NOSTRADAMUS, ASTROLOGY AND THE BIBLE
SUBSTUDY "WORLD WAR II"
Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? 
(Prédictions, Edition: "ANT", Geneva, 1940)
- T.W.M. van Berkel -

Index WORLD WAR II

Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels, minister of Propaganda in Nazi-Germany from 1933 to 1945, wrote in his diary in connection with March 25, 1940, that he placed Nostradamus in a number of neutral countries; they would also be spread in France. In connection with April 24, 1940, he noted that in Switzerland and the Netherlands, the "Nostradamus-brochure" was brought into circulation, they were quite sensational.[1] On this website, it is assumed that with the brochure which would be spread in France and the brochure which was brought into circulation in Switzerland, Goebbels meant the French version of a national-socialist text on Nostradamus, written in November - December 1939 by Hans Wolfgang Herwarth von Bittenfeld, prof. dr. Karl Bömer and Leopold Gutterer, managers, working at the Ministry of Propaganda.[2] In this version, entitled Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? La réponse est donnée par: Les vrayes centuries et prophéties de Maître Michel Nostradamus, the year of issue is not given. In a note which dates from most probably the end of June, 1940, dr. Werner Wilmanns, head of department IV Inf of the Foreign Office and involved in the production of national-socialist propaganda, based upon the Centuries and/or Century-comments, referred to a Nostradamus-brochure, which recently was brought into circulation in Geneva. One of the enclosures was a copy of Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941?.[3] In an untitled epilogue on page 6 of this brochure, not only the Swiss readers, but also the Belgian and French readers were offered the possibility to subscribe to the series in which this brochure was published. This points towards the possibility that Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? not only was spread in Switzerland, but also in Belgium and France and perhaps also in Luxembourg.
According to a report by dr. Ernst Brauweiler, head of the Foreign Countries department of the Ministry of Propaganda, about the activities of his department in the period January 1 - August 31 1940, 20.000 copies were printed of a French edition of a Nostradamus-text, written in eight languages with a total circulation number of 83.000.[4] On this website, it is assumed that Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? was the French edition to which Brauweiler referred.

Design and contents
In the series of published translations of the text, written by Herwarth von Bittenfeld c.s., Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? is an extraordinary brochure. In contrast with the Dutch, English, Serbian and Swedish translation, this brochure had not the design of a small book, but of a folder, consisting of three pages, printed on both sides. Another difference with the Dutch, English, Serbian and Swedish translation is that Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? contains an advertisement in which the possibility of ordering year horoscopes for the period 1940-1941 at Ant. Rossier's, who is presented as the author of this brochure, is brought to the attention of the readers. Further, on p.6 it is announced that by transfering a small donation to Rossier's bank account, the readers can subscribe to new issues of brochures in the series Editions "ANT", in which Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? occurred. The Dutch, English, Serbian and Swedish translations do not contain such advertisements.
Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? does not contain pictures. In the title, the publication Les vrayes centuries et prophéties de Maître Michel Nostradamus is mentioned. This is, as is written in Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen?, the Dutch translation, a reference to the photocopy which the Frenchman P.V. Piobb in 1927 made of the 1668-Amsterdam-edition of the Centuries, which was entitled Les vrayes centuries et prophéties de Maîstre Michel Nostradamus.[5] Herwarth von Bittenfeld c.s. copied a number of French quatrain texts from the 1927-Piobb-copy in order to raise the impression that they studied these quatrains. In Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941?, the 1927-Piobb-copy is not mentioned. A footnote on p.4 refers to Les prophéties de Maistre Michel Nostradamus. Expliquées et commentées (Dr. de Fontbrune, Sarlat, 1939, fifth edition). From this book, Herwarth von Bittenfeld c.s. quoted a number of French quatrain texts and comments, in order to demonstrate that England's fall was at hand.
The text of Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? is divided into eleven paragraphs and an untitled epilogue.

