John Amos Comenius in the Journals of Czechoslovak Freemasons during the First Republic Period (1925-1938)

The aim of the article is to present an interesting part of the second life of J. A. Comenius, namely his relationship to the Czechoslovak Freemasons during the First Republic period. The author analyses the occurrences of the name of the Moravian giant in the periodicals Svobodný zednář and Die drei Ringe. The main interest of Czechoslovak Masons was to prove the infl uence of J. A. Comenius’s ideas on the establishment of the fi rst Masonic constitutions in 1723. Another thematic line connected with Comenius was the emphasis on the religious dimension of Masons. In addition, the author of the study points to a number of personalities and interesting facts, such as the problem of fi nding Comenius’s grave in Naarden, identifi cation of his remains, and the growing respect of German-speaking Czechoslovak Masons for the character of J. A. Comenius. They fi nally defi ne him as Anti-Führer. At the same time, the article becomes a stone in the mosaic of the history of the relationship between the Czech and German ethnic groups in Czechoslovakia.

Th e choice of John Amos Segeš Comenius 3 it is not only related to the 350th anniversary of his death, which we celebrated on 15 th November 2020, but also to the undeniable fact that this great man was also a theologian. 4 A healthy ecumenical spirit guides us to see everything good, human, honest, and even sacred in the history of our ecumenical friends with joy and gratitude, because it belongs to the common treasury of Czech Christianity. I emphasise that this study examines a certain section of the second life of John Amos Comenius. It shows, specifi cally, how the Czechoslovak Masons using the Czech and German language related to him during the First Republic. Th erefore, it is not primarily a question of determining whether certain theses, which appear in the periodicals Svobodný zednář and Die drei Ringe, correspond to the current state of Comeniological research. 5 At the same time, this opens an imaginary window into the world of thought of Czechoslovak regular 6 Freemasons from the time of the First Republic, so that everyone will be able to have their own idea about the matter. One very good master's thesis by B. Kulihová 7 is devoted to the same topic, and therefore it is possible that in some directions or lodges there may be individuals or groups with a fondness for similar stories. A distinction is usually made between cold Freemasonry, which is rational and rejects such matters, and hot Masonry, which fi nds pleasure in the indicated matters. As we will see below, the periodicals of Freemasons in the First Czechoslovakian Republic speak almost unequivocally of the cold concept of Freemasonry. 3 Th at was the full signature of the Moravian giant. His grandfather's name was Jan Segeš and he was a reeve in Komňa. His father adopted a surname according to his place of birth which was Komňa. Cf Th is is also associated with his unprecedented posthumous glory. What a wonder that the scientist Comenius advocated a certain type of evangelical eschatological visionary in the last decades of his earthly journey. 4 It should be noted that Comenius considered himself a theologian, even though he did not compare himself with any current of the reformed theology at that time. Some non-Catholic theologians occasionally questioned his orthodoxy as well. Cf Aft er studying many historical materials, I would like to suggest that the relationship between Catholics and regular Freemasons should be on the borderline of ecumenical and interfaith dialogue which excludes any manifestations of hatred and hostility. At the same time, it should not lead the clergy (in particular) towards mixing identities in the form of dual affi liation. According to my opinion, Freemasonry, true to its original ideals, seems to be not only a certain humanitarian and, in a sense, enlightenment society, but also a kind of non-confessional fraternity which, in many respects, resembles lay associations within various churches. Following these preliminary clarifi cations, it is necessary to outline the division of the presented study into individual sections. It is quite understandable that I will focus on the periodical Svobodný zednář in the fi rst part, while in the second one, I will pay attention to the periodical Die drei Ringe. I would like to point out that I refer to the contributions in both source periodicals 11 2021 by listing the year and the relevant pages in it. Th is is quite suffi cient if one needs to identify the publications.

