NOSTRADAMUS, ASTROLOGY AND THE BIBLE
substudY "WORLD WAR II"
Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen
(Centurio [dr. phil. A.M. Centgraf], Schweizer Monatshefte, Zürich, August 1959)
- T.W.M. van Berkel -

General information
In 1953, Richard Schikowski publishers in Berlin published the first edition of Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte - erste deutsche Gesamtausgabe der Vorhersagen zeitnah übersetzt und gedeutet von Dr. N. Centurio. The second, revised edition was published in 1955; the fourth edition, which would also be the last edition, was published in 1960. I do not know in which year the third edition was published.[1]
One year before the publishing of the fourth edition of Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte, an article of Centgraf about Nostradamus and the Centuries, entitled Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen, was published in the August issue of Schweizer Monatshefte - Zeitschrift für Politik Wirtschaft Kultur, carrying the author's pseudonym Centurio. In this eight page article which contained no illustrations, Centgraf explained who Nostradamus was and that he was not a charlatan or a clever impostor, since the course of history had showed that his predictions were correct.
Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen can be divided into five parts. In the first part, Centgraf extensively discussed the life and work of Nostradamus. In the second part, he described how he got to study Nostradamus and the Centuries. In the third part, he described his position in World War II as a Century-scholar. In the fourth part, he linked a number of quatrains to events in World War II. In the fifth and last part, he linked three quatrains to events which shortly before the writing of Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen had occurred and explained by means of a quote from the Epistle to Henry II and quatrain 10-66 that Henry the Fortunate, the last descendant of the House of Bourbon, would become president of the United States of Europe by the end of the twentieth century, whereas England would become a part of the United States of America.
About his position in World War II as a Century-scholar, Centgraf repeated in Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen what he had written in earlier editions of Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte, such as that in the summer of 1940, he was upset when he discovered that national-socialists had used his link between the quatrains 03-07 and 03-08 and a lightning war against France for propaganda purposes. To this information, he added that he told Reichssendeleiter Eugen Hadamovsky in July 1944 that quatrain 09-51 could serve as a starting point for Goebbels, the minister of People's Enlightenment and Propaganda, to make a peace treaty with the Allies, notably the British. 
Elsewhere on this website, Centgraf's story about his position in World War II as a Century-scholar is critically reviewed, as well as his remark in Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen that he had written in a Berlin newspaper in July 1949 that Stalin would not manage to conquer Berlin and Vienna.[2] In the article which is now in front of you, Centgraf's reason to study Nostradamus and the Centuries is discussed as well as his comment in Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen upon quatrain 03-57, one of the quatrains which brought Goebbels to the idea to use the Centuries for psychological warfare.

Dating of Centgraf's first confrontation with the Centuries
In his books, articles and correspondence, Centgraf gave different information about when he began to study Nostradamus and the Centuries. To the German author Hermann Hesse, who at that time resided in Switzerland, Centgraf wrote on May 22, 1950, that "in the past years", i.e. after 1945, he translated the Centuries into German and wrote down his comments. On page 295 of the Nachtrag to the fourth edition (1960) of Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte, Centgraf wrote that he devoted 25 years to the Centuries. This implies that it was in 1935 when he started to study Nostradamus and the Centuries. In the Geleitwort of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte (Bietigheim, 1968), Centgraf wrote that his study of Nostradamus and the Centuries took almost thirty years.[3] In 1939, as can be read in his comment in Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte upon quatrain 03-58, at the former Berlin State Library, he took a look in a 1568-P.Rigaud edition of the Centuries.[4] These remarks, combined with the year of issue of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, show that it was in 1939 that Centgraf began to study Nostradamus and the Centuries.
On page 398 of Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen it reads that Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus by Carl Loog (Pfullingen in Württemberg, 1921) was the first book about Nostradamus and the Centuries which Centgraf read. In Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen, he qualified Loog's comment upon quatrain 03-57 as striking and correct. The remark of "a great philosopher" that in case of Nostradamus, the miracle is the ability of his exegetes to explain, brought Centgraf, in his quality as a historian, to compare the predictions of Nostradamus with the course of history.[5] The results of this comparison were striking and even fateful, such as his comments upon the quatrains 03-07 and 03-08, in which according to him was predicted that Germany and Russia would march until the French-Spanish border, a statement which national-socialists spread in France in the summer of 1940, with all the dramatic results one could think of.
On this website, it is supposed that after the German invasion in Poland in September 1939, Centgraf started to study Nostradamus and the Centuries, i.e. Loog's Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus. Chances are that he was very impressed by Loog's comment upon quatrain 03-57 and the linking of this comment to the German invasion in Poland, after this invasion took place. From prof. dr. Hans-Hermann Kritzinger's information to the British searcher Ellic Paul Howe in 1961 about his conversation with Goebbels in December 1939, it can be derived that Loog's comment upon quatrain 03-57 was quite well known in Germany in those days, something which also is written in Nostradamus Profetior (Stockholm, 1940).[6]
If by the end of 1939 Centgraf had written books or articles about Nostradamus and the Centuries, gave lectures or had a certain reputation as a Century-scholar, is not known by me. In December 1939, according to his own information, he was approached by someone who wanted to know if the Centuries contained allusions to a lightning war of Germany against France. Cengraf's link of the quatrains 03-07 and 03-08 to such a war might mean that back in those days, he studied the Centuries with the focus upon military and political developments in Europe. For the author of this article, there are reasons to question Centgraf's information about this conversation, because in relation to this conversation, he described that in the summer of 1940, national-socialists abused this link for propaganda purposes, but in each and every way he kept silent about the fact that in 1941 and 1944, he wrote national-socialist, propagandistic Nostradamusbrochures and in other years anti-Semitic brochures. 

