Ludendorff, Erich

Vernichtung der Freimaurerei durch Enthüllung ihrer Geheimnisse [The Destruction of Freemasonry through the Revelation of Its Secrets]

Munich: Ludendorffs Verlag GmbH, 1940. A late wartime printing of Erich Ludendorff's notorious anti-Masonic and anti-Semitic conspiracy book, first published in 1927 and subsequently issued in numerous editions. One of the principal ideological works of Ludendorff's postwar völkisch movement, the book purports to expose the secret rituals and doctrines of Freemasonry, but advances the considerably broader thesis that Masonry is fundamentally Jewish in origin and constitutes an instrument of international Jewish domination. Ludendorff attempts to derive Masonic ritual and symbolism from the Old Testament, Talmud, and Kabbalah, characterizing initiation as the transformation of the Freemason into an “artificial Jew” and interpreting Masonic lodges, degrees, symbols, and ceremonies through an obsessively antisemitic conspiratorial framework. His argument is illustrated with photographs of lodge interiors, ceremonial objects and initiation settings—including skulls and skeletons—which Ludendorff presents as evidence of the sinister and occult character of Masonic practice.

Trade paperback format (9" x 6"), black wrappers printed in yellow, 116 pp., [4] pp., adverts, 11 photographic plates. In Fraktur. A near fine copy. Item #15354

Price: $125.00