I. J. A. Comenius on the Pages of Svobodný zednář
In this section, I will go through individual years, or I will connect several of them. In summary, there are lots of pieces of information mentioning the Moravian giant, sometimes around seventy occurrences in one issue. Mapping everything would be tiring, and it could also obscure the essentials. For this reason, I will focus almost exclusively on contributions and inspiring reports directly devoted to the fi gure of J. A. Comenius and his signifi cance for Czechoslovak Freemasons. Th ese, of course, showed their admirable attitude to the world-famous pedagogue and humanist in other publications that are not directly the subject of our research interest. 11 Th e documentary nature of the present article is intended to enable readers to draw their evaluation and interpretative conclusions, on the basis of the submitted factual material, which is diff erent from the ones reached by the author of these lines.

I. 1. Svobodný zednář 1925-1926-1927
Th e fi rst year of the periodical covers three calendar years. Given the continuity of page numbering, though, it is certainly not wrong to talk about the fi rst year. Leaving aside a number of pieces of information about the Lóže J. A. Komenský (J. A. Comenius Lodge), which was created at the same time as Lóže Národ (the Nation Lodge), we come across the following more coherent texts. Th e fi rst one informs us about Comenius's life, his death, and the place of burial. Emphasis is placed on Comenius's pedagogy which has a clearly Christian background. Interestingly, there is no mention of the infl uence of J. A. Comenius's ideas on the fi rst rules of Masonic life in the 1720s which -as we shall see soon -will be more or less dominant topic in Svobodný zednář. 12 Another contribution by the ardent comeniologist Rudolf Jordán Vonka 13 discusses the history of Freemasonry. Th e author holds the opinion that Masonry was brought to us by Špork. Th is idea was unequivocally refuted later. It is interesting to note that older treatises on the history of royal art, as freemasons are sometimes defi ned, do not speak of Comenius. Th e question of thought connections between the 'Old Rules' 14 and Comenius's ideas were not established until 1810 when the link was made by the German professor Krause. 15 Th is aroused interest especially among German and Dutch Masons. It is therefore clear that until the fi rst decade of the 19 th century, the infl uence of J. A. Comenius on the 'Old Rules' was something unknown! In the second part, Vonka 16 points out the various possible links between Comenius and the nascent Masonry. Th ese are especially humanism, but also the symbols that appear in Comenius's writings. Th e attempt to connect the Moravian giant of the seventeenth century with Freemasonry as closely as possible raises the question of whether this might be just a wishful thinking.

I. 2. Svobodný zednář 1927-28
In this year, there is an annotation of the book: Rudolf Jordán VONKA, J. A. Komenský a Naarden, Prague: Dědictví Komenského, 1927, which represents comprehensive information about the history of the search for the last resting place of the great teacher and humanist. Th e process culminates in identifying the remains of the Moravian giant. 17

