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ANALYSE

106

Nostradamus,
the Netherlands and the Second World War

by T. W. M. van Berkel

The Prophecies as a means of pressure

   Shortly after Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Magda Goebbels, the wife of Joseph Goebbels, the German minister of People’s Information and Propaganda, drew his attention to the book Mysterien von Sonne und Seele (1922) by dr. H.H. Kritzinger.1 Kritzinger quoted from Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus: erstmalige Auffindung des Chiffrenschlüssels und Enthüllung der Prophezeiungen über Europas Zukunft und Frankreichs Glück und Niedergang, 1555-2200 (1921), written by his compatriot C.L. Loog, who worked at the German Postal Services in Berlin. According to Loog, Nostradamus predicted in quatrain 03-57 that in 1939 there would be a crisis in Poland and at the same time England would deal with the last and most serious crisis in a series of seven, of which the first one took place in 1649 (the decapitation of Charles I). The second line of quatrain 03-57 reads that the English people would be steeped in blood in 290 years. According to Loog, this period runs from 1649 to 1939.

   Dr. Gruber reports that Loog was the first one who linked the words Pole Bastarnan in the last line of quatrain 03-57 to Poland. He also reports that there is no evidence that (at least around 1921) Loog felt sympathy for national-socialism. In fact, Loog wrote that Nostradamus would have predicted the restoration of a Jewish state in Palestine, which Loog did not believe, because of the bad condition of the land.

   On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Two days later, France and England declared war to Germany. Other countries, among which Belgium and the Netherlands, mobilized their armed forces. On September 17, 1939, Russian troops invaded East-Poland. Poland capitulated on September 27, 1939, and was divided between Germany and Russia.

   The interpretation of quatrain 03-57 by Loog had nothing to do with national-socialism. However, like four others in his department, Goebbels was impressed by the correspondences between the explanation of quatrain 03-57 in Kritzinger’s book and the events which took place in September 1939. He began to look for an astrologer who, regarding nazi-propaganda, could occupy himself with Nostradamus. On December 4, 1939, he asked Kritzinger. Kritzinger nor Loog wanted to do this. Kritzinger mentioned the name of the Swiss astrologer Karl Ernst Krafft, a friend, whose prediction that there would be an assault on Hitler became true in November 1939. Krafft, who admired national-socialism, accepted the job in January 1940. A few weeks before, Goebbels got the idea to produce pamphlets which would deal with Nostradamus.

   By the end of March 1940, Krafft finished his job. In May 1940, German airforce strewed thousands of pamphlets over Belgium and France. In these pamphlets was announced that infernal flying machines would bring heavy destructions and that the south of France would not suffer from the war. The aim of these pamphlets was to unsettle completely the traffic around Paris and in the direction of the Channel harbors. Walter Schellenberg, chief of the German espionage services, wrote in his memoirs that he was surprised that these pamphlets made large numbers of refugees to flee to South-East France.2

   The American film company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer responded by means of short propaganda movies, in which predictions by Nostradamus were used to raise American moral. The British Secret Service ordered to strew pamphlets over Belgium and France, in which the victory of the Allies was announced. In these pamphlets, quatrain 03-63 was used.3

   Unti 1943, the nazi’s and the Allies continued the spread of these kind of pamphlets.

   In 1940, after approval of one of Himmler’s offices, a book was published, entitled Les Propheties de Maistre Michel Nostradamus, Bildgetreuer, vergrösserter Abddruck einer Ausgabe der "Prophéties", erschienen bei Benoist RIGAUD Lyon under dem Datum 1568. The photocopies of this edition-Benoist Rigaud-1568 were produced by Schegiut. GmbH in Frankfurt am Main. A brochure of 32 pages was included, dated on November 12, 1940, in which Krafft gave comment. In the same month, the French Vichy-government forbade Les prophéties de Maistre Michel Nostradamus, expliquées et commentées, 5ème édition (1939), written by Max Pigeard de Gurbert, aka dr. De Fontbrune. He had predicted Hitler’s death and marshall Pétain’s betrayal. The Gestapo confiscated the book and all printing matters.4

   In Februari 1941, Snellew publishers in Brussels published Krafft’s Comment Nostradamus a-t-il entrevu l’avenir de l’Europe ? (tr: How did Nostradamus foresee the future of Europe?). It is said that this book was also published in English, German, Portuguese, Rumanian and Spanish.

   Together with German astrologers, among who Ebertin, Krafft was imprisoned after Hess’ flight to England in May 1941. In 1942, Krafft resumed his astrological labour for the department of People’s Information and Propaganda. On january 8, 1945, he died in Buchenwald.5

The Netherlands and the Prophecies

   It was in 1941 that a complete, Dutch translation of the Prophecies was published. In the 17th century, three French editions of the Prophecies were printed in Netherlands: the 1650-Leiden-edition, printed by Pierre Leffen, the 1667-Amsterdam-edition, printed by Daniel Winkeermans, and the 1668-Amsterdam-edition, printed by Iean Iansson à Waesberge in Amsterdam, settled in the Elizee Weyerstraet.

   In 1688, Jacob Vlucht in Delft published a French-Dutch extract of Nostradamus’ predictions, entitled in French : Extrait de propheties des centuries de Michel Nostradamus, touchant l’estat présent des affaires.

   In 1715, H. Blank, settled in Amsterdam, published a Dutch translation of an English comment on Nostradamus’predictions, which dealt with the fate of the British Royal House until the coronation in 1714 of George I, and the future of the British Royal House until the end of the existence of the world. Originally, this book was entitled The prophecies of Michael Nostradamus concerning the Fate of all the Kings and Queens of Great Britain since the Reformation... The author used the initial D.D. ; in 1715, his book was published in London by J. Roberts.6

   In 1940, 1941 and 1942, three pro-nazi comments on the Prophecies were published in the Netherlands; two books and one brochure. Copies of these comments are preserved in the Royal Library in The Hague and the National Institute for War Documentation (NIOD) in Amsterdam.

   In 1941, the first, complete, Dutch edition of the Prophecies was published, translated by prof. dr. mr. H. Houwens Post aka mr. dr. W.L. Vreede. Houwens Post translated the quatrains, the Letter to Cesar and the Epistle to Henry II. He did not discuss the events, related to the Second World War, neither did he give a prognosis about the end of the war. Copies of this translation are preserved in the University Libraries in Amsterdam and Leiden.

HOE ZAL DEZE OORLOG EINDIGEN ? (1940)
(How will this war end ?)

General information

   The Second World War began with the invasion of Poland by Germany on September 1, 1939. In response, England and France declared war to Germany. Russia invaded East-Poland on September 17. Poland capitulated on September 28. England started a trade blockade against Germany.

   On November 30, 1939, Russia invaded Finland. Finland capitulated on March 12, 1940.

   From a military point of view, the situation in the West of Europe was quiet, except for some skirmish between French troops, quartered in the Maginot lines, and German troops, quartered in the Westwall (Siegfried line).

   On April 9, 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway. One month later, on May 10, Germany invaded Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The aim was to overrule the Maginot line from behind and to isolate Britisch expedition forces in North-France. The British forces could withdraw themselves to their homeland. From July until October 1940, the Battle of Britain took place, which was not won by the Germans. They had to postpone an invasion of England, partly also because of their plans with Eastern-Europe.

   Regarding the situation in the Netherlands after the invasion of the Germans in May 1940: the nazis wanted to introduce their ideology either with soft hand or by force. They supported the Dutch National-socialist movement (NSB), lead by Anton Mussert, and founded all kinds of national-socialist institutes and organizations. At that time, no Jews were deported.

   From 1925 until the ‘40’s, Willem Johan Ort (1882-1951) had a bookshop and publishing company in the Prins Hendrikstraat 34 in The Hague. In 1940, he published a number of translations of pro-nazi books, such as De ondergang van een imperium (the rise and decline of the British Empire), Hongersnood in Engeland (famine in England) en Europa zonder Engeland (Europe without England). In another translation, entitled Het voorspel tot den grooten strijd (the prelude to the great fight) the German invasion of Norway was described.

   In 1940, Ort also published a booklet, entitled Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen ? een belangwekkende en actueele beschouwing op grond der voorspellingen van Michel Nostradamus gegeven in “Les vrayes Centuries et Prophéties” ; samengesteld uit de nagelaten geschriften van Jean François Pasteur (tr : How will this war end ? an interesting and actual discussion, based upon the predictions of Michel Nostradamus in “Les vrayes Centuries et Prophéties”, compiled from the leftover writings of Jean François Pasteur). The booklet had a numbered circulation of 100 copies and a not-numbered circulation.

   Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen ? consists of 45 pages. The table of contents :

         - Preface to the publication of an actual explanation of the predictions of the great French Seer Michel Nostradamus.

         - Past, present and future miraculously predicted by the Frenchman Michel Nostradamus in his Les vrayes Centuries et Prophéties.

         - How will this war end ? An answer to many important questions which bother us, given by Les vrayes Centuries et Prophéties de maistre Michel Nostradamus.

         - Appendix - explanations.

   Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen ? seems to be the result of the editing and translation of a French manuscript. The translator wrote the preface. In the subtitle, it is mentioned that the book is compiled from the leftover writings of Pasteur. The text of the chapters include the French text of a number of quatrains and the Dutch translation. Other quatrains in the text of the chapters are only given in Dutch; the original French text is given in the appendix. In the text of the chapters, the quotations from De Fontbrune’s Les Prophéties... are given in Dutch; the original French quotes are given in the appendix. A couple of times, an “author’s note” is given.

   In Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen, nothing is said about the author or the translator. In the preface of the - anonymous - translator, it reads that in leftover writings of his friend Pasteur, he found a study on Nostradamus, which Pasteur was supposed to have finished shortly before his decease. During his bibliographical research, Benazra did not find books on Nostradamus, written by Jean François Pasteur. He does not know this name at all.7 The comment on some quatrains and the way of reference to French searchers raises the idea that Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen ? is written by a Dutchman and that the name Pasteur and the origin history are fake.

   In 1940, a booklet was published in Stockholm, written by a certain Norab, and entitled What will happen in the near future ? For an answer we must turn to "Les vrayes centuries et propheties de Maistre Michel Nostradamus".8 This booklet is not a translation of the book, written by Pasteur. The subtitle contains the same reference as the subtitle of Pasteur’s book, but there is no allusion to a compilation from leftover writings and an author’s name is given: Norab.

Source texts and illustrations

   In Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen, 31 quatrains are discussed. The source text is Texte intégral de Nostradamus - Réproduction agrandie en phototypie de l’édition d’Amsterdam, 1668, précédée de la Lettre à César, son fils, d’après l’édition de Lyon, 1558. This is the photocopy of the 1668-Amsterdam-edition, made by P.V. Piobb, who added the Letter to Cesar as printed in Lyon in 1558. The text of the quatrains is given in Dutch and French.

   In the part in which the future is discussed, Pasteur quoted from a.o. Les prophéties de Maistre Michel Nostradamus, expliquées et commentées (1939) by dr. De Fontbrune.

   In the appendix, sources are specified, the French text of a number of quatrains is given and the French text of quotations from the book by De Fontbrune is given.

   Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen ? contains black/white reproductions of the cover of the 1668-Amsterdam-edition and of a portrait from Nostradamus, painted by his son Cesar. Nowadays, this portrait is preserved in the Méjanes Library in Aix-en-Provence.

   On the cover, the City Arms of Paris is depicted, as Pasteur writes “in honor of the city of Paris, since it was the capital of France where Maistre Nostradamus celebrated his greatest triumphs”.

Past, present and future

   Pasteur discusses 31 quatrains. He links 14 of them to events in the period 1559-1918. In one case, he wrote he borrowed his comment from others.9

   Pasteur dates the beginning of a period of more than 300 years of English domination (quatrain 10-100) in 1603 (unification of England and Scotland). By means of quatrain 03-57, he explains that this period ended in 1939, because of the outbreak of the Second World War. He writes he bases this upon - unspecified - publications of the Frenchmen Amiaux, De Fontbrune, Piobb and Rochetaillée, the Germans Kritzinger and Loog and the Englishman Taylor, who, independent of each other, calculated that 1939 is the fatal year for England.10

   In his outlook, Pasteur emphasizes the defeat of England. He quotes from De Fontbrune’s Les Prophéties... the explanation of the quatrains 02-78, 02-85, 03-32, 03-71, 08-37 and 08-97. De Fontbrune is supposed to explain these quatrains as predictions of England’s defeat. Regarding the quatrains 02-85 en 08-37, the raise of a dictatorial regime in France is announced. Pasteur does not quote statements of De Fontbrune about Germany.

   According to Pasteur, the domination of Europe by Germany is predicted in quatrain 10-31. He does not mention the year in which the war will end. He also does not mention the length of the period of German domination.

   Neither Pasteur, nor the translator made allusions to the situation in the Netherlands or gave an outlook which deals especially with the Netherlands.

DE VOORSPELLNGEN VAN NOSTRADAMUS (1941)
(THE PREDICTIONS BY NOSTRADAMUS)

General information

   In april 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded by Germany and Germans and Bulgarians invaded the North of Greece. Germany invaded Russia on June 22, 1941, supported in the north by Finland and in the south by Rumenia.

   From 1941, the Germans executed racial laws in all occupied countries. Jews and gypsies were put outside the law and society. In 1941, nazi-circles decided to exterminate the Jews, but this decision was not executed until 1942.

   Because of the February-strike in the Netherlands in 1941, the attitude of the nazis towards the Dutch and Dutch society became harder. This February-strike, in which communists played an important role, despite the neutrality of the leaders of the Dutch Communist Party, was a protest against labour in Germany, low wages and the provocative behavior of the Dutch National-socialist movement, whose members increasingly molested Jews. The strike begun at the public transport in Amsterdam on February 25, 1941 and spread to Velsen and Utrecht. The nazis declared the emergency state and bloodily ended the strike. During 1941, the political parties were forbidden; from July 1941 the Dutch parliament did not exist any more. The Jews became increasingly isolated and were moved into gettos. From September 1941, they had to bear a yellow star.

   In 1940-1941, the Europa-uitgeverij (Europe publishing co.) published a series of pro-nazi propaganda booklets, entitled Brochures ter informatie (Brochures for information). Some brochures of these series: Tweeërlei recht (twofold justice), De memoires van mr. Gree (The memoires of mr. Gree), Hoe word ik M.P. ? (How do I become M.P.?), De familie Sassoon (The Sassoon family) and Fantasie en werkelijkheid (Fantasy and reality). It did not became clear where in the Netherlands this Europe publishing co. was settled.

   Brochure no. 18 of these series is dated in 1941 and is entitled De voorspellingen van Nostradamus (the predictions of Nostradamus). No author’s name is given. During the investigation on which this article is founded, no data about the author became available.

   For three reasons, it can be doubted that the author is a Dutchman. First, during the discussion of quatrain 09-83 (Sun twenty Taurus...), he does not refer to the invasion of the Netherlands on May 10, 1940, but to "the war against France in the year 1940" and “the great German offensive”. A Dutch author would have referred to this in a different way. Second, the Dutch name of the British King Charles I, who was executed in 1649, is given to be Karl I (German name) instead of Karel I (Dutch name). Third, on the last page of De voorspellingen van Nostradamus it reads that the copyright is at Erich Zänder Druck- und Verlagshaus, Berlin SW 29. It is possible that originally De voorspellingen van Nostradamus was written by a German and translated in Dutch.

   The brochure De voorspellingen van Nostradamus counts 15 pages. There is no preface, epilogue or appendix. The text is not divided into chapters.

Source texts and illustrations

   In De voorspellingen van Nostradamus, 19 quatrains are discussed. There are no references to the used source text. The quatrains are only given in Dutch. None of them has a Century number. De voorspellingen van Nostradamus is the poorest documented of all three pro-nazi comments, but this might be characteristic for a brochure.11

   On the cover, a collage is depicted of quatrains in old-French, among which the quatrains 03-57, 05-57, 05-94, 08-37 and 09-83, which are discussed in the brochure.

   The texts of the quatrains in the collage correspond to some extent with the texts in the 1568-Benoist Rigaud edition, as published in the facsimile-Chomarat-2000 edition. In the collage, quatrain 03-57 is split in two parts. The first two lines are separated from the last two lines by the word centvrie, printed in small capital characters. This might mean that the first two lines were at the bottom of a page and the last two lines on top of the next page. In the facsimile-Chomarat-2000, this is the case in this quatrain 03-57.12 Perhaps a copy of the photocopy of the 1568-Benoist Rigaud edition, made by Krafft in 1940, was used for the compilation of this collage.

   De voorspellingen van Nostradamus does not contain illustrations.

   De voorspellingen van Nostradamus opens with a poem, which was supposed to have preceded a book, entitled Centuriën en Profetieën, of which the first volume was published in Lyon in 1555

I give in the game of thousand dark verses,
Unveiling and hiding, what future will bare
To great events of the highest potentates,
A torment for curiosity, when she wants to guess it;
Because a long series of events is listed,
Which will only be recognized, when the event occurs.

