Historic French Masonic Hall Vandalized for Third Time in Seven Years

Photo: Myriam Tieulent's Facebook page

by Christopher Hodapp

As I've been warning for months, anti-Masonry would doubtless accompany the rise in anti-Semitic rage and hate crimes around the Western world.

Concorde et Persévérance Lodge is a historic lodge affiliated with the Grand Orient de France (GODF). Located in Vienne, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France, and founded originally in 1781 under the name "La Concorde," it is one of the oldest lodges in the country. The Masonic hall was vandalized on the night of July 31st. Windows were broken, Nazi swastikas and SS symbols were painted on the entrance, along with anti-Jewish slogans, insults, death threats, the 666 ('Mark of the Beast'), and phrases like "Death to pedos" ("Mort aux pedos"), as in "pedophiles." (Inexplicably, Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein's names were also tagged on the building in this pastiche of paranoia and hatred.) In front of the main door to the building, there was also painted a curious symbol and phrase, "The sun will rise."

This appears to be a variation of the Black Sun, or Schwarze Sonne, an emblem used by some radical neo-Nazi, supremacist and identity groups. The symbol originated at the notorious Wewelsburg castle, Heinrich Himmler's private ceremonial center for the elite officers of the SS. It's made up of the stylized double lightning bolt symbols of the SS.

Nazi ideology regarded Freemasons with as much hatred they reserved for Jews. Hitler himself said, "all Jews are Freemasons; all Freemasons are Jews," likely because of the Old Testament Solomon's Temple story that makes up the Masonic degrees. 

According to the www.vivre-villes.fr website, a door was damaged and a window smashed, but the attacker(s) didn't manage to get into the building, unlike in the 2019 incident. Blood was found on the broken window, so at least one of the vandals managed to slice himself. If authorities care enough to spend a little time and money on it, a DNA test might trace the blood to the attacker's identity. If they care.

This same lodge hall was attacked twice in 2019, and again in 2024. In the previous incidents, the building was broken into and furniture and other items were damaged, stolen or destroyed. It's unknown as to whether the two incidents are related, but the attacks all featured anti-Masonic and Nazi-related symbols. Whether the vandal involved is himself a Neo-Nazi, or simply a fanboy of Neo-Nazi hate groups is hard to say. But these are clearly escalating threats and must be taken deadly seriously.

In a statement to the press, local town councilwoman Myriam Tieulent condemned the attack, pointing out that this historic lodge was severely damaged 80 years ago by Vichy pro-Nazi supporters during World War II.

"I am shocked and worried to see that these are Nazi tags," she said. "They [recall] the horror of the Hitler regime, responsible for the genocide of Jews throughout Europe, and have no place in our city or in our Republic." 

"For several months we have been observing the multiplication of racist tags and stickers that defile the walls of our city, she added. "It is time for city hall and the police to act so that our city is no longer stained by symbols of an ideology that led to the Shoah."

Mme. Tieulent was the only local government official to speak out against the attack. Local police are investigating.