A Special Division of the SS Dealt With Freemasons
Reinhard Heydrich was the chief of Security Police and the SD (Sicherheitsdienst) in the 1930s and he took a particular interest in the Freemasons. He believed that the Masons, in addition to the Jews and the political clergy, as “implacable enemies of the German race.” Heydrich argued for the elimination of all visible traces of Masons but also to eliminate the “Masonic infectious residue that remains in the unconscious of many.”
It was because of his hatred and desire to eliminate the Freemasons from Germany and the rest of Europe he created a special section of the SS Security Service, Section II/III to deal with Freemasons. The personnel of the SD believed that Freemasons exercised real political power and that they shaped public opinion through the press. Members of the SD believed that Masons were using their influence and power in order to provoke war, subversion, and revolution.
The task of investigating Freemasons would eventually be taken over by Section VII B 1 of the Reich Security Main Office, an amalgamation of the Security Police and the SD that was created in 1939. As war loomed the restrictions on former Freemasons in Germany relaxed. The need for men in the military and for men to work in the public center meant that some former Freemasons would be allowed to work these jobs on a case by case basis. Some were even allowed to serve as officers even though they were still banned from joining the Nazi party.
The same could not be said for Freemasons in countries under Nazi control. They still faced persecution. Heydrich and his men dissolved Masonic organizations by force and confiscated all assets and documents. They would also take membership lists in order to create card catalogs of Masons to put under surveillance or send to concentration camps. All items seized from the Masons were sent directly to the SD and the Reich Security Main Office for investigation.