   The title Centuriën en Profetieën seems to be a phrasing of Les vrayes Centuries et Prophéties.

   In Voorspellingen van Nostradamus is not referred to other comments or the 1941-Vreede-translation.

Past, present and future

   De voorspellingen van Nostradamus does not contain a comprehensive retrospect on events, which are supposed to be predicted by Nostradamus. Two events are discussed: the execution of Charles I and the introduction in France of the Republican calendar in 1792.

   The author of De voorspellingen van Nostradamus dates the beginning of the period in quatrain 10-100 of more than 300 years English domination in 1603, the year in which England and Scotland became united. He supposes that the period of 290 years, given in quatrain 03-57, began in 1649 and ended in 1939. There is no reference to others like e.g. Loog.

   In De voorspellingen van Nostradamus, the emphasis lays on the credibility of the defeat of France and England. It reads in the brochure that England will be occupied. The author ends with the remark that next to Germany, the holy Empire will come, which might be an allusion to quatrain 10-31.

   In De voorspellingen van Nostradamus, the year in which the war will end is not given. The length of the German domination is also not given. The quatrains are commented regarding Europe in general. There is no discussion of the situation in the Netherlands or its outlook.

VOORSPELLINGEN DIE UITGEKOMEN ZIJN... (1942)
(FULFILLED PREDICTIONS...)

General information

   On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked American navy troops in Pearl Harbor, without a preceding declaration of war. As a reaction, the U.S.A. chose the side of the Allies.

   The winter in Russia in 1941-1942 became disastrous for German troops; their march stagnated. A German offensive in the summer of 1942 resulted in the Battle of Stalingrad, which was won by the Russians in February 1943. In El Alamein, German troops, commanded by general Rommel, got the worst of it in November 1942.

   On the Wannsee-meeting on January 20, 1942, the nazis discussed in which way they would exterminate the Jews (Endlösung der Judenfrage).

   In 1942, a small group of Dutchmen committed resistance in various ways: helping Jews and other nazi victims, offering shelter addresses, working for the resistance press, spying, sabotage.

   From 1910 to 1994, Hijman, Stenfert Kroese en van de Zande NV booksellers and publishers were settled in Arnhem. In 1974, all publishing activities were ended. Hijman, Stenfert Kroese en van de Zande NV was a general publisher of a.o. literary publications, among which books by H. Roland Holst and J. Slauerhoff.

   From 1941 to 1945, Hijman, Stenfert Kroese en van de Zande NV was a branch of the Westland People’s Publishers, directed by the national-socialist J.G. van Ditmarsch. In 1942, a booklet was published, entitled Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn - Michael Nostradamus spreekt in 1558 over het verloop en den uitslag van dezen oorlog. The cover title reads Voorspellingen van Nostradamus uit het jaar 1558.

   Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn... is written by A. de Tombre, a fascist astrologer.13 De Tombre presents himself as a research fellow who is scientifically and politically independent, who is clairvoyant and knows about cosmic laws and predicting. He dissociates himself from Le Pelletier and Piobb, who presented a false outlook, and from Kritzinger and Loog, who did not expect changes in the political situation in Europe before 2040. After studying the Prophecies in 1939, De Tombre already knew the course and end of the war, but he did not publish his findings. While referring to Pasteur’s Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen ?, he wants to reveal to his compatriots a future, both fantastic and inevitable, which was predicted in the 16th century and which responds to a dynamic law in fate, something one humbly has to accept. He also wanted his book to be a monument for Nostradamus.

   Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn... consists of 102 pages. Its table of contents :

   Introduction

   Truth and certainty, born clairvoyance - The predictions of Nostradamus in their proper explanation - The future is fixed - Humbly accepting one’s fate - Nostradamus as a historian - Heavens and the fate of nations.

   Chapter I

   Some details about the life of Nostradamus - His fighting of the plague - Political advisor of the French kings - He predicted the hour of his death - The method to find the way in the labyrinth of his thousand predictions - Utmost sensitivity towards history is requested.

   Chapter II

   The future of the Netherlands - Three concentric circles of history : France, England, Germany.

   Chapter III : Nostradamus speaks : fulfilled predictions as a guarantee for the future

   1. A look into the most recent political past

a. The world war.
b. The fatal year 1918 - The November revolution - The abdication of the emperor - The Versailles treaty - The troubles in Germany - The fate of Austria.
c. From the Entente Cordiale by the League of Nations towards the new Entente - Mussolini.
d. Franco - Rivera and the Spanish civil war in the historic prophetic view of Nostradamus.
e. National-socialism and its founder.
f. The treaty between Germany and Russia before the beginning of this war.

   2. The present

a. 1939. The influence of the first year of crisis on England’s position as a superpower. The conflict between Germany and Poland.
b. The “Blitzkrieg” against France (1940)
c. The “Blitzkrieg” approaches Paris - What will happen to Paris ?
d. The war expands to the South of France - the seat of the government is moved - The flight of Reynaud - The fate of the French fleet.

   3. Nostradamus’ visions about the future of England - Dunkerque - The attacks on London - The Jews driven away from Europe

   4. Nostradamus foresees technical miracles - The hot air balloon - The canon with a long barrel - The submarine - The airplane - Nucleair splitting

   5. What does Nostradamus tell about the catastrophe of bolshevism ?

   Chapter IV : The future

   The end of this war - The German Empire as the ordering state in the future - The war in chains.

   Appendix (with photocopies of the Centuries)

   De Tombre makes one single allusion to the invasion of the Netherlands in 1940 and writes that in the new Europe, under strong (German) guidance, the Netherlands will play its role under the sun. He does not make any allusion to the 1941-Vreede-translation.

Source texts and illustrations

   De Tombre discusses 70 quatrains. He couples 60 of them to the period 1914-1941 and 6 to the near future, counting from 1941. As a source text, he used “the first complete edition of the Prophecies, published in Lyon in 1568”. Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn... contains photocopies of the cover of the “1568-Lyon-edition”, a portrait of Nostradamus, depicted in that edition and photocopies of 15 quatrains, taken from that edition.

   The reprinted cover is almost identical to the cover of the 1568-Benoist Rigaud-edition, as printed in the 2000-Chomarat-facsimile. The portrait, however, was first printed in the 1668-Amsterdam-edition and the 1668-Ribou-edition. The facsimile-Chomarat-2000 (1568-Benoist Rigaud edition) does not contain a portrait of Nostradamus.

   De Tombre writes that the total number of quatrains is 942, and that a leftover exists, which contains 14 quatrains and a number of predictions. The total of 942 quatrains matches the total in the 2000-Chomarat-facsimile, in which Century 07 consists of 42 quatrains and the Legis Cantio is a not-numbered quatrain, next to quatrain 06-99.14 Regarding the leftover of 14 quatrains: this remark might be erroneous because of a printer’s error. The author might have meant a leftover of 141 quatrains, which means he might have referred to the Présages. The “number of predictions” might be a reference to the Sixains. This would mean that De Tombre has known more writings of Nostradamus than just the Prophecies. However, neither the Présages, nor the Sixains are part of the 1568-Benoist Rigaud-edition. They are included in for example the 1668-Amsterdam-edition, which also includes the portrait, published in Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn.

   All discussed quatrains are given in Dutch and French. The appendix contains photocopies of the French source text of 15 quatrains, as printed in the “1568-Lyon-edition”. These photocopies are compared with the corresponding texts in the 2000-Chomarat-facsimile. The differences between these two look like rectifications in the 1942-De Tombre-copy :

Quatrain 1568-Benoist Rigaud-edition (2000-Chomarat-facsimile) 1568-Lyon-edition (1942-De Tombre-copy)
01-08 foys fois
01-08 reourira recourira
01-47 reduictz reduicts
01-47 magistratz magistrats
03-58 Rin Rhin
05-94 Flandres Flãdres
08-96 receu receue
10-31 soustenens soustenans
10-89 Laqueduict l’aqueduict

   There are also other differences between the 2000-Chomarat-facsimile and the 1942-De Tombre-copy. In the 1942-De Tombre copy, the space between the words cité and solaire in quatrain 01-48 is larger than in the 2000-Chomarat-facsimile ; the end of the second line of quatrain 03-58 closes with one point instead of a double point and in quatrain 08-15, the double -s- in the word chasse not equal in hight, whereas in the 2000-Chomarat-facsimile they are equal in height.