Quatrain texts
Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? contains 21 French quatrain texts. Some of them are copied from the 1927-Piobb-copy, some of them are copied from De Fontbrune's Les prophéties de Maistre Michel Nostradamus. Expliquées et commentées. All these texts were not commented bluntly. In a number of cases, the comment was preceded by a free translation, which actually was copied from a German text. This can bee seen for example in the free translation of quatrain 08-60 on p.4 of Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941?. This translation corresponds with the Dutch translation in Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen? ("Pasteur") and the Swedish translation in Nostradamus spådomar om kriget ("Norab"-1940a). Herwarth von Bittenfeld c.s. copied the German source text of this translation from Nostradamus und seine Prophezeiungen für das zwanzigste Jahrhundert (dr. B. Winkler, Görlitz, 1939 [1938]) and edited it slightly. One can see that Winkler's translation in the first line of the word Romanie into Italien and his translation in the fourth line of the word NORLARIS into lothringer Land, return in the Dutch, French and Swedish translation. In the Dutch, French and Swedish translation, the word Paris, copied by Winkler from the original French text, is translated in the sense of the French people. Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? does not contain the original text of quatrain 08-60. This text is included in the appendix in Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen?, the Dutch translation.

Fate and free will 
The paragraph Un coup d'oeil vers l'avenir contains lines which do not occur in the corresponding Dutch and Serbian text. Words of the same meaning can be found in the corresponding Swedish text. Perhaps these lines were part of the German source text by Herwarth von Bittenfeld c.s.[6] 
These lines contain a discussion about humanity, always trying to unveil the future. Prophets and oracles were present in all ages. People consulted the stars, the priests and priestesses and started to practice phrenology, chiromancy and card-reading. The knowledge of the past is not sufficient to control the future; in time, circumstances changed. The question is if predestination is a given fact or if we are able to give direction to our lives by our force, our will or our shortages. The answer is that not one force in the world completely can change our destiny. To some extent, the human will might influence fate, for better or worse. The Bible, in which in the last part prophecies can be found, also writes about the fate of humanity. Every Christian knows that his fate is in the hands of God. The Church is founded upon the dogma of predestination. Only some persons, like Nostradamus, can look beyond the boundaries of his existence.
With the propaganda, based upon the Centuries and/or Century-comments, Goebbels wanted, as he wrote in his diary, to trip the adversaries by taking advantage of superstition.[7] In this paragraph in Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? and the surrounding text, the reader's feelings of uncertainty and fear because of the war are exploited. The (propagandistic) solution by Herwarth von Bittenfeld c.s. is that the German victory is at hand, something which was predicted long ago in the Centuries by Nostradamus, whose predictions again and again have turned out to be reliable.
In the untitled epilogue, the theme of "fate and free will" was discussed again. There, Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? was presented as an issue in the series Edition "ANT", dealing with research on the laws of fate. These issues would be a platform, enabling the readers to exchange experiences. Therefore, the readers were encouraged to transfer a small amount of money in order to receive new issues of the series Edition "ANT".

Demoralization of France
In most cases, the links in Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? between quatrains and past events or expectations about the future, correspond with the links in the corresponding Dutch, English, Serbian and Swedish texts. Regarding the fate of France, a remarkable propagandistic manoeuvre has been made in Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941?. One of its paragraph titles reads: La France ne sera pas touchée (tr.: France remains unharmed). This can also be read in the introduction line La France indemne, l'Angleterre ruinée, quel est le sort de l'Allemagne, leur adversaire dans le conflit actuel? (tr.: France unharmed, England ruined, what is the fate of Germany, their adversary in the present conflict?) in the paragraph Et le sort de l'Allemagne?. The comment which deals with the fate of France can be found in the paragraph Autour de la grande liquidation, i.e. the comment on quatrain 08-37, in which is written that France will seize power, and the comment on quatrain 02-85, in which is written that a dictator will rule France.
In September 1939, as a reaction to the German invasion in Poland, France declared war to Germany. The French army was mobilized. A brochure which lays emphasis on the "prophetic" expectation by the Oracle of France that France will not suffer from battles, can work out in a demoralizing way. Basing oneself upon this "prophetic" outlook, one can turn oneself against the defence policy of the government.
In a secret daily propaganda meeting in November or December 1939, Martin Henry Sommerfeldt, communication officer at the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and in the function of press spokesman attending these meetings, made some notes which he later included in his memoirs. He noted a.o. Goebbels' ideas about the propagandistic value of the Centuries. Goebbels ordered that a chain letter would be accompanied by a verbal explanation which should contain the remark that France only temporarily would be occupied. This sheer nonsense, as Goebbels called it, also had to be broadcasted in France by the secret German radio transmitter.[8] This also can be seen as an attemps to demoralize the French. The eventual impact of this campaign was that in May-June 1940 a part of the French people turned against the government and was persecuted as being a Sixth Column.[9]
In the comment on quatrain 08-37 in What will happen in the near future?, the English version, baron L.F.W. Staël von Holstein explicitly stated that the French government would fell into the hands of the Germans, a change in the text, compared with the other versions. Elsewhere in What will happen in the near future?, France was presented as one of the parties which would lose the war, in contrast with the other versions.