Quatrain 03-57 
In Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen, Centgraf had written that Nostradamus deliberately had disturbed the order of the Century-quatrains. He feared the Inquisition, since the Century-quatrains contained many unfavourable predictions for the future of popes. In the course of the centuries, many skilled people had tried to arrange the quatrains by means of their fulfillment, the most recent example the attempt of the Swiss Manfred Schramm, according to who the key to the Centuries could be found in acoustics, something which Centgraf considered to be quite probable.
The first book about Nostradamus and the Centuries which Centgraf read, was Loog's Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus. According to Centgraf, Loog's comment upon quatrain 03-57 was remarkable. In Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen, he extensively discussed quatrain 03-57 and Loog's comment upon it. In this discussion, Loog's ideas about the meaning of quatrain 03-57 and Centgraf's meaning are silently mixed. Moreover, Centgraf wrongly attributed to Loog that he derived from quatrain 03-57 the events which occurred in and around Poland in September 1939, whereas to Loog, it is wrongly attributed that he dated the period of 290 years, mentioned in quatrain 03-57, correct.

a. The German translation of quatrain 03-57
The original French text of quatrain 03-57 reads as follows:

Sept fois changer verrez gent Britannique,
Taintz en sang en deux cens nonante an:
Franche non point par appuy Germanique,
Aries doubte son pole Bastarnan.

In Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus, Loog's translation of quatrain 03-57 read as follows:

Man wird sehen, daß das Britenvolk sich sieben Mal in 290 Jahren ändert, nachdem es mit Blut befleckt ist. Eine französische keineswegs, durch eine deutsche Stütze. Der Widder zweifelt an seinem Bastarner Schützland.[7]

In Nostradamus Scharlatan? (Prophete rechts - Prophete links - war Nostradamus wirklich Scharlatan und Betrüger?, a letter by Loog, published in the edition of December 12, 1940, of the German weekly Der Reichswart), his translation of quatrain 03-57 read like this: 

Ihr werdet sehen, daß sich das britische Geslecht sieben Male in 290 Jahren ändert, nachdem es mit Blut befleckt ist. Eine französische keineswegs, eine germanische Stütze. Der Widder zweifelt an seinem Bastarner Schützland.[8]

There are some differences between Loog's translations of quatrain 03-57. These differences are marked blue and seem to result from either Loog's political feelings in 1940 or the political climate in Germany in 1940. One has to keep in mind that Loog never joined the NSDAP and was always against the use of the Centuries for political purposes. 
In both translations, the translation of the last line of quatrain 03-57 into Der Widder zweifelt an seinem Bastarner Schützland is identical.

In Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen, the German translation of quatrain 03-57 reads as follows:

Sieben Mal wird man das britische Volk sich verändern sehen
innerhalb von 290 Jahren, nachdem es mit Blut besudelt ist:
Frankreich ohne jede Chance wegen eines deutschen Stützpunktes.
Der Widder nimmt Anstoß an seinem Bastarner-Pol (Polengrenze)[9]

It was Centgraf himself who made this translation. It was first published in Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte (Berlin, 1953):

Sieben Mal wird man das britische Volk sich verändern sehen
innerhalb von 290 Jahren, nachdem es mit Blut besudelt ist:
Frankreich ohne jene Chance wegen eines deutschen Stützpunktes (Ostpreußen).
Und weil der Widder an seinem Bastarner-Pol (Polengrenze) zweifelt.[10]

In Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte (Bietigheim, 1968), his translation of quatrain 03-57 read as follows:

Sieben Mal wird man das britische Volk sich verändern sehen
innerhalb von 290 Jahren, nachdem es mit Blut besudelt ist:
Frankreich ohne jene Chance wegen eines deutschen Stützpunktes (Ostpreußen).
Der Widder zweifelt (nimmt Anstoß) an seinem Bastarner-Pol (Polengrenze) zweifelt.[11]

Centgraf's translation of quatrain 03-57 is not a word-by-word translation. It contains elements which originate from his comment upon this quatrain. In Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen, Centgraf did not translate the word doubte (douter = to doubt) in the fourth line not in zweifelt but in nimmt Anstoß. With this, he raises the impression that according to the original text of quatrain 03-57, and therefore Nostradamus, the Ram, i.e. Germany, would have a conflict with Poland. He translated the words Pole Bastarnan in the fourth line into Bastarner-Pol, with between brackets Polengrenze. With this, he raises the impression that the original text of quatrain 03-57 contains an allusion to the German-Polish border. His translation of the third line into Frankreich ohne jede Chance wegen eines deutschen Stützpunktes raises the impression that according to the original text of quatrain 03-57, the position of France would be a desperate one, without any chance. The additional remark Ostpreußen might refer to the fact that in World War II, East Prussia was an important military basis.
Centgraf's translation of quatrain 03-57 in Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn...,  the national-socialist brochure which he either wrote or completed between June and December 1941, contained national-socialist, racist elements which had to make the readers clear that according to the original text of quatrain 03-57, the Jewish and Slavonian citizens of Poland were inferiour, conform the national-socialist racial doctrine. In the translation of quatrain 03-57 in Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn..., the words Pole Bastarnan are translated into Poolsche Bastaard (Polish bastard). In his comment upon this quatrain in Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn..., Centgraf told his readers that Nostradamus considered people which were not one people, but a range of nationalities, as bastard people. He described the Polish people as a people, consisting of Polish, German, Ukrainians and Jews. The word Aries in the fourth line would not point to the zodiacal sign of the Ram, but to Arians and therefore to Germany. According to Centgraf, the words Poolsche Bastaard fitted this idea quite good since the Slavonian and Jews were strongly blended in Poland.

Zevenmaal zal het Britsche volk veranderd worden
Met bloed gekleurd in 290 jaar.
Frankrijk, gij hebt geen steunpunt aan Duitschland.
Want de Ram neemt aanstoot aan zijn Poolschen bastaard.[12]  

b. The link between quatrain 03-57 and the German invasion in Poland in September 1939
With the qualifications "striking" and "correct explanation" of Loog's remark in Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus that in quatrain 03-57, Nostradamus wanted to tell that the last and most severe crisis in England which would occur in 1939, would go hand in hand with a crisis in the resurrected Poland, Centgraf linked quatrain 03-57 to the German invasion in Poland and qualified this quatrain as a fulfilled prediction by Nostradamus. He also qualified Loog's comment as correct. This all can be contested.
The first remark is that Centgraf did not literally quote Loog's comment, but elaborated it. In Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen, it reads that Loog argued as follows: because of the execution of Charles I in 1649, England had stained itself with blood and the sixth change occurred in 1926; in that year, the British Commonwealth of Nations was founded. Indeed, Loog took the execution in 1649 of Charles I as the beginning of the period of 290 years, mentioned in quatrain 03-57. The remark that the foundation in 1926 of the Commonwealth was the sixth change in the series of seven, was not made by Loog, but by Centgraf, who in Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte had written that back in 1921, Loog could not know the sixth change.[13] In Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus however, Loog did mention six changes; the sixth change was the coronation of George I in 1714. 
Loog had copied his comment upon quatrain 03-57 and the six changes in the series of seven from Merckwürdige Fata Der Groß-Britanischen Crone Sint der Zeit da die Religion reformiret worden, schon damahls verkündiget durch den Welt-berühmten Propheten Michael Nostradamus, der Anno 1566 gestorben, jetzt aber aus dessen Vaticiniis, so in jedermans Händen mit Fleiss zusammen gesuchet, und mit einer kurtzen Erzehlung der Geschichten erleutert / von D.D. (Dietrich von Dobbeler, Hamburg, 1715). In Nostradamus Scharlatan?, Loog did not take, as in Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus, the beginning of British dynasties (Cromwell included) as a point of departure, but their end (Cromwell included). As a result, the sixth change, counting from 1649, no longer was the coronation in 1714 of George I, but the end of the House of Hanover in 1837. 

In Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen, Centgraf argued that if one adds the 290 years, mentioned in quatrain 03-57, to 1649, the result is the year 1939, the year in which the war cabinet of Chamberlain was founded and as such shortly before the war at the last, seventh, meaningful political change in England, something which he also wrote in Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn... One will notice that Chamberlain's war cabinet was founded on September 3, 1939, the day on which England and France declared war to Germany.
According to Centgraf, Loog literally wrote that in the time of Tacitus, the tribe of the Bastarnians lived across the Weichsel, i.e. in Poland, and that Nostradamus seemed to want to tell that in 1939, the last and most severe English crisis would go hand in hand with a crisis in the (in World War I) resurrected Poland. In this case, Centgraf quoted Loog correctly.[14] One must notice, however, that Centgraf seemed to have overlooked the fact that according to Loog, the Centuries showed that, counting from 1921, the next great conflict in Europe in which Germany would be involved, would not begin before 2100. In the thirties, France would have a peaceful period. Several times in Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus, Loog wrote that he had no idea what kind of crisis would occur in England in 1939 (the six changes which he mentioned in 1921 and 1940, were internal matters for England, not international matters). He also wrote nothing about the nature of the crisis in Poland and did not write that there would be German aggression in 1939, resultinf in a British-French declaration of war. Therefore, it cannot be attributed to Loog that back in 1921, he had derived from the Centuries that in 1939 a large conflict would break out in Europe or a state of war for England as a result of a German invasion in Poland, in spite of his attempt in Nostradamus Scharlatan? to demonstrate that back in 1921, he gave the outlines of what would happen in 1939/'40.[15] Moreover, in quatrain 03-57, the time span of 290 years is not dated and the nature of the changes is not specified, which means that this quatrain can be linked to countless periods of 290 years and that scholars could think of many series of seven events which had happened or would happen in 290 years time.[16] 
Resumed: Centgraf did not analyse quatrain 03-57, but Loog's comment upon it and linked this comment to the German invasion in Poland in September 1939 and the foundation in that year of Chamberlain's war cabinet, whereas Loog, who in Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus elaborated the comment by Von Dobbeler upon quatrain 03-57, expected that the next great conflict in Europe in which Germany would be involved, would not occur before 2100, and whereas quatrain 03-57 itself does not unveal the year in which the period of 290 years begins or ends, as it does not unveal the nature of the seven events which will occur in England.

A questionable Century-scholar
On this website, it is assumed that after the German invasion in Poland in September 1939, Centgraf started to study Nostradamus and the Centuries, i.e.Loog's Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus and probably most notably his comment upon quatrain 03-57, which at that time was quite sensational because of being linked to the German invasion in Poland. The critical remarks of the German philosopher dr. Max Dessoir in Vom Jenseits der Seele about Nostradamus, the Centuries and the Century-comments made him, as he wrote, to compare the predictions in the Centuries with the course of history. 
By the end of 1939, according to his information, Centgraf warned compatriots against the risks of a lightning war against France. Perhaps his study was focused upon fathoming the military and political situation in Europe. In the summer of 1940, he was upset when he noticed that national-socialists used his link of a couple of quatrains to such a kind of war for propaganda purposes. In the summer of 1944, he wrote, he tried to achieve peace in Europe by telling Hadamovsky, a prominent national-socialist, that one of the quatrains in the Centuries fitted to such an event. He also would have tried to improve the circumstances of some of his friends who were interned in a concentration camp. Centgraf's information on these points contains incorrect facts and does not show that in World War II, Centgraf, who in 1933 became member of the SA, in 1937 member of the NSDAP, was an esteemed national-socialist activist who wrote anti-Semitic brochures and used the Centuries and Century-comments for propagandistic purposes by writing the German source text of Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn... and the brochure Nostradamus and England, with which in the summer of 1944 the British had to become demoralized. 
According to the future scenario in Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn..., England would fall, Germany, lead by Hitler, would become the leading power in Europe (the Holy Empire) and the world would be in peace for 57 years. In Centgraf's post-war publications about Nostradamus and the Centuries, Henry the Fortunate, president of the United States of Europe, would give the world a peace period for 57 years in 2040, Germany will play a leading part (the Holy Empire) and England would become a part of the United States of America, and as such lose her leading position in the world. This raises the question if Centgraf in 1940/'41 wrote a number of texts and a future scenario, which in 1941 he changed for propaganda reasons and after war brought back in its original state, or if the German source text of Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn... was his first text about Nostradamus and the Centuries, which he changed after the war. For the moment, I cannot answer this question, which is an important one since it is hard to imagine that someone who wants to hide his propagandistic activities in 1941/'44, dates the beginning of his study in 1939. It is a matter of fact, however, that in his post-war publications about Nostradamus and the Centuries, beginning with the article Nostradamus und Berlin - und andere Weissagungen, Centgraf included texts which can be traced back to the German source text of Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn... Neither in his post-war publications, nor in public, he dissociated himself or apologized for what he had written in the German source text of Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn...: comments which had to frighten people and to demoralize them, which were aimed against Jews and communists and which demonstrated that for decades, national-socialism would be the leading power in Europe. On the contrary, he presented himself as a Century-scholar who comforts his readers. In Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, his second book about Nostradamus and the Centuries, which he finished two years before his death and which until today is reprinted, he added, compared with his first book about Nostradamus and the Centuries (Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte) new elements which can be traced back to Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn...
For many years, my colleague Ulrich Maichle occupies himself with research on the activities of Centgraf / Centurio. His website Die Nostradamus-Propaganda der Nazis 1939 - 1942 contains numerous transcripts of documents which shows Centgraf's involvement in national-socialism. Maichle had a discussion with Random House publishers in Munich in order to stop further selling of Die grossen Weissagungen des Nostradamus, a license edition of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte. I invite you to deepen yourself in the oeuvre of Centgraf / Centurio, the articles about his books on www.nostradamusresearch.org and Maichle's findings. If you think that the oeuvre of Centgraf / Centurio is politically contaminated and that his book Die grossen Weissagungen des Nostradamus has to be taken from the market, you can address yourself to Random House or to Turm publishers, the company which up until today publishes Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte. 