   The differences show that the source text, copied by De Tombre, is not a photocopy of the edition-Benoist Rigaud-1568, as printed in the 2000-Chomarat-facsimile. It is also not a photocopy of the 1668-Amsterdam-edition. In that edition, each first line of a quatrain has an indent. In the 1942-De Tombre copy, all lines of the quatrains, i.e. also all first lines, have the same left margin.

   Benazra, who was asked for help, could not identify the source text of the 1942-De Tombre-copy.15

Past, present and future

   In Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn..., only a few events, which happened long time ago and which Nostradamus would have predicted, are discussed: the arrest in 1791 of Louix XVI and the invention of the hot air balloon in 1794.

   De Tombre discusses the course of history from 1914, the year in which the First World War started, and discusses the Second World War from 1939 (quatrains 03-57 and 10-100). He dates the beginning of the period of 290 years in quatrain 03-57 in 1649 (Cromwell), while referring to Kritzinger and Loog. He dissociates himself less form Kritzinger and Loog than he writes in his introduction. According to De Tombre, quatrain 10-100 deals with a 300-year period of English supremacy. He does not date this period, but links this quatrain to quatrain 03-57. According to him, England succeeded France in 1649 as a superpower and about 300 years later, in 1939, England had to make way to Germany, where the Holy Empire will be (quatrains 03-57, 10-31 and 10-100).

   De Tombre expects that England will be occupied by the nazis for 14 years (quatrain 07-13). He also expects the fall of bolshevism, and counts for bolshevism a reign of 27 years (quatrain 08-72). He does not give years.

   De Tombre also expects that the Jews will be driven away from Europe (quatrain 08-96).

   For Europe, he expects a period of peace for 57 years, under strong guidance by Germany (quatrain 10-52). He does not give the year in which the war will be ended.

The methods of the pro-nazi author

   Some elements in the three pro-nazi books clarify the way the authors did their job.

a. The contact between the authors and their readers

   In Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen ?, the translator tries to raise attention by communicating that he considered the leftover writings by Pasteur so important, that he wanted to publish them at once, also since so many people worried about the war.

   The author of De voorspellingen van Nostradamus wants to explain to his readers that Nostradamus had a presentiment about “the invincible”, which is Hitler.

   De Tombre tries to raise the attention by communicating that in 1939 he already knew the course of the war. He also describes a vision he got in November 1939 in Rotterdam, in which large numbers of eagles flew above the city, an allusion to the bombardments on Rotterdam on May 14, 1940. De Tombre kept his knowledge silent, because he expected his compatriots not to believe him. However, because of the course of the war, he wrote his book, meant as a guide to the future and as a monument for Nostradamus.

b. Nostradamus’ life

   All three books contain a biography of Nostradamus. Regarding the main facts, they match with for example the biography in the 1668-Amsterdam-edition. They also contain mistakes and sometimes, for national-socialist reasons, facts and features are attributed to Nostradamus, which originated from own inspiration.

   Pasteur for example writes that Nostradamus was born on December 1, 1503 (in reality : December 14, 1503) and got his M.D. at the age of 26 (at that age, in reality he started to study at the Montpellier University). After resigning his function at the Montpellier University, he started to travel; in this travel period, his wife and children died (Pasteur does not mention that Nostradamus lived in Agen from 1533 to about 1537, where he got married and got two children). After his marriage with his second wife, once again he fought an outbreak of the plague (in reality he fought the plague until 1547).

   In De voorspellingen van Nostradamus, it is suggested that Jules-Cesar Scaliger could not withhold Nostradamus from traveling after the death of his wife and children. The author does not mention the quarrel between Nostradamus and Scaliger and their split-up. The journey to the French Court is dated in the summer of 1556, which only in the ‘70’s is corrected by Leroy.16

   De Tombre presents Nostradamus as a physician who follows the footsteps of his father and ancestors. He writes that Nostradamus’ father was a physician and a Master of Law (in reality, his father, a former grain seller, was notary), that Nostradamus’ grandfather also was a physician and that one of his ancestors joined a crusade as a royal physician, a communication which seems to be founded on sheer fantasy.

   According to De Tombre, Nostradamus is a sincere patriot, since he published predictions which were unfavorable for France. In this way, De Tombre’s description fits the national-socialist ideal of the "good patriot". He also writes that Nostradamus had a lively correspondence with outstanding humanists and occupied himself with every branch of science. This is not true.

   In 1556, Henry II would have appealed Nostradamus as a royal physician; the king would not only have discussed health problems, but also political problems. After the decease of Henry II, Nostradamus returned to Salon de Craux. This all is not true. Nostradamus payed a visit to Henry II, but was not his physician and did not live from time to time in Paris until the decease of Henry II. It was Charles IX who appealed him as a royal physician.

   None of the authors mentions that Nostradamus was from Jewish origin.

c. Nostradamus’ reliability

   The authors give the impression as if the victory of Germany and the defeat of England are predicted in the Prophecies. They try to convince their readers that Nostradamus had reliable gifts of prediction at his disposal. They illustrate the nature of these gifts and discuss quatrains which according to them are fulfilled.

   According to Pasteur, Nostradamus wrote the quatrains as a result of divine inspiration (voices, visions), together with human abilities and knowledge (astrology, magic). He founds this upon the quatrains 01-01 and 01-02. Also, Nostradamus would have become purified in his visionary gifts because of the decease of his first wife

   According to De voorspellingen van Nostradamus, at night, Nostradamus evoked visions by means of magic rites and magic attributes. This is based upon the quatrains 01-01 and 01-02. It is also mentioned that he made astrological calculations.

   According to De Tombre, Nostradamus did not compile the Prophecies by means of astrology, but wrote them in a self-hypnotic state of mind, while gazing in a crystal scale, filled with clear water. Regarding this matter, De Tombre feels himself acquainted with Nostradamus, since De Tombre himself disposes the gift of clairvoyance and knows about cosmic laws and predicting the future.

   Regarding raising the impression that Nostradamus’ prediction of the German victory is reliable, it would be obvious to emphasize that he is a Frenchman, an enemy of Germany, and that he predicts the fall of the Jews, despite his Jewish origin.17 None of the authors pay attention to the Jewish origin of Nostradamus or his French nationality, except De Tombre, who emphasizes the integrity of Nostradamus by describing him as a passionate patriot, who found it hard to predict things which would be unfavorable for France, and who attributes to him that he predicted that the Jews would be driven away from Europe, without mentioning his Jewish origin.

   According to the authors, the fulfilled quatrains are a guarantee of the reliability of the prediction of Germany’s victory. Almost half of the quatrains which Pasteur discusses, are linked to events in the period 1555-1918. In De voorspellingen van Nostradamus, two quatrains are linked to events in the past. De Tombre links 60 quatrains to events in the period 1914-1941.

d. Used texts

   In the three books, the Centuries 01 to 10 are used. No use has been made of duplicate quatrains or the Centuries 11 and 12, also not by Pasteur, despite the fact that he used the 1927-Piobb-copy, a copy of the 1668-Amsterdam-edition in which the duplicate quatrains and the Centuries 11 and 12 are printed.

   In Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen ? and Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn..., a number of quatrains carry a wrong quatrain number. This might be caused by manuscript errors or printer’s errors. It might also be an attempt to mislead the reader. In De voorspellingen van Nostradamus, the quatrains are not numbered.

   De voorspellingen van Nostradamus contains a few quotes from the Letter to Cesar and the Epistle to Henry II. From the Letter to Cesar, it is quoted that the quatrains are written in a form which is more hazy than prophetic. From the Epistle to Henry II, a passage has been quoted, in which the year 1792 is mentioned. This year is linked to the introduction of the Republican calendar in France during the French Revolution. De Tombre also refers to this passage, which, according to him, is located “in the preface of the book by Nostradamus”. This looks like a reference to a sequence, in which the Epistle to Henry II precedes Century 01. Such a sequence is not the case in the 1568-Benoist Rigaud-edition, but in the 1668-Amsterdam-edition. De Tombre does not quote from the Letter to Cesar. Pasteur does not pay attention to either the Letter to Cesar or the Epistle to Henry II.

   Once in a while, Pasteur and De Tombre refer to other comments, in order to broaden the foundation of their message. Quite comprehensively, Pasteur quotes from Les Prophéties... by De Fontbrune and refers to Loog and to earlier comments on the Prophecies. De Tombre refers to Kritzinger, Loog and Pasteur. In De voorspellingen van Nostradamus, there are no references to other comments, not even to those by Kritzinger, Loog or Pasteur.

e. The process of comment

   The authors used several ways to give their comments on the quatrains.