I. 3. Svobodný zednář 1929
In this year we fi nd two really interesting contributions by Rudolf Jordán Vonka. Th e fi rst concerns not only the painful history of the grave search and identifi cation of the remains of John A. Comenius, but also his portrait by the great master Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. 18 It can be assumed that the author of the article summarises the content of his monograph on the same topic from 1927, which was discussed above. According to Vonka, the exact date of death, namely 15 th November 1670, is known from letters sent by Comenius's son Daniel, as well as from the Dutch yearbook of 1671. Th e date of the funeral on 22 nd November 1690 in Naarden (specifi cally in the church of the Walloon Church, which operated there at that time) is confi rmed by records of the named Christian community, which were discovered in 1872. In his work Slávy dcera, Ján Kollár mentioned the fact that Comenius's tomb should be sought in Naarden. 19 František Palacký also mentions Naarden as the place of Comenius's last rest in the fi rst Czech biography of Comenius from 1829. 20 In 1836, Jan Erazim Vocel searched for the Comenius's grave in the named Dutch city. He thought it would be in the main church, so he found nothing. It should be noted that the church of the Walloon Church was abolished in 1829, and its building became a part of the factory and later of the barracks and was lived from 1781 to 1832. He was a pupil of Schelling and Fichte and worked as an associate professor in Jena. He dealt with philosophy, mathematics, natural sciences, and the history of Freemasonry used as a warehouse. Further eff orts to determine Comenius's tomb, which were fi nally successful, were made in 1871 by Prague teachers from the Budeč Association. 21 More than two hundred years later, in Naarden, according to the records from 1670, it was discovered that Comenius was buried in grave number 8. 22 Aft er another sixty years, there were subsequently found three male skeletons during the exhumation. Th e body was recognised in 1927, with the participation of the famous Czech anthropologist Professor Jindřich Matiegka, 23 other professional capacities, and, according to the diction of the presented article, also in the presence of the author R. J. Vonka. Since Comenius was to be the fi rst buried, it could be assumed that his body would be located at the deepest place. Another indication was the well-known fact that Comenius suff ered greatly from rheumatism of the joints and vertebrae in the last years of his life. Th is fact was refl ected in bone deformities. Based on the given assumptions, his remains were identifi ed. 24 Among other things, we learn that Comenius was supposed to be 168-170 cm tall. 25 Personally, I believe that today's state of science opens up the possibility of confi rming the correctness of the conclusions, which were given by those experts, on the basis of genetic tests. Th e relevant material can be compared with the living descendants of J. A. Comenius. Th e following is a brief list of well-known depictions of Comenius from the time of his life, including Rembrandt's portrait of an old man, which has been exhibited at the Ufi zzi Gallery in Florence since 1922. As early as 1929, R. J. Vonka considered the matter highly probable. 26 It is worth noting that on 6 th April 2006, the Czech press reported, 27 considering it great news that Professor of Art History Ernst van de Wetering had identifi ed the old man portrayed by Rembrandt in 1655 as John Amos Comenius. As a hypothesis, the given identifi cation of the portrayed old man appeared as early as 1914 and was published in 1915 by the Czech historian Karel Chytil. Th e second study discusses the potential impact of Comenius's ideas on James Anderson and his 'Old Rules'. 28 We already know that the fi rst person to raise this question was Prof. Krause from Jena. He did so in 1810. According to him, Anderson was to draw inspiration from Comenius's Panegersia. 29 Another expert who came to the same conclusions was the Doctor of Philosophy J. A. Comenius. According to the author of the report, to prove that the founder of the movement P. Harris, a lawyer from Chicago, consciously based his ideas on Comenius in 1905 would be more than problematic. 38 Th is will be fully in line with the opinion of today's experts.

I. 5. Svobodný zednář 1931
Again, there are many mentions of the name of the Moravian giant in various contexts. We will be interested in two reports only. Th e fi rst speaks of the Dutch committee created in order to honour the memory of J. A. Comenius and of the active support of this committee by the Dutch Masons.
We also learn here that during the conference in Th e Hague, Dr Beneš visited the last resting place of the great teacher. It is also worth mentioning that the Dutch government donated part of the former church of the Walloon Church to Czechoslovakia, and that our government wanted to build the Comenius Mausoleum there. 39 Another report deals with the journey of the Czech Masons L.