Ant. Rossier, publisher of Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? and A. Mayor, printer
According to Que passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941?, the text of this brochure was written by Ant. Rossier. Underneath the title on page 1, it is printed that he made a new interpretation of the Centuries. It is also mentioned that in the magazine Prédictions, he predicted the revolutions in China in March-April 1940 and in Europe in April-May 1940. On page 3, he advertises with year horoscopes. On page 6, his name is printed in the right column, underneath the closing line Qui vivra, verrra!. On this page, his profession (graphologist) is also mentioned. Nothing is written about his astrological activities. In all cases, his name is given as Ant. Rossier.

Rossier was the founder, editor and publisher of the monthly Prédictions: revue expérimentale de psychologie appliquée et de prédictions, paraissant chaque mois. The first issue was published on February 22, 1940. This issue had the same format and size as Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941?: a folder of six pages, printed double-sided. In other words: for Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941?, the format and size of Prédictions was maintained as well as the header. However, Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? was presented as a brochure in a new series: Editions "ANT".
The price of a copy of Prédictions was 30 centimes, the same price as the price of a copy of Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941?. The editorial address of Prédictions was 114, rue des Eaux-Vives in Geneva, its phone number was 4.61.64 and its bank account I.5074. All this was also mentioned on the first page and in the advertisements in Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941?.
Prédictions contained three graphics and one voucher. There were no advertisements. 
In the first issue of Prédictions, which was divided in a political section, a psychological section and a graphological section, the next articles were published, all written by Rossier:

• Politics: Mai 1940
  - 1940 et m. Hitler
  - La France en 1940
  - Le conflit anglo-franco-allemand
  - 1940 pour le Duce
  - Et l'U.R.S.S. en 1940
  - 1940 pour la grande Finlande
  - La Belgique, la Hollande
  - La guerre sino-japonaise

• Psychology:
  - Les porte-bonheur ont-ils un pouvoir?
  - Croyez-vous aux astrologues?
  - Courrier du lecteur
  - Une cartomancienne a reçu plus de 100 clients en un jour...
  - Météorologie en mars

• Graphology:
  - Dévoiler la nature coléreuse et violente d'une personne que l'on rencontre pour la première fois?