   1. The authors link persons and concepts in the quatrains to persons and concepts of the far and close past, focused on both World Wars. They link quatrains with for example Charles I, Franco, Hitler, Mussolini, Napoleon, Rivera, Stalin, the American president Wilson, the Japanese emperor Hirohito and the League of Nations.

   Lemesurier reports that according to a number of nazi-propagandists, the word Hister in the quatrains 02-24, 04-68 and 05-29 is an anagram of Hitler.18 In the three Dutch pro-nazi comments, these quatrains are not discussed. The three authors emphasize that in the first two lines of quatrain 03-58 (Aupres du Rin des montaignes Norique - Naistra vn grand des gens trop tard venu:), Nostradamus predicted Hitler’s birth in Braunau am Inn, qualified as the Rhine river in the Noric mountains. De Tombre discusses also the quatrains 01-08, 02-55 and 10-38 and writes that the word Hadrie in these quatrain refer to Hitler (the characters -H- and -a-: the reverse order of Hitler’s initials) and to the Axis-powers Germany and Italy (-adrie-: a reference to the Adriatic Sea). According to De Tombre, the word Ursins in the third line of quatrain 10-38 is an anagram of the USSR. He links this quatrain to the Molotov - Von Ribbentrop pact.

   Pasteur did not discuss national-socialist themes. In De voorspellingen van Nostradamus, the comment on quatrain 05-94 contains the remark that Nostradamus used the idea of “Great Germany”, a nazi-reference to the Third Reich. De Tombre discussed national-socialist themes to a high degree. According to him, the word Aries in quatrain 03-57 refers to the Arians, i.e. the Germans, the words La teste raze in quatrain 08-13 to “the leading race”, i.e. the Germans, and the words La synagogue sterile in quatrain 08-96 to the driving away of the Jews.

   2. The authors translated a number of quatrains incorrectly, in order to link them to national-socialism or to events which they considered to be important. In for example Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen ?, the quatrains 02-83 and 06-20 were translated incorrectly.

   The correct translation of the fourth line of quatrain 02-83 (Par Jura mont & Sueue bruine) reads : “By the Jura mountain and the Swiss drizzle”. Pasteur translated this line in : “As a result of an oath and the German rain of dust”. He links this quatrain to the air attacks on England.

   In Pasteur’s book, quatrain 06-20 is numbered as quatrain 05-20. The correct translation of the fourth line of this quatrain (Lors aura Rome vn nouveau liepart) reads : “Then Rome will have a new leopard”. Pasteur translated this line in : “After the war, Rome will have a new leopard”. He links this quatrain to the rise of Mussolini. However, quatrain 06-20 does not contain an indication “after the war”. These incorrect translations point to manipulating activities of a Dutchman and raise the idea that Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen ? is written by a Dutchman instead of compiled by a Dutchman who translated from the French.

   The author of De voorspellingen van Nostradamus tried to convince his readers that Nostradamus predicted the capitulation of Paris in the quatrains 04-37 and 05-30.

   The correct translation of the second line of quatrain 04-37 (occupera le grand lieu de l’Insubrie) reads : “will occupy the great city of Insubria”. This line is translated in : “invade and occupy the great city”. The “great city” is related to Paris. The indication “Insubria” (a reference to North-Italy) is totally neglected.

   The correct translation of the third line of quatrain 05-30 (Donner l’assaut Paris, Rome incité, sur le pont lors sera faicte grand pille) reads : “Paris attacked, Rome incited, plundering on the bridge on a large scale”. This line is translated in : “After Rome was pressed to take part, the command is given to take Paris by surprise”.

   De Tombre translated several quatrains incorrectly, such a the quatrains 07-13 and 10-31. The words La teste raze in the second line of quatrain 07-13 are not translated in “the shaven head” but in “the leading race” (the Germans). De Tombre explains this quatrain as a prediction of England being occupied for 14 years.

   Regarding quatrain 10-31, De Tombre writes that this is the one and only case in which he slightly corrected the source text. The third line begins with Anes (asses); De Tombre changed this into Ames (souls). He links the word Carmanie to “karma”. The correct translation of this line (Anes vouldront aussi la Carmanie) reads : “The asses also would like to have Carmania”. De Tombre translated this line in : “The souls also want their rebirth”.

   3. The investigation of the contents of the three Dutch pro-nazi comments showed that the explanation and the outcomes, given by the authors, are in connection with the course of the war during writing and the expectations of the authors regarding the course and the end of the war.

   Pasteur (1940) emphasizes the defeat of England and indicates a certain power-position to France, because of the explanation by De Fontbrune. Probably, he completed the book when the Battle of Britain just started. Between the lines, he points to a German victory. A clear announcement of a German victory might diminish the effect of his propaganda.

   The author of De voorspellingen van Nostradamus also emphasizes the defeat of England. He indicates that England will be occupied, but does not give the length of the occupation period. In the brochure, the relation between Germany and Russia is not qualified as hostile and there are no allusions to the German invasion in Russia on June 22, 1941. This might mean that the brochure was completed before this invasion. The rulership of Germany is succeeded by a non-specified Holy Empire.

   De Tombre (1942) probably started to write his book after June 22, 1941, the date on which Germany attacked Russia. This can be derived from the way he describes the defeat of bolshewism he expects. He makes an allusion to the triangle Germany-Italy-Japan, but not to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, neither on the declaration of war By the United States to Japan, neither on the declaration of war by Germany and Italy to the United States. This might mean that De Tombre completed his book before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

   Only De Tombre makes allusions to the driving away of the Jews from Europe. He links this with quatrain 08-96. His arian and antisemitic ideas can be read in his comments on quatrain 03-57. He interpretes the words Pole Bastarnan as a reference to the blend of Jews and original inhabitants of Poland.

f. The heart of the propaganda: four quatrains

   The number of quatrains in the books diverges : 31 in Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen ?, 19 in De voorspellingen van Nostradamus and 70 in Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn... Eight of these quatrains are discussed in all three books.

   The authors announce that a German victory will come soon and that England will be defeated. All of them link the quatrains 03-57, 03-58, 10-31 and 10-100 to this outcome. The quatrains 03-57 and 10-100 are the most important ones. The authors linked 1939, the year in which the Second World War began, to quatrain 03-75. Pasteur and De Tombre did this because of Loog’s interpretation. De Tombre emphasizes that in this quatrain “the cause of the Second World War is predicted, i.e. the tension between the Ram (Germany) and his Polish bastard”. In De voorspellingen van Nostradamus, there is no reference to Loog, but it is hard to assume that the author of this brochure independently dated the period of 290 years.

   All authors link quatrain 10-100 to the idea that England makes room for Germany. Pasteur and the author of De voorspellingen van Nostradamus date the beginning of the more-than-300-year period of English supremacy, mentioned in quatrain 10-100, to 1603, the year in which England and Scotland unified. There are 336 years between 1603 and 1939, which means that the year 1939, calculated by Loog for quatrains 03-57, matches with a period which contains more than 300 years, as can be read in quatrain 10-100. De Tombre, however, translated the line Le pempotan des ans plus de trois cens (The almighty one for more than three hundred years) in : “The almighty during 300 years”. He does not give the year in which this period begins, but relates it to the 290 years of the period, given in quatrain 03-57.

   The comment of the quatrains 03-57 and 10-100 is strengthened by the comment on the quatrains 03-58 and 10-31. The three authors link quatrain 03-58 to the birth of Hitler, the region in which he was born, the invasion of Poland and the annexation of Austria. Pasteur and De Tombre write that in quatrain 10-31, the German victory is indicated as well as Europe under German leadership. The author of De voorspellingen van Nostradamus writes that the Holy Empire, mentioned in quatrain 10-31, comes next to Germany, as if in the course of history the victory of Germany is like a transition to a new phase.

g. Contradictory links

   The authors, following Loog, are unanimous in linking quatrain 03-57 to the period 1649-1939, as they are unanimous in linking quatrain 03-58 to Hitler’s birth. In other links, they are not unanimous, as they are not unanimous in their descriptions of the methods Nostradamus applied.

   Pasteur links quatrain 01-35 to the accident of Henry II during the tournament on June 30, 1559. De Tombre links this quatrain to the English defeat he expects. According to him, The words Le lyon jeune indicate Germany, whereas England is indicated by vieux. He does not spend one word on the accident of Henry II.

   Pasteur links the words grand Monarque in quatrain 01-99 to Hitler and the words deux Roys to Mussolini and Stalin, and to the Molotov - Von Ribbentrop pact. De Tombre too links the words grand Monarque to Hitler, but the words deux Roys to Mussolini and the Japanese emperor Hirohito, and to the Triangle-pact Germany-Italy-Japan.

