Since many esoteric groups emulated the lodge structure of Freemasonry, they were "caught in the National Socialist anti-Masonic law of 1935".[52] Even "the German Order of Druids" was closed down, "protesting to the last that they were not Freemasons but good, German Druids."[52] In her biography of Richard Walther Darré, the historian Anna Bramwell also remarks that a secret society called the Skald Order "was banned by the Nazis after 1933 because of its allegedly masonic nature."[53] Several members of the Skald held office in the Third Reich, including Dr Ludolf Haase (a founder member of the Skald), Herbert Backe and Theo Gross; all came under covert investigation, though Backe is said to have been cleared of disloyalty by Heydrich from his deathbed.[54]