De Meern, the Netherlands, June 8, 2010
T.W.M. van Berkel

Expression of thanks
The author wishes to thank the Institut für Zeitgeschichte for sending a copy of Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen.

Notes

1. Van Berkel: 
   - Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte (dr. N. Centurio [dr. phil. A.M. Centgraf], Berlijn, 1953;
   - Information on dr. phil. A.M. Centgraf alias dr. N. Alexander Centurio.
   See also:
   - Maichle: Die Nostradamus-Propaganda der Nazi's, 1939-1942. 
   The word Centurio is a latinization of the word Centuries. [text]

2. Van Berkel: 
   - Dr. phil. A.M. Centgraf (dr. N. Alexander Centurio) on national-socialist Nostradamuspropaganda;
   - Nostradamus und Berlin - und andere Weissagungen (dr. phil. A.M. Centgraf, Berlijn, 1949). [text]

3. Centurio-1968, p.7. [text]

4. Centurio-1953, p.80. [text]

5. Centgraf meant the phrase Das Wunder bei Nostradamus ist nicht sein Text, sondern die Auslegekunst seiner Erklärer (Vom Jenseits der Seele - Die Grenzwissenschaften in kritischer Betrachtung, dr. Max Dessoir, Stuttgart, 1917). [text]

6. Howe, p.221; Salamar, p.71. [text]

7. Loog-1921 (6th edition), p.68. [text]

8. Der Reichswart, 1December 12, 1940. See also: Van Berkel: Prophete rechts - Prophete links - War Nostradamus wirklich Scharlatan und Betrüger? (C. Loog, Der Reichswart, December 12, 1940). [text]

9. Centurio-1959, p.399. [text]

10. Centurio-1953, p.79. [text]

11. Centurio-1968, p.203. [text]

12. "De Tombre"-1941, p.54-55. [text]

13. Centurio-1953, p.79. In Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn..., Centgraf, copying Loog, mentioned the events which took place in 1649, 1660, 1685 and 1689; 1939 was characterized, according to him, by the change in the British government in reaction to the war. His comment upon quatrain 03-57 contains nothing about the events in 1711, 1714 or 1926 ("De Tombre"-1941, p.54). [text]

14. Nostradamus will uns also offenbar erzählen, daß 1939 mit der letzten und größten englischen Krise auch eine Krise für das wiedererstandene Polen Hand in Hand geht (Loog-1921, 6th edition, p.69; Centurio-1959, p.399). [text]

15. Loog-1921 (6th edition), p.70. See also: Van Berkel: Prophete rechts - Prophete links - War Nostradamus wirklich Scharlatan und Betrüger? (C. Loog, Der Reichswart, December 12, 1940). [text]

16. Van Berkel: Quatrain 03-57 and Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus (C. Loog, Pfullingen in Württemberg, 1921). [text]