   Pasteur links quatrain 08-13 to the rulership of Napoleon from 1799 to 1814. De Tombre links this quatrain to the occupation of England by Germany for 14 years, as expected by him.

   Pasteur, basing himself upon an explanation by De Fontbrune, links quatrain 08-37 to an expected capitulation of London and the rise of a dictator in France. In De voorspellingen van Nostradamus, this quatrain is linked to the execution of Charles I in 1649.

Discussion

   In the heart of their propaganda, the three Dutch pro-nazi comments correspond with the opinion in the late ‘30’s about Loog’s interpretation of quatrain 03-57. It looks as if the message of the Dutch authors is based on a link between on the one hand a German victory and an English defeat and on the other hand the quatrains 03-57, 03-58, 10-31 and 10-100.

   None of the books contain false quatrains. In all books, however, a number of quatrains is translated incorrectly. It is strange that Pasteur and De Tombre included French source texts, unless they supposed that the readers rather would be interested in the nature of their message than in their fundaments. Pasteur and De Tombre worked hard to emphasize the authenticity of the used source text, but they made mistakes when they specified the contents of the source texts they used.

   The three comments are not unanimous. The comments on a number of quatrains is contradictory. The biographies of Nostradamus are not unanimous. The ideas about the way he worked, are diverging. The contents of the comments are related with the phase of the war during writing and the expectations the authors had about the course and the end of the war. This is most clear in Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn..., in which Russia is an enemy of the Germans and in which the driving away of the Jews from Europe is discussed. However, in this kind of propaganda, it is important that the message is presented strikingly. It is not important if several messages are matching with each other in detail.

   All authors attribute to Nostradamus that he predicted the year in which the Second World War began. None of them gives the year in which the war is over. Only De Tombre gives some indications: the occupation of England for 14 years, the existence of bolshevism for 27 years and peace under German leadership for 57 years. The fact that the year in which the war is over, is not mentioned, is due to this kind of propaganda. The authors want to convince their readers that a German victory and an English defeat are inevitable. If readers believe this, the authors have achieved their aims. It is not important whether or not their comments correspond with the Prophecies or with each other. Propagandists are not researchers in the true sense, they do their job on purpose.

   It has not become clear if these comments are written because of an order from a national or German office, such as the German department of People’s Information and Propaganda. It has also not become clear if the authors worked according to certain guidelines. One might suppose they did, because of the fact that they all discussed the quatrains 03-75, 03-58, 10-31 and 10-100.

   Another point which did not became clear, is the impact of these books. The NIOD-archives do not contain files regarding such an impact. Dr. De Jong, in his eponymous work about the Netherlands during the Second World War, did not discuss it at all. Apparently, the occupants had certain expectations about the demoralizing impact of this kind of books, given the fact that they were published in three subsequent years. Houwens Post recognized the danger of this kind of books and published a complete translation of the Prophecies.

   In the course of 1943, the Germans and the Allies ended their pamphlet-campaign in Belgium and France. The collections of the national libraries and the university libraries in the Netherlands don’t contain pro-nazi comments on the Prophecies, published in 1943 or later. One might derive that from 1943, the nazi’s decided that the Prophecies would not be used any more for propaganda purposes. In their turn, the Allies also ended this kind of propaganda.

THE 1941-VREEDE-TRANSLATION

General information

   In 1921, Carolus Verhulst (1900-1985) founded Servire bookstore and publishers in The Hague.19 Around 1928 he got married with Elisabeth Duif (1901-1971). Together, they directed Servire publishers until the decease of Elisabeth Duif in 1971.

   Verhulst wanted to run a publishing company which published esoteric and philosophical literature. The ‘20’s and ‘30’s were not suited for such an enterprise, which meant that he published a variety of books: esoteric, history, art, philosophy, nature, Dutch East-Indies, traveling and novels.

   Verhulst was a convinced pacifist. In the beginning of the ‘20’s, he was one of the first Dutchmen who resisted draft, a fact for which he was sent to prison. In the years before the Second World War, he also published idealistic and pacifistic pamphlets and literature.

   Because of the publishing in 1940 of A.M. Meerlo’s Ho, Verhulst got a conflict with the Germans. They forbade him to publish and once he was threatened with death. With the help of others, he managed to buy paper and to publish, often with the security measure that authors and translators used an alias.

   After the war, Verhulst resumed his publishing activities in The Hague. From 1967, Servire publishers moved to Wassenaar. In the course of 1976, Verhulst resigned his function at Servire and in November 1976, he founded the esoteric and philosophical publishing company Mirananda, which since 2004 carries the name Synthese.

   For a number of years, Servire publishers remained independent. In 1981, Felix Erkelend became director. From that time, Servire publishers dealt only with esoteric literature. In april 1999, Servire publishers became part of Veen publishers, Utrecht.

   In 1941, Servire publishers published the first, complete, Dutch edition of the Prophecies, entitled De profetieën van Nostradamus. On this website, this edition is called the 1941-Vreede-translation. The year in which the 1941-Vreede-translation was published, was filled with troubles. Verhulst had a conflict with the Germans and the political situation in the Netherlands became worse. Like other authors and translators whose work was published by Servire, Houwens Post, who translated the Prophecies, used an alias: mr. dr. W.L. Vreede.

   According to former employees of Servire publishers, the 1941-Vreede-translation was not reprinted in the period 1941-1945. After the war, Servire publishers did not publish it again. Until 1979, the 1941-Vreede-translation was not published by others. Around the end of the ‘70’s, Verhulst granted permission to Nico Schors, director of Schors publishers Amsterdam, to use the 1941-Vreede-translation.

   From 1979 to 1997, Schors publishers frequently reprinted the facsimile of the 1941-Vreede-translation (some years clothbound, next as paperback), entitled in the same way as in 1941 : De profetieën van Nostradamus. On the cover of these facsmiles, a chart is depicted, calculated for the Solar Eclipse which was about to occur on August 11, 1999, 11:15 C.E.T. The chart contained the zodiacal longitudes of the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. The zodiacal longitudes of the cusps were according to the Placidus system of house division. Underneath, Houwens Post’s translation of quatrain 10-72 was quoted. According to some searchers, this quatrain points to the Solar Eclipse of August 1999.

   In 1998, Schors publishers published a book, written by Jan Vandevoort, entitled Nostradamus - de grootste ziener aller tijden. Vandevoort revised the 1941-Vreede-translation, wrote a comprehensive biography and described quatrains which were either fulfilled, abused or interpreted in a sometimes hilarious way.

   At the moment, the 1941-Vreede-translation and the facsimiles are only available in second-hand bookshops and preserved in a couple of university libraries. The book, written by Vandevoort, is still in print.

   The 1941-Vreede-translation consists of 205 pages. Its table of contents :

      - Biography (by Houwens Post).
      - Introduction to the Prophecies (by Houwens Post).
      - The Letter to Cesar.
      - The quatrains 01-01 to 06/100.
      - A not-numbered "warning against inept critics".
      - The quatrains 07-01 to 07-44.
      - The Epistle to Henry II.
      - The quatrains 08-01 to 08-100.
      - Notes (the French source text of 29 quatrains which caused problems during translation).

Biography H. Houwens Post

   Hendrik Houwens Post was born on September 18, 1904, in Surakarta, Dutch East-Indies. From 1911 to 1934, he lived and studied in the Netherlands. In that period, each summer he traveled abroad, mostly to France.

   In March 1929, Houwens Post became a master in Romanistics (French, Italian, vulgar Latin). For a number of years, he taught French. In 1932, he finished his Romanistic thesis.

   In the beginning of 1934, Houwens Post went to the Dutch East Indies. In Surabaya, he worked as a French teacher for almost a year. In 1936, he returned to the Netherlands to study East-Indian Law at the Utrecht University. He became Master of Law in July 1940. Because of the war, Houwens Post could not return to the Dutch East-Indies. From December 1940 to July 1956, he taught French at Municipal Gymnasium in Breda (NL). Next, he was professor in Portuguese language and Portuguese and Brazilian Letters at the Utrecht University until 1974. His interest in Portuguese dated from 1921; from 1938 he studied Portuguese language and literature.

   Houwens Post died in Utrecht on September 1, 1986.20

Source texts and illustrations

   In the “Introduction to the Prophecies”, Houwens Post writes that his translation is a complete, Dutch translation, in the same order, of the 1558-Lyon-edition, which consists of the Letter to Cesar, the Centuries 01 to 07, the Epistle to Henry II and the Centuries 08 to 10.21 This remark was copied by Schors publishers on the back cover page. Schors publishers also mentioned this remark in the online-description of the contents of Vandevoort’s book.

