Kingdom of Jerusalem and Israel—Crusaders and Jews. Two different worlds, two different cultures, both having a common denominator – land! Magical, holy land soaking with the blood of knights, pilgrims, Jews and Muslims for thousands of years. Land with no memory of peace as it is always an object of dissention and war. Turning from love to hatred, from worship to violence. Being an object of desire and cause of great pain at the same time, like femme fatale it became a sense of life for whole nations. What does she mean for our world today? She is it’s heart and soul.
Eagerest defenders of Kingdom of Jerusalem, with their names dragged through muck and mire, being held liable for all evil in Dark Ages, Fratres Militiae Templi, Pauperes Commilitones Christi Templique Salomonis , mostly known as Templars were captured and imprisoned on October 13th, 1307. Why did it happen? The answer is simple - money! We can be absolutely sure that hundred years earlier no one would ever hurt this convent. So what had changed during this time? Akkon, the last Templars’ bastion in Holy Land fell in 1291. Since then, it no longer made sense for Templars to be a convent and they became a symbol of defeat. Investigation carried by the Pope cleared Templars from heresy charges. The document proving this was found in 2001 in Chinon. Nevertheless, Philip IV of France forced the Pope to conceal results of investigation and made Pope Clement V abolish the convent and confiscate it’s property. Most of the Templars were burned at the stake. As the king’s chronicler wrote : “they had to suffer unthinkable pain, and not one of them in his misery ever confessed. Therefore their souls might be condemned for eternal damnation, as they had lead mob astray”. The last Grand Master of the Teutonic Order , Jacob de Molay was burned alive on March 18th, 1314. Just before dying he called his tormentors before God’s Judgement. They came rather quickly! On April 11th, 1314 the keeper of the king’s seal and Philip IV’s closest consultant, Nogater, both died. Pope Clement V died the same year, on April 20th. The last one to join them was Philip IV himself, dying on 29th of November, 1314.
Convent in it’s structural meaning has failed to ever raise again. Nevertheless, the aura of magic and mystery surrounding it’s history is still alive today, in our minds and conscience. But the convent was not destroyed everywhere. In England, the king contented himself with just a piece of their property. In Aragon, Templars were transferred to Cistercian’s Order. In later years spiritual successors of the Templar Convent took part in geographical discoveries. Red crosses that appear on flagpoles of Portugeese ships are the proof of that. There is even a theory that Christopher Columbus himself had some contact with them. Some even claim that he was a member of a secret organization that had risen on ruins of the convent. Some of freemasonry lodges consider themselves spiritual successors of Templars, and the supposed enormous wealth that they have engage the imaginations of many a treasure hunter. Sometimes, here and there you can hear that they still exist and conspire, ruling this vale from back rows in the theatre of modern world. It’s never enough to just kill someone, you have to take away his history as well. This is the part where traitors failed…
Jews are the self-proclaimed chosen nation. They are progenitors of foundation of modern civilization, persecuted and loved at the same time. In some ways so extraordinary they became thorns in charlatans’ flesh. Is it a coincidence that so many Nobel Prize winners are frequenters of Synagogue? Some would say it is – and maybe they’re right. But if that’s the case then why, when I reach for scientific literature, do I often see a Mosaic smile on the back cover, the author beaming up at me? Vladimir Hotowitz, an outstanding pianist born in today’s Ukraine territory once said that„ There are three types of pianists – Jewish, gay and bad ones”. Was it a joke, conceit or maybe just stating the obvious? Artur Rubinstein, Clara Haskil, Władimir Aszkenazy, Lilya Zilberstein are just a few of the best pianists, and what about the rest of musicians? You could say it’s coincidence. Are you sure? The Jewish people are suspected for worst practice including “Christ’s murderers”, loan sharks, communists and humbugs, traders in everything. They are a people surrounded by superstitions, suspected of ruling the world and having hand in all of the conspiracy theories of this world. I hear many people say that the smell of garlic and passover bread spreads from Wall Street to Ural Mountains. This is definitely not a coincidence.
On January 20th, 1942, in a Berlin villa on Großer Wannsee, a group of prominent Nazi activists sentenced the Jewish nation. During those ill-fated 4 years of war, in the name of sick ideology, millions of people were murdered in a brutal, carefully planned way. Ideology so unthinkable, that not even Satan would participate. It’s hard to believe that anyone or anything would ever do such a thing. Satan’s students and henchmen in their human form had definitely outgrown their master. Using the word “human” in this case should actually raise many concerns, as this enormous cruelty is grossly inhuman. Nazi aggression grew out of people’s deeply hidden hatred, almost like a chemical reaction. Its outcome was just pure evil. Outbursts of slaughter, rapes, and persecutions were the result of venomous minds—minds exposed to aggressive Nazi ideology. The scale of this outburst in some cases even outgrew original intentions of Nazi malefactors. Hypocrisy and fraud were hidden in the ideology itself. German action against the Jewish nation during World War II was called Aussiedlung,a word which translates into English as “expulsion!” In a Jewish dictionary this very word took on a far more ominous meaning. It became a synonym for death. Why is that? Many books have been written on this topic. This isn’t a time or place for historical analysis, but sometimes, when I listen to the wisdom of this world, I want to scream! Even though, as years pass by, grief takes over my scream, then becomes despair, and then I’m left reflecting over poor education system. Professor Jerzy Wyrozumski, brillant polish mediaevalist and Polish medival history researcher, once started his lecture with this statement: „Ladies and Gentleman! If you don’t know what history is about, let me tell you – it’s either about money or women.” For modern historians King Philip V’s intentions are clear and were in no way influenced by a woman . On the other hand, the German machine named „Nazism” clearly experienced a deficiency, and surely not the love kind. Let’s ask one question. Would the Holocaust have ever happened if Jews had their own land and nation? The answer is no! You lose your land, and with the land there goes your independence, self-determination… the most important elements for a nation or community. It is a matter of life and death.
There are few analogies between Kingdom of Jerusalem and Israel. Of course, Israel is a gentile nation and this is what makes it strong. But in 1099, when Kingdom of Jerusalem was found, the concept of nation was strongly connected to religiosity, which was then commonly accepted. Israel today is a young country, populated by an ancient nation with culture and tradition based on religion.
Burning crematories of Treblinka, Aushwitz and Sobibor were as stakes into which Templars were thrown. Of course, we can’t compare the scale and we can’t compare times. For over 600 years man has gained experience and refinement. He has learned a lot! Thought progressed, methodology was adjusted. Only one thing that never changed was that guilty ones were the ones caught in the fire, burning. Studying history, sometimes I fear the progress, even though I know it’s inevitable. But remember - Historia magistra vitae est!
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