The decisive moment in the development of Freemasonry in Serbia was the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary in 1908. The act caused a profound shock: it was felt that the path towards a free Serbian state was thereby being closed.
Moved by national ideals, Serbian Masons asked the Symbolic Grand Lodge of Hungary to explain to the Masons of Europe the meaning of that act. When no answer came, the lodge “Pobratim” severed its ties with Hungary, proclaimed its independence and established direct relations with the lodges of the world.
Help arrived from the Supreme Council for Romania, which on 10 March 1909 founded in Belgrade the Chapter of Rose Croix — the first light of the Scottish Rite in the valley of the Sava. Though under Romanian protection, the Chapter soon became the supreme authority of the Serbian lodges and received the name “Serbia”.
Two years later, the Supreme Council for Greece invited the Serbian Brethren to found a Council of their own. In the spring of 1912, Ioannis S. E. Kefalis, 33°, envoy of the Greek Commander, arrived in Belgrade, and over three days — 9, 10 and 11 May — the Supreme Council, 33°, for the Kingdom of Serbia was founded and forever established.
Đorđe Vajfert was appointed Sovereign Grand Commander, with Svetomir Nikolajević, Jovan Aleksijević, Milutin Perišić, Dimitrije Janković, Petar Šreplović, Manojlo Klidis, Petar Pačić and Dimitrije Mijalković as officers. The lodges “Pobratim”, “Šumadija” and “Sloga, rad i postojanstvo” soon came under the protection of the Council, securing the full regularity of Masonry in Serbia. The Supreme Council held jurisdiction over all the degrees, and Vajfert also became Grand Master of the Freemasons of Serbia. The regularity of the Council was confirmed that same year at the Conference of Supreme Councils in Washington.
The Balkan Wars and the storm of the World War did not extinguish the light. When the temples were closed, the Brethren carried it in their hearts. At the end of 1917, Vajfert renewed the work of the Council in Marseille, where the light of Serbia endured until its return to the homeland.
After the war, in the new state of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Masonry began a new life. In 1919 the Grand Lodge “Yugoslavia” was founded in Zagreb, while the Supreme Council retained the higher degrees. On the eve of the new war, on 1 August 1940, the decision was taken to enter voluntary dormancy.
After a long silence, on 23 November 1991 in Prague, under the auspices of the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction, USA, the ceremony of the Awakening of the Supreme Council of Yugoslavia was performed.
On 29 May 2006 the decision was made: the Order was renamed the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasons of Serbia, preserving the unbroken chain of continuity since 1912. When the independent Republic of Serbia was restored, the light of the Scottish Rite — after a journey of a century — returned to its source. And the darkness did not overcome it.