Jehovah's Witnesses and the Holocaust
Jehovah's Witnesses stood side by side with Jews during the Holocaust. Witnesses were persecuted for their beliefs, rather than their nationality. Thousands survived and died in concentration camps. While they could have been freed from the concentration camps by signing a document to renounce their faith, very few did, and Jehovah's Witness' belief based on the Bible, stood firm against Nazi threats and torture. Love conquered hate.
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United States Holocaust Museum
The Jehovah's Witnesses page from the United States Holocaust Museum is of interest:
"Jehovah's Witnesses were subjected to intense persecution under the Nazi regime. The Nazis targeted Jehovah's Witnesses because they were unwilling to accept the authority of the state, because of their international connections, and because they were strongly opposed to both war on behalf of a temporal authority and organized government in matters of conscience......" .......April 1935......
"Many actions of Jehovah's Witnesses antagonized Nazi authorities. While Witnesses contended that they were apolitical and that their actions were not anti-Nazi, their unwillingness to give the Nazi salute, to join party organizations or to let their children join the Hitler Youth, their refusal to participate in the so-called elections or plebiscites, and their unwillingness to adorn their homes with Nazi flags made them suspect. A special unit of the Gestapo (secret state police) compiled a registry of all persons believed to be Jehovah's Witnesses. Gestapo agents infiltrated Bible study meetings."
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Oldest Living Holocaust Survivor
The oldest living Holocaust Survivor is one of Jehovah's Witnesses, 103 years old in 2008, Leopold Engleitner’s from Austria.
Oldest Living Jehovah's Witness survivor speaks at Harvard-Harvard Gazette
"Aided by a wheel chair, his slight frame bent in part by a curvature of the spine since birth, in part by the passage of time, a man who endured unspeakable cruelty 70 years ago told his story of survival to a Harvard audience.
Austrian Leopold Engleitner, purportedly the world’s oldest concentration camp survivor, spoke at the Science Center May 4 to a diverse crowd: young and old, men, women, and children.
Interned in three concentration camps during the Second World War for refusing to renounce his faith as a Jehovah’s Witness, pledge his allegiance to Adolf Hitler, or join the German army, Engleitner survived torture and incarceration by the Nazis from 1939 to 1943.
Approximately 12,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses were sent to concentration camps during Hitler’s ascendancy. It is estimated that between 2,000 and 5,000 perished. Unlike the millions of persecuted Jews who were imprisoned and died at the hands of the Nazis with no chance of escape, Jehovah’s Witnesses were offered their freedom in return for signing a declaration stating they renounced their religion and fully supported the German regime. Engleitner repeatedly refused to sign the document....."
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Jehovah's Witnesses PBS Documentary
Knocking - PBS Documentary about Jehovah's Witnesses gives several profiles of Jehovah's