I. 6. Svobodný zednář 1932
As in previous years, we omit a number of mentions of the name Comenius, which document the relationship of Czechoslovak Masons to J.A. Comenius, but they do not have value for us at a more general level. As an example, we present the article 'Učitel -zednář' , where the Moravian giant is mentioned and quoted. Foremost, the conformity of his ideas with the duties of a Mason, especially in relation to the younger brothers, is pointed out. 41 It is worth mentioning the review of the Masonic lexicon from 1932, which, by the way, is reprinted to this day (2006). So it is probably not as poor as it might seem from the critical reaction to some headwords in Svobodný zednář. 42 In the editorial report 'Naarden' we learn about Comenius's monuments in this city, which were erected in 1892 and 1920, 43 i.e., three hundred years aft er his birth and two hundred and fi ft y years aft er his death.
In a relatively extensive article devoted to the piety of leading Masonic fi gures, a whole page is given to J. A. Comenius. 44 It is strongly recalled that this great thinker was a pure Christian, that his human principles have their roots in the faith, and that God was the starting point for his thinking. Perhaps it is appropriate to quote at least the following words: In the Constitution of the English Freemasons are the following Comenius' sentences: 'Unity and the unifi cation based on it is an image of God; for God is one, and yet all things, he is all and yet one' (Panegersia). -'God, who is one, wants everything in him to be one' (Atrium rerum et 11 2021 linguarum). Furthermore, 'It is regrettable that we do not agree on the most important thing: the worship of one creator of all things' (Janua linguarum reserata). 45 As it can be seen, J. A. Comenius was for Czechoslovak Masons not only someone we can be really proud of as a nation, but also an example of authentic Christian piety. It is worth recalling that this almost offi cial position was not entirely to the taste of all Freemasons in our country at that time. 46 Recalling Comenius and building on his ideals also brought into play what we could defi ne as the Christian basis for the ideal of royal art. It can be stated that the diversity of views on the original Christianity of the Enlightenment type persists in today's Masonry.

I. 7. Svobodný zednář 1933
Th e editor-in-chief changed this year, as evidenced by the information in the colophon: 'Edited by: R. J. Vonka (No. 1-6) and A. Hartl (No. 7-10). ' 47 Th is change is related, among other things, to the fact that there have been no longer any of Vonka's contributions in the periodical since that date, not only on Comenius, but also on other topics. It is known that J. R. Vonka did not process this change in the position of editor-in-chief easily. Th e article by Josef Ulrich on the atmosphere of the birth of Freemasonry is really interesting. In it, we fi nd this, in a way, confession: It has been said already that one of the spiritual fathers of Freemasonry was Comenius, and he was a strict believer. Th e creator of the Masonic Constitution was then priest Anderson. Th e old Masonic duties and the Masonic Constitution fl atly reject any gross atheism. Most Masons have put and still put the Bible on their table -the book of books -as an outward expression of their deism. 48 We certainly face a contribution, the author of which, through historical data on Comenius as a believer and Anderson as a clergyman of the Anglican Church, seeks to ensure that Czech Masonry retains a distinctive religious character with strong roots in the Enlightenment type of biblism, as evidenced by the use of the word deism. On the same page, the author notes that French Masonry is more tolerant and admits both the Bible and atheism. By the way, it is known that this deviation in 1877 was the cause of the schism between the English and French branches of Masonry. 49 Th e theologian inevitably asks the question: Is strict deism of the Aristotle type, which would limit the Builder of the world to just the fi rst creative impulse, compatible with a regular Bible reading that is obviously theistic? In my opinion, it is not. Proclaimed deism here is an expression of group identity, an inclination towards rational, in fact very moderate theism, which is sceptical, for example, about the great narratives about miracles in both the Old and New Testaments. However, it cannot, at least, rule out the power of the Lord in the human heart.

2021
Four more contributions are worth mentioning. Th e fi rst is a review of an English monograph that details Comenius's stay in England and especially in London in 1641-1642. 50 Th e second is a passage from the work by Ernst Denis, in which this French historian, who is very respected in the Czech Republic, argues that Comenius's ideas inspired J. Anderson when he was writing the old Masonic rules. 51 Th e third summarises the Masonic and therefore comeniological work by J. R. Vonka. 52 Th e last is written by Josef Wolf and deals with the Comenius zur den drei Säulen Lodge in Wrocław, which was to be established to commemorate the tricentenary of Comenius's birth 53 and is connected with the birth of the famous association Comenius-Gesellschaft . Among other things, the lodge bravely accepted members of the Jewish nationality from the beginning, which many in German Masonic circles bore quite harshly. 54