   Never a copy of a 1558-Lyon-edition has been found. The investigation, upon which Nostradamus, astrology and the Bible is based, showed that Houwens Post used other source texts. The source text of the quatrains is the 1927-Piobb-copy of the 1668-Amsterdam-edition, which copy also includes the Letter to Cesar. The “Introduction to the Prophecies” shows that Houwens Post knew this copy. The investigation further showed that Houwens Post translated the Epistle to Henry II from the German translation of this Epistle, made by dr Christian Wöllner in 1926.22

   No parallel French source text is given in the 1941-Vreede-translation. The “Introduction to the Prophecies” contains the source text of six quatrains. The "Notes" contain the source text of 29 quatrains which Houwens Post could not translate completely.

   The 1941-Vreede-translation contains black/white reproductions of the cover of the 1668-Amsterdam-edition and of a page of this edition, on which the last two lines of quatrain 01-54 are printed, the quatrains 01-55 to 01-61 and the first two lines of quatrain 01-62. In reverse order, these pages are depicted in Piobb’s Le Secret de Nostradamus et de ses célèbres prophéties du xvie siècle (1927).

   The 1941-Vreede-translation also contains a portrait of Nostradamus, with the subtitle :

Dieu se sert icy de ma bouche
Pour t’anoncer la verité.
Si ma prediction te touche
Rends grace a sa Divinité.

   According to the “biography”, this portrait was depicted in the 1668-Amsterdam-edition.23 However, this portrait was first printed in the 1697-Viret-edition (Lyon). The portrait, which is depicted in the 1668-Amsterdam-edition, is another one.

The aim of the 1941-Vreede-translation

   Houwens Post translated the Prophecies to oppose to pro-nazi editions of the Prophecies, published in Germany.24 His motives might have resulted from his interest in the Prophecies, experiences with the "supernatural" and the pan-Europeanism he advocated.

   The “Introduction to the Prophecies” shows that Houwens Post was very interested in the Prophecies. He described several investigations, among which those by Piobb and De Fontbrune. Houwens Post thinks that the Prophecies have a predictional value, given his link to quatrain 01-03 to the French Revolution, quatrain 08-57 to Napoleon and quatrain 08-76 to Oliver Cromwell.25

   Neither the biography of Houwens Post, nor his “Introduction to the Prophecies” show that he was acquainted with astrology or prophecy. In his biography, a visionary experience is described. In the period 1934-1936, during a visit to the Borobodur temple in Jogyakarta, Dutch East-Indies, he had a vision in which Buddha ordered him to become an "Eurosattva", a prophet of Europeanism. Even in 1974, he wrote in a French manuscript : “Etre Européen est désormais une religion, une fois religieuse, car tout Européen y aspire sans même s’en rendre compte consciement.” The Europa which Houwens Post had in mind, differed from the Great-Germany, favoured by the nazis. This difference might have been a reason for Houwens Post to translate the Prophecies.

   Houwens Post also would have had a supernatural experience regarding reincarnation. In 1939, when he visited Lissabon for the first time, he would have got the conviction that in an earlier life he was a Portuguese. He recognized churches and palaces, built in the 16th century, knew the road immediately and did not need to learn Portuguese, he only needed to remember it. His interest in Europe and Portugal blended in the interest in the Kelts, who spread their Druidic culture over the entire European continent in the pre-Christian era. In the mind of Houwens Post, all this culminated in feeling himself the representative of Luis Vaz de Camoes, a 16th century Portuguese poet, in who he recognized a kindred spirit. In 1942-1944, Houwens Post wrote a book about Camoes. Before that, he translated the Prophecies.

   From a linguistic point of view, the Prophecies close up to Houwens Post’s studies of French and Portuguese. Old geographical names like Pannonia, Illyria and Norica were also used in the Keltic era, in which he was interested.

   Houwens Post does not give direct criticism upon Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen ? and/or De voorspellingen van Nostradamus. His criticism on pro-nazi comments is hidden in his question : Hasn’t it always been that one cannot have the faintest idea of what will happen in the future society ? His answer is hidden in his comment on quatrain 01-47, a quatrain which some searchers link to the failure of the League of Nations, founded in 1920 :

   Nowadays, it is generally assumed that Nostradamus meant the League of Nations. [...] For us, people in this era, it is indeed not such a masterpiece to jump to this conclusion. But how would a commentator in for example 1780 hit upon the idea that after 1918, there would be a League of Nations, registered in Geneva and failing to realize its aims, in the way as described by Nostradamus? He does not mention a year and the words "League of Nations" do not occur in the quatrain.
Regarding the quatrains which deal with the future, we have the same problem. The year 3797 is far, far away; who knows that the people, who live then, look with content upon the airplane !
26

   Houwens Post’s answer means that talking things over afterwards is quite easy, but an explanation of the quatrains regarding the future is in vain, because of the very scarce clues. This was the case in 1780 for 1920, the year in which the League of Nations was founded; it is the case for his time, thus also for the outcome, described in the pro-nazi comments.

   In the “Introduction to the Prophecies”, Houwens Post discusses three groups of searchers : one, to which Piobb belongs, who bases research upon mathematics and planetary revolutions ; one, to which De Fontbrune belongs ; who bases research upon linguistics and symbolism and one, who bases research upon the hypothesis of a Latin source text of the quatrains. Piobb not only tries to fathom the quatrains by means of mathematics, but also by means of the reconstruction of a Latin source text. Houwens Post thinks that the group, who bases research upon language and symbolism, is on the right track. According to him, the best elaboration of this theory was done by De Fontbrune. But Houwens Post also thinks that nobody complete succeeded in separating fulfilled quatrains from the not-fulfilled ones. He concludes that people always want to interpret towards oneself and that the searchers often use the same quatrains, convinced that these quatrains show events which took place in their lifetime. He warns his readers not to make the same mistake and by this warning, once again he silently criticizes pro-nazi comments.

   Houwens Post marked the lines in the quatrains which he could not translate completely, by the symbol ***) and included the French source text of these quatrains in the section “Notes”. However, the reader of the 1941-Vreede-translation cannot verify Houwens Post’s translation, unless the used source text is at his disposal.

   Houwens Post did a fairly good job, and meticulously followed the source text. Some lines in the Letter to Cesar and the Epistle to Henry II, he translated in a more liberal sense.

   In the 1941-Vreede-translation, words, which in the source text of the quatrains were printed in capitals or small-capitals, were printed in capitals, such as in quatrain 08-01 the words PAU, NAY and OLORON. But there is not one indication of words or lines, written in other languages than French. This lack often occurs in the Letter and the Epistle.

   Quatrain 03-58 contains a remarkable translation error. The source text of the third line of this quatrain reads : qui defendra Saurome & Pannonie (who will defend Saurome and Pannonia). In the 1941-Vreede-translation, this line reads : He will defend the Saar region and Pannonia.27 Saurome is an ancient name for Lithuania.28 Pannona is an ancient name of Austria. The Saar region, a region on the south-east side of Luxembourg, was governed by the League of Nations from 1918 to 1935. After a referendum, it was handed over to Germany. In 1938, Germany annexed Austria. Houwens Post translated the fourth line of quatrain 03-58 in: "So that one will not know, what will have become of him". Perhaps, we will never know, he wanted to make an allusion to the idea that Hitler finally would get the worst out of it.

The period of 290 years in quatrain 03-57

   A number of searchers dated the period of 290 years in quatrain 03-57 because of seven changes in the British dynasty or in British politics.

Searcher Year of publication Dating 290 year period Motives
D.D. 1715 1649-1939 1649: execution Charles I
Le Pelletier 1867, p.135-138 1501-1792 1509: coronation of Henry VIII
1714: coronation of George I
Ward 1891 1558-1848 1558: Elisabeth I
1832: Reform Act
Loog 1921 1649-1939 1649: execution Charles I
1939: crisis Great Britain/Poland
Wöllner 1926, p.46 1444-1738 1444: house of Lancaster
1738: house of Hannover
De Fontbrune jr. 1980 1628-1918 1628: British alliances
1918: British alliances
Roberts 1947 1555-1845 1555: year Letter Cesar
1845:
Leoni 1961, p.610-611 1555-1845 1555: year Letter Cesar
1845:
Cheetham 1973 1603-1939 1609: coronation of James I
1939: Second World War
Hogue 1985 1603-1939 1603:
1939: Second World War
Brind’Amour 1996, p.408-409 1265-1553 1265: first British Parliamant
1553: coronation of Mary Stuart
Van Berkel 2002, p.83 not possible
Lemesurier 2004, correspondence 1265-1555 ± 1265: decease (GB) Simon de Montfort
± 1555: decease (GB) Lady Jane Grey

   Quatrain 03-57 does not contain one clue to the year in which the period of 290 years begins or ends. Regarding the period of more than 300 years in quatrain 10-100, such a clue also is absent. The same goes for quatrain 03-94, in which a period of about 500 years is mentioned. In all three cases, it is not clear which period is meant. In the case of quatrain 03-75, the research results are quite diverging.

