Freemasons have always been secretive. Before the Second World War they would parade down local high streets in full regalia, but Hitler changed all that. Freemasons IV
Ladies’ nights are a rare opportunity for wives and partners to join in the fun. ibid.
Freemasonry: to some the word suggests a harmless social club with a taste for colourful pageantry; others envision a sinister cabal with bloody oaths and a hidden network of powerful and highly placed men. In Search of History s3e5: Secret Brotherhood of Freemasons, History 1998
While Masons were increasingly visible in public life their rituals continue to take place behind closed doors. ibid.
The Freemasons rise to extraordinary power as the defenders and high priests of the new American republic. ibid.
The Antis were also the first political party devoted to a single issue: the total destruction of freemasonry. ibid.
Throughout history powerful kings and presidents have claimed membership alongside Benjamin Franklin, Mozart, Henry Ford and Sir Winston Churchill; although the Freemason Society remains shrouded in mystery, one truth remains apparent: the members who value their sacred oath of membership will protect the organisation’s most sacred secrets forever – at all costs. The Freemason 2013 starring Sean Astin & Randy Wayne & Alex McKenna & Richard Dutcher & Joseph James & Jaisaac & Joe Pike & Skip Carlsen & Blake Webb & Mark Webb & Howard Charleboix et al, director Sohrab Mirmont, opening captions
Congratulations, brother Trenton. You are now initiated into the first principles of Masonry. ibid.
Hitler and Himmler were both bitterly opposed to the Freemasons. Hitler’s Last Secrets s1e4: Hitler & the Occult, 2011
The Freemasons is an organisation we’ve all heard of but of which we know almost nothing about. To some it’s a club full of funny handshakes and raised trouser legs. To others it’s a secret society with real power. But for many it’s just a club their grandfather was a member of. Secrets of the Masons, BBC 2020
Washington believed that the lessons learnt in the lodge could be applied to the principles of the republic. ibid.
Racism forced African-Americans to set up their own lodges. ibid.
In 1920, one in ten Scottish men were Freemasons. ibid.
The Freemasons are the world’s largest and possibly oldest secret society … Some Freemasons claim Solomon and Abif created the secret brotherhood to pass down the secrets of the Temple. Secret Societies: In the Shadows s1e5: Freemasons, History 2023
For hundreds of years lodges across Great Britain met in secret to discuss spiritual and moral matters. Secrecy became an obsession for the early Freemasons. ibid.