I. 8. Svobodný zednář 1934
Th is particular year, it is defi nitely worth mentioning the reprint of the already well-known article by Karel Boleslav Štorch about Comenius, whose author agrees with Krause's assertion that Anderson drew from Comenius when writing the 'Old Rules' . 55 Another article is again a reprint of an article, this time from 1892, by Jaromír Hanel. 56 An editorial note on the article can be found on page 65 of the same year. We learn here that the author of the article was a Czech Mason 57 at that time, and that Austrian schools banned students from participating in the celebrations of the tercentenary of Comenius's birth. Th e third text I will recall is the editorial report on J. B. Vonka's lecture in Paris about the signifi cance of Comenius for Freemasonry and about the positive response to his speech. 58 In addition to spreading awareness of Comenius's importance for the emergence of the fi rst Masonic constitutions, it is clear that regular Freemasons were united with London, but this did not prevent them from contacting the French branch of Freemasonry. To be honest, those who know the foreign policy orientation of the First Republic will certainly not be surprised. By the way, the original orientation of the Czech Lóže J. A. Komenský (J. A. Comenius Lodge) was towards the French Grand Orient, while the parallel Lóže Národ (the Nation Lodge) was connected to London via the Italian brethren. Aft er the unifi cation of the two Czech branches of Freemasonry, obedience to London prevailed.

I. 9. Svobodný zednář 1935 and 1936
In both years, of course, there are many celebratory mentions of the great Czech thinker, but I did not come across any remarkable contribution.

I. 10. Svobodný zednář 1937 and 1938
Considering mentions about J. A. Comenius, the last two years of the First Republic series of Svobodný zednář are the same as the previous two years. Th e only real attraction is the report on the opening of the Comenius Mausoleum in the Naarden church of the Walloon Church, which operated here until 1829. 59 We are informed in some detail that a joint delegation of 28 Czechoslovak Freemasons using Czech and German languages took part in this celebration. In 1929, the Dutch government made Comenius's last resting place available to the Czechoslovak government so that everything could be put in a dignifi ed state. Th is eff ort was completed in 1937, when the mausoleum was ceremoniously opened on 8 th May. Now I would like to go beyond the periodical Svobodný zednář and draw attention to the edition of the speech of the Grand Master, Professor of Charles University, Karel Weigner 60 on the opening of the Comenius Mausoleum on 8 th May 1937. Th e speech was delivered in the Dutch Loge Royal Union in the Hague. Weigner's remarkable confession is certainly related to the growing threats posed by Nazi Germany, which directly aff ected Czechoslovakia and also, although not in such a short time horizon, the Netherlands: Most of all, however, [Comenius] ascended above human misery through his glorious prophecy: 'I also believe in God. I believe that aft er the passing of the storms of anger, the government of your aff airs will return to you, Oh Czech people. ' If this creative optimism represents his deep beliefs in God, we, the Czechoslovak Masons, defend ourselves with this optimism for all struggles. 61 Obviously, Comenius's legacy is now seen primarily as a sign of hope in the coming diffi cult struggle for freedom: hope, the last root of which is in God himself.

II. J. A Comenius on the Pages of the Periodical Die drei Ringe
It should be pointed out briefl y that relations between the Czech Freemasons on the one hand and the independently organised German Freemasons in Czechoslovakia on the other hand were very cold until 1925. Th is situation was followed by a period of rapprochement, 62 especially in Prague, where both Masonic families existed in close proximity. Aft er the magnifi cent celebrations of Masaryk's eightieth in March 1930, in which the two mentioned Masonic groups took part in our country together, a period of ever closer cooperation took place, which was also infl uenced by the rise of Nazism in Germany. At this time, German Masons in Czechoslovakia proved to be ardent adherents of the Czechoslovak state, as its democracy enabled their dignifi ed existence. We should not forget the fact that there were quite a few German-speaking Jewish people in the German lodges in what was then Czechoslovakia. Th eir number was higher there than in the Czech lodges. 63 Th e internal (not a secret one) periodical Die drei Ringe was published by Grossloge Lessing zu den drei Ringen, based in Prague, and by the German Loge Latomia in den Bergen in Liberec.
If an uninvolved observer compares the two branches of Freemasonry in the First Republic, he must state that the German one could have relied on a longer tradition, following the former affi liation of the founders to lodges in Germany, while the Czech one was, especially in the fi rst years aft er the establishment of the republic, a 'beginner' . At fi rst glance, the editorial level of the German Masons' periodical is signifi cantly higher than the one which the observer fi nds when reading Svobodný zednář. Th e following analytical and critical presentation of the occurrences of the name J. A. Comenius in the periodical of the German Masons in the First Czechoslovak Republic will be again aimed only at the most interesting and really typical elements. We already know a lot from Svobodný zednář. Due to this reason, it is not possible to avoid a certain repetition.

