Fraternity-Testvériség, 1959 (37. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1959-09-01 / 9. szám
FRATERNITY 5 The Grand Lodge and the Grand Orient were united on March 23, 1886, and formed the Symbolic Grand Lodge of Hungary. This Grand Lodge was recognized by the Grand Lodges of Great Britain and by many other grand jurisdictions in Europe and America. Before World War I, the Symbolic Grand Lodge of Hungary was composed of 100 Lodges with about 7000 members. They owned a splendid temple in Budapest well equipped for Masonic work. WORLD WAR I ACTIVITIES During World War I, Brother Koloman de Bakonyi writes the Lodges organized hospitals at Budapest, rebuilt one of the villages which had been destroyed by the Russians, procured situations for demobilized officers, assisted soldiers who returned from the front, and, after the armistice, did all they could to obtain just and kindly treatment for their unhappy country. In addition, Hungarian Masonry created a large number of social and beneficent societies which occupied themselves with the protection and succor of men, women and children of the sick, poor and abnormal, and with education. Thousands received medical treatment and supplies of milk, bread, shoes and clothing, thus exemplifying the love of neighbor. With the ending of the war came a flood of propaganda, largely from Roman Catholic sources, which appeared almost daily in the Roman church papers as well as in the secular press owned by its members. Boldly and insistently the Masons were charged with the instigation of and responsibility for the war, the disastrous ending of which caused Hungary’s loss of Transylvania and other territory; therefore, the Masons were to be blamed not only for these losses, but also for all the ills that had befallen the land and its people. (To be continued)
