
05-74
|
Hitler will walk upon England's shores
|
|
8 |
(05-94) |
Großdeutschland: the
victorious Westfeldzug |
|
8
|
03-58
|
Birth of Hitler
|
|
8
|
03-67
|
Rise of national-socialism
|
In the Beroud-edition, the closing lines
on p.8 read like this:
Closing
lines Beroud-edition
|
Au
lecteur de nos jours il suffit de connaître les vers où le
visionnaire a prédit les faits actuels, il y a précisément
quatre cents ans.
__________________________________ |
In the Beroud-edition,
the closing lines of Brochure-18-FR are
missing. It is not clear if these lines fell off or if they were
omitted deliberately. The closing lines of Brochure-18-FR,
which are also present in the Dutch and German version of this
brochure, refer to a.o. the first line of quatrain 10-31. The original
text of this line reads: Le sainct empire viendra en
Germanie.[2]
In Brochure-18-DE, this line has been
translated into Nach
Deutschland wird kommen das Heilige Reich! It is this German line
- not the original French text - which has been translated in the
various versions of Brochure-18. In these translations, the
word Nach was not translated in the meaning of
"towards", but in the meaning of "after". As a
result, the French line Brochure-18-FR
reads: Après
l'Allemagne viendra l'Empire Saint!. In
the Dutch version, the same mistake has been made in the translation
of the first line of quatrain 10-31.[3]
Neither Brochure-18-FR, neither the Beroud-edition contains the original
French quatrain texts and/or quatrain lines. The quatrain texts and
lines in these brochures are translated from German into French.
Closing
lines Brochure-18-FR
Au
lecteur de nos jours il suffit de connaître les vers où le
visionnaire a prédit les faits actuels, il y a précisément
quatre cents ans. "L'Invincible"
n'est plus aujourd'hui, un personnage inconnu, comme il a été
pendant trois siècles. L'époque du "Grand" a surgi
et avec elle, la réalisation des oracles que Nostradamus a
légués au monde. Terminons donc par cette prophétie:
"APRÈS
L'ALLEMAGNE VIENDRA
L'EMPIRE SAINT!"
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There are many examples
of national-socialist propaganda pamphlets which were brought into
circulation in various versions. Opium in Indien
for example, volume 4 in the series Informations-Schriften,
written by Reinhard Frank, originally was part of the series England ohne Maske,
a series of propaganda pamphlets which was also produced by the Deutsche Informationsstelle.
In that series, that brochure was entitled Englands Herrschaft in Indien. In
the case of the Beroud-edition, something else seems to be at stake.
This edition appears not to be part of a series, but a stand-alone
pamphlet. Perhaps further research will unveil the history of the
origin of this edition.
Expression
of thanks
The author wishes
to thank mr. Robert Benazra for sending a copy of the Beroud-edition and
Jacques Halbronn D.Litt for sending copies of the French and the German
versions of Brochure-18.
De Meern, the
Netherlands, December 20,
2006
T.W.M. van Berkel
updated
on January 8, 2007
Notes
-
See:
Van Berkel: Information
on the Informations-Schriften (a national-socialist series
of propaganda brochures, Berlin, 1940-1941). [text]
-
See for example: Le Pelletier, book II, p.208. [text]
- Brochure-18-DE, p.14; Brochure-18-FR,
p.15; Brochure-18-NL, p.15. [text]
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