II. 1. Die drei Ringe 1925-1926-1927-1928
Leaving aside the informative mentions of the Czech lodge Lóže J. A. Komenský, we do not fi nd many contributions in these years that would confi rm any special attention paid to the person of Comenius. Th is was undoubtedly related to the not very warm relations between Czech and German Masons in the First Czechoslovak Republic.
In the fi rst year, there is the only publication that captured my attention from the point of view of our interest. Namely, it is the reprint of the text of the great German thinker Johann Gottfried Herder about Comenius from 1795. 64 69 In another similar publication, we learn about brother Vonka's two-hour Czech lecture on comeniology in the Prague association Amicitia, which was connected with Freemasons. 70 Th e third piece of information concerns the professor of pedagogy from Leipzig, Hermann Schneider, who in the second part of his work Die Kulturleistungen der Menschheit declared Comenius an overrated personality. 71 Th e question is whether the signifi cant diminishing of the importance of Comenius in the writing of German professor was not related to the growing infl uence of Nazi racial ideology. 2021 and so on. Th e writer is proud of the fact that his Czech fellow countryman Comenius played such an important role in the birth of royal art. 72 Considering the overall message of the article, there is a clear awareness of the deeper affi liation of the German Mason with his Czech brothers and of what I would defi ne as provincial patriotism, typical of the period before 1848.

II. 5. Die drei Ringe 1932
From a theological point of view, Grand Master J. Günthersberger's contribution on Comenius's infl uence on Anderson's 'Old Rules' is also really interesting. 73 Due to the authority of the writer, the article has a certain quality of offi ciality.

II. 6. Die drei Ringe 1933-1934-1935-1936
Leaving aside the purely celebratory references to the name 'Comenius' and the reports about the individual lectures, there is not much in the volumes in terms of our common interest. An example is the article published on 28 th October 1933, where T. G. Masaryk is described as the undisputed successor of J. A. Comenius. 76 It should be noted that under the infl uence of the rise of Nazism in Germany, German Freemasons in Czechoslovakia pinned their hopes on Masaryk and subsequently on Beneš as guarantors of freedom. It can be assumed that the most zealous in this regard were German-speaking Masons from the chosen nation. In the following year, the article on Herder's relationship with Comenius deserves our attention. 77 As the term 'Komensky' is used here and not 'Comenius' , we can assume with a certain degree of probability that it could be a translation from the Czech language. Th e author's surname indicates his possible Jewish origin.

