IT
On this Memorial Day, the Grand Liberal Lodge of Italy addresses a moving thought to the victims of the Nazi massacre, an even more hateful crime because it was perpetrated with rational clarity and systematic procedures, and wants to commemorate the hundreds of thousands of lives, not just of men. , women and children of the Israelite religion, but also of political opponents, homosexuals, free thinkers and Freemasons, suppressed in the name of a mad ideology.
The tragedy of the Holocaust shows us how easy it is for the human soul to slide towards absolute evil.
But on this day it is also necessary to remember those who opposed the darkness and worked to save lives, and also those who, in the most extreme conditions, kept the flame of hope alive: alongside the heroes who, at the risk of their own lives, hid and rescued hundreds of people from extermination – the Righteous – we also honor the seven Belgian Freemasons deported who in Shack no. 6 of the Esterwegen concentration camp founded the “Liberté chérie” lodge, never to forget how precious freedom and respect for human rights are for all of us.
Freemasonry, which has always defended and spreads the values of Freedom, Fraternity, and Equality, and which considers all human beings to be members of a single family, regardless of their diversity, cannot remain silent in front of any violation of human rights and violence, physical and moral, perpetrated by minds darkened by racial hatred, fanaticism, and extremist ideologies. Vigilant observers of the events in the world, Freemasons must stigmatize any act contrary to the founding values of a civil society, whose purpose must be to guarantee, with fairness and justice, the right of every citizen to achieve their own happiness.
Mindful of the past, and attentive to the future, Freemasons must make every effort to ensure that aberrations such as the one we remember today can never be repeated. This is what our members shall commit to.
The Grand Master (Marco Galeazzi)
