On the German invasion on 10 May 1940, Freemasonry was banned. With the aid of a list of Freemasons published in a conservative Catholic newspaper, the occupiers arrested, deported and assassinated several Masons, such as Georges Pêtre, president of the supreme council in 1942, and Jules Hiernaux, Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Belgium in 1944. Belgian Masonic life continued in exile in London and New York, and even secretly in the concentration camp at Esterwegen (the "Liberté chérie" lodge) and the PoW camp at Prenslau (the "L'Obstinée" lodge).