II. 7. Die drei Ringe 1937-1938
In the penultimate volume of the given internal Masonic periodical, I fi nd a report by the Grand Master on the course of the opening ceremony of the mausoleum above Comenius's tomb on 8 th May 1937 in Naarden. 79 We already know that this celebration was attended by a total of 28 brothers from Czechoslovakia, part of them were Czech and part of them were German. Th is memorable contribution is also related to the edition of the German version of the ceremonial speech of the Czech Grandmaster Karel Weigner, 80 which was discussed at the end of the presentation dealing with the presence of the name J. A. Comenius in the periodical Svobodný zednář.
It is well known that in 1938 it was really hard. Th e threat to our republic and its democracy also directly aff ected the Freemasons, especially those of Jewish descent. In the incomplete last year of the periodical we fi nd two remarkable contributions. Th e fi rst deals with the relationship between nationality and humanity, calling for the unity of Czechs and Germans in the fi ght against dull totalitarianism. Th e intellectual legacy of J. A. Comenius is strongly underlined. 81 In short, democracy, Czechoslovakia as an island of freedom in what was then Central Europe, Masaryk, Beneš, and Comenius seemed to merge into a single symbol of humanity, decency, and hope creating an opposition to the barbarism of Hitlerism. It has just been stated in the last example of respect shown by Czechoslovak Masons of German nationality towards J. A. Comenius. 82 Th e anonymous author deals with the ethics of the great Moravian and underlines his humanity, tolerance and especially his anchorage built on God. 83 Comenius is seen as the opposite of the 'Führer' . 84 In the end, Comenius's kindness and humanity are emphasised as the opposite of barbarism, and it is stated that this great man raises our hearts to God. 85 In the same manner was also the very eloquent last example of admiration shown by German Masons in Czechoslovakia towards the teacher of the nations.

III. Overall Conclusion
Th e main interest of the Czech Freemasons in J. A. Comenius was primarily based on the belief that his ideas inspired J. Anderson when writing the 'Old Rules' . Th is meant a touch of worldliness not only for the Czech nation, but also for the Czech Masonry that was actually born at the time. It is understandable that Czech Masons spread this pride and fame not only at home but also abroad. Th e second motivation associated with the fi gure of J. A. Comenius lay in the internal struggle for a specifi c Christian orientation of the life of Freemasons. Th e second motive comes to the fore especially in connection with the rise of Nazism and the threats of totalitarianism as a reason for hope, which ultimately proved to be justifi ed. However, this road to new freedom took longer and was much more thorny than anyone could have imagined in 1938. In connection with these hopes, it is also necessary to mention the lodge of exile in Britain having the name of Jan Amos Comenius, 86 and other lodges, which also bear the name of the Moravian giant. 87 Among the Czechoslovak Masons who spoke German, the relationship with Comenius developed in parallel with the thawing of their relationship with the Czechoslovak Masons who used Czech and Slovak language. Of course, we see parallel motivations here, i.e., the pride that the compatriot inspired the content of the 'Old Rules' . Th ere are also religious motives that grew in connection with the threat of Nazism. In particular, German-speaking Masons of Jewish nationality linked the ideas of humanity and tolerance presented by J. A. Comenius and confi dence in the power of Czechoslovak democracy, which, in their opinion, will eventually stand up in an unequal struggle and will continue to provide an appropriate area of freedom. Comenius is even presented as ' Anti-Führer' , similarly to Masaryk in other places of the same periodical. It is this increasingly fervent relationship with the First Czechoslovak Republic shared by most of our then German-speaking fellow citizens of the Masonic faith, oft en of Jewish nationality, that should once and for all bury an unjust, ideological and truly nationalist interpretation of history, i.e., that everyone in the late 1930s spoke German in our country, sympathised with Nazism and with the tragic and cruel liquidation of the then Czechoslovakia. Of course, the statement does not only apply to members of the German-speaking Masonic lodges of the then Czechoslovakia, but also to a number of other democratically-minded German fellow citizens of our grandfathers and fathers, such as the Czechoslovak Social Democrat of German nationality Wenzl Jaksch (1896-1966). At the same time, it must be emphasised that this should not be perceived as if all our fellow German citizens at the time were innocent, 88 many of them really deserved punishment. Th e injustices that our ancestors committed on those who were not at fault aft er World War II cannot be removed from history. For example, the already mentioned Wenzl Jaksch, who would have been executed immediately by the Nazis and who therefore lived in exile during the war, was also unwelcome in the restored Czechoslovakia aft er the war. But we can begin to perceive the past in its unpleasant truthfulness, experience sincere