• Courbe des influences magnétiques pour Mars 1940

The predictions about the changes in China and Europa, to which is referred in Que sera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941?, were published in the article Mai 1940, which took two and a half page. In Mai 1940, Rossier discussed the course of events in the world, basing himself upon magnetic curves he had calculated. May 1940 would turn out to be a decisive turning point in the history of Europe. According to Rossier, peace or peace negotiations were presented in 75% of other predictions, whereas in 25% the beginning in May 1940 of a total war was predicted, which would last more than six years. 
Rossier wrote about Hitler that his most important period would be between April 1940 and March 1943, next he would disappear from the course of history and perhaps would die because of illness. In April-May 1940, he would play his trunk cards. The escalations especially would take place in the northern seas. According to Rossier, there would come a tremendous struggle between the ancient world and the national-socialist doctrine. Rossier did not want to say which party would win the war, but he stated that the Allies would have a chance of 75% to win. Germany's chance was 25%, despite its deplourable armament. The graphic of Hitler, which was also the graphic of Germany, showed danger in May 1940, like in the period 1917-1919. Between April 20 and May 19, Hitler better should take care of his health and of his politics, otherwise there would be no more luck.
For France and its prime-minister Edouard Daladier, 1940 would turn out to be turbulent, but eventually successful. For France, the graphic was in contrast with the graphic for Germany. According to Rossier, this did not imply a French victory, but rather that France in the end would prove to be superior to Germany.
In June 1940, the English-French-German conflict would reach its highest point. In May 1940, Mussolini would be in danger. In the summer of 1940, fortune would be at the side of the Soviet-Union, which country might made peace with Finland, its great neighbour. In May 1940, Belgium and the Netherlands also would be involved in the conflict. Regarding the Chinese-Japanese conflict, April 1940 would be a turning point, with 75% chances for peace.
The perspectives in Mai 1940 differ from the perspectives in Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941?, in which in a paragraph title is stated that France would remained unharmed, but in which, in contrast with Mai 1940, is stated that England would lose her supremacy and that Germany would be the main ruling power in Europe. These differences are logical, since Mai 1940 was written by Rossier, while Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? was a translation of a national-socialist propaganda text. However, those who did not know the contents of the political predictions in the first issue of Prédictions, draws the false conclusion that the predictions in Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? are a continuation of the ones in Prédictions, which has been used to enforce the foundations of Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941?.
For the moment, it is not clear if Rossier translated the German source text, written by Herwarth von Bittenfeld c.s., into French. In his report about the activities of his department in the period January - August 1940, Brauweiler wrote that the Nostradamus-brochures were printed, published and traded outside Germany. This suggests that the translations of the text, written by Herwarth von Bittenfeld c.s., were made in Germany. Anyway, it is clear that it was Rossier who published Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941?, in the same form and  size as his own monthly.
Only the first issue of Prédictions has been preserved. It is not known if there were any other issues of this monthly.
In January 1954, carrying the name of Ant. Rossier,  Editions Ere Nouvelle publishers in Lausanne, Switzerland, published a book, entitled Traité de Rhytmologie - La Prévision scientifique de la Destinée, which book contained graphics and ephemerides. In 1954, Rossi publishers in Bolzano published Le basi scientifiche nella comparazione di scritti contestati. Guida indispensabile a: magistrati, avvocati, notai, ufficiali di polizia giudiziaria e istituti bancari. Messaggio inedito di D'Annunzio su Capodistria, with a preface by Ant. Rossier. The name of Ant. Rossier was also mentioned as being the author of a graphology lexicon, entitled Dictionnaire Graphologique Moderne, published in 1987 by Evard publishers, Lausanne. This Ant. Rossier was a graphologist, who was esteemed internationally. Today, a number of graphologistst still practice his method, known as graphologie réflexométrique (in Prédictions, the graphology method was called graphologie psychométrique). In 1995, Rossier died at the age of 83, which indicates that he was born around 1911-1912 and that in 1940 he was about 28 years old. If this Rossier is the same person as the one who published the monthly Prédictions and Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941?, is not clear. I seriously count with the possibility that it is the same person.
Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941? was printed, as is shown on page  6, by A. Mayor in Geneva. Mayor also printed the monthly Prédictions, as is shown on page 6 of the first issue. Mayor continued his company until after the war. In 1947, he printed the thesis Le véto legislatif du chef de l'Etat: étude du droit constitutionnel comparé.

The fortune of Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941?
In # 4 of the minutes of the secret daily propaganda meeting of May 24, 1940, it is noted that Goebbels ordered that the Nostradamus-brochure should be used in the propaganda, broadcasted by the secret radio transmitter, something which also seems to be indicated in # 1 of the minutes of May 26, 1940.[10] In this article, it is assumed that these remarks deals with the use of Que se passera-t-il entre le printemps 1940 et le printemps 1941?

Dr. de Fontbrune
In their propaganda about the imminent downfall of England, Herwarth von Bittenfeld c.s. frequently quoted from De Fontbrune's Les prophéties de Maistre Michel Nostradamus - Expliquées et commentées (Sarlat, fifth edition, 1939 [1938]). On page 4 in Que se passera-t-il... his name is mentioned, the title of his book, its publisher and the fact that the quotes originated from the fifth edition. I do not know if De Fontbrune at any moment in 1940 knew about the fact that his book was quoted extensively in Que se passera-t-il... and what his reply to this has been.

Notes to the quatrains

1. Quatrain 05-28 is erroneously numbered as quatrain 05-26. [text]
2. Quatrain 03-58 is erroneously numbered as quatrain 02-58. [text]

De Meern, the Netherlands, January 21, 2007
T.W.M. van Berkel
actualized on January 28, 2007

The author wishes to thank the Bibliothèque publique et universitaire in Geneva for sending a copy of the first issue of the first volume of Prédictions.

© 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? (Geneva, 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.