   In the investigation upon which Nostradamus, astrology and the Bible is founded, the point of view is that it is not the task of the searchers to prove the right of the prophet, especially not since such an approach would imply that the predictions will be fulfilled by definition. It is the task of the prophet to provide sufficient clues regarding the time, the place and the nature of the predicted event, in order to make it possible to compare his prediction with what actually happened around that time and that place. Then, one can conclude whether or not, and in how far, a prediction is fulfilled. In the case of insufficient clues, the prophet cooks his own goose.

   Quatrain 03-56 seems to contain better clues regarding the fulfillment date. The second line reads: pest, hail and thunder end of March. The fourth line reads: Since 607, 23 parts. An interpretation of the fourth line in a time clue of 607 years and 23 days, and a link between the fourth line and March 1, 1555, the date of the Letter to Cesar, results in March 24, 2162 (Julian calendar). This date corresponds with the words "end of March" in the second line. For this reason, in the investigation upon which Nostradamus, astrology and the Bible is based, a fulfillment date has been calculated for quatrain 03-56, but not for the quatrains 03-57, 03-94 and 10-100, because of the lack of time clues.29

Credits

   First, I would like to thank mr. F. Erkelens and mrs. M. Plettenburg. For a long time, they worked at Servire publishers and gave a lot of information about the nature of this company and about mr. Verhulst, its founder.

   I also would like to thank mr. A.E. Post, great-nephew of H. Houwens Post. Mr. Post sent me a copy of the biography dr. B.N. Teensma wrote about his great-uncle.

   I also would like to thank mr. R. Benazra for his investigation of the origins of the text, which by means of photocopy is included in the book by De Tombre.

   Closing, I would like to thank mr. P. Lemesurier, for giving information about several comments on quatrain 03-57, and dr. Elmar R. Gruber for information about C. Loog.

T. W. M. van Berkel
De Meern, April 22, 2004

Bibliography

      - R. Benazra : Répertoire Chronologique Nostradamique, Paris, 1990.

      - T.W.M. van Berkel : Nostradamus, astrologie en de Bijbel - een onderzoek van zijn profetieën en brieven, De Meern, 2002.

      - M. Chomarat (publisher) : Les prophéties, Lyon, 1568, Lyon, 2000.

      - Europa-uitgeverij (publisher) : De voorspellingen van Nostradamus (Brochures ter informatie, no. 18), Berlin, 1941.

      - P. Lemesurier : The Nostradamus encyclopedia, New York, 1997.

      - E. Leoni : Nostradamus and his Prophecies, New York, 1982 (1961).

      - E. Leroy : Nostradamus, ses origines, sa vie, son oeuvre, Saint-Rémy de Provence, 1993 (1972).

      - Microsoft ® / Het Spectrum (publishers) : Encarta ® Encyclopedie basiseditie Winkler Prins 2002.

      - M. Nostradamus : Les vrayes centuries et propheties de maistre Michel Nostradamus, Amsterdam, 1668.

      - W.J. Ort (publisher) : Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen ? , Den Haag, 1940.

      - A. le Pelletier : Les oracles de Michel de Nostredame, Geneva, 1969 (1867).

      - P.V. Piobb : Le secret de Nostradamus et de ses célèbres prophéties du xvie siècle, Paris, 1927.

      - dr. B.N. Teensma : Levensbeschrijving H. Houwens Post, Leiden, 1987.

      - A. de Tombre : Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn - Michael Nostradamus spreekt in 1558 over het verloop en den uitslag van deezen oorlog, Arnhem, 1942.

      - J. Vandevoort : Nostradamus - de grootste ziener aller tijden, Amsterdam, 1998.

      - mr. dr. W.L. Vreede : De profetieën van Nostradamus, Den Haag, 1941.

Notes

1 For a major part, the description of the way Goebbels decided to let the Prophecies be a part of the nazi-propaganda machine, is based upon data from The astrologers of the Nazis by Ellic Howe, published on an Italian website, entitled Hitler e il nazismo magico (www.geocities.com/palingenesi2001/nazimagi/06.htm ). Howe quotes from Kritzinger’s memoirs and Loog’s Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus. Retour

2 See www.bm-lyon.fr/expo/nostradamus/g.htm . Retour

3 Lemesurier, pp. 146-147. Retour

4 Benazra, pp. 485-486 and 491. The predictions by De Fontbrune and the reaction of the Gestapo are described by A. van Dis in Nostradamus, een profeet voor duistere tijden (NRC Handelsblad, February 19, 1982). Retour

5 Benazra, p. 491. According to Brau et al., Krafft died in the Oranienburg prison (Brau et al., p. 210). Retour

6 According to the Dutch author Johan Moonen, D.D. interpreted the first two lines of quatrain 03-57 as a reference to a period of 290 years, which would begin with royal bloodshed, i.e. the execution of Charles I in 1649. Loog was supposed to have given his explanation regarding England and Poland by combining the explanation by D.D. with other explanations. See www.dsv.nl/~moonen/hst6.html . Retour

7 Benazra, private correspondence. Retour

8 According to Leoni, What will happen in the near future ? is a pro-nazi pamphlet, spread in the U.S.A. In 1941, the pamphlet Nostradamus, Seer and Prophet: Quatrains That Apply to Today was spread. Its contents were based upon Norab’s pamphlet (Leoni, p. 99). Retour

9 Pasteur writes, while discussing quatrain 09-18, that two - not specified - contemporaries of Montmorency noted his execution These contemporaries were Etienne Joubert in Éclaircissement des véritables quatrains de maistre Michel Nostradamus (1656) and Chevalier de Jant in Prédiction tirées des Centuries (1673). See: Le Pelletier, volume I, pp. 113-114. Retour

10 Amiaux published Nostradamus - L’homme qui au XVIe siècle avait prévu Napoléon (1939). Rochetaillée published, also in 1939, Prophéties de Nostradamus, Clef des Centuries, son application à l’histoire de la 3e République. (Benazra, p. 484-485). Pasteur writes about “the Nostradamus-experts, a.o. the Frenchmen P. Rochetaillée [...]”. A French author would rather have referred to them as “my compatriots”, and would not refer twice to De Fontbrune with the words “the famous French scientist”. These kind of references might point to the possibility that the book is not written by a Frenchman, but by a Dutchman. Retour

11 The serial numbers of the quatrains are verified by means of the 2000-Chomarat-facsimile. Retour

12 Chomarat, pp. 81-82. In the 2000-Chomarat-facsimile, right above the third line of quatrain 03-57, one can see the original page number. On the cover of De voorspellingen van Nostradamus, this is covered by the banner which contains the serial number of the brochure. Retour

13 P. Heil in Het Vrije Volk, December 24, 1966. Retour

14 De Tombre writes that Nostradamus, in a four-line verse at the end of his sixth book, rejects references to him as an astrologer. Retour

15 Benazra, private correspondence. Retour

16 Leroy, pp. 80-81. Retour

17 See www.bm-lyon.fr/expo/nostradamus/g.htm . Retour

18 Lemesurier, pp. 146-147. Retour

19 The information about Servire publishers and mr. Verhulst, founder and director, is given by mr. F. Erkelens and mrs. M. Plettenburg, former employees of Servire publishers. Retour

20 The biography is a summary of the biography, written by dr. B.N. Teensma. Retour

21 Vreede, p. 10. Retour

22 Vreede, pp. 11 and 14 and Van Berkel’s discussions of the 1941-Vreede-translation, published on this Site ( and ). Retour

23 Vreede, p. 7. Retour

24 Van Dis : Nostradamus, een profeet voor duistere tijden, in NRC Handelsblad, February 19, 1982. Retour

25 Vreede, pp. 10-19. Retour

26 Vreede, pp. 13-14. Retour

27 Vreede, p. 73. Retour

28 Leoni, p. 611. Retour

29 Van Berkel, p. 83. See also: and “An astrological structure in the Centuries”, published on this Site http://ramkat.free.fr/nberk1.html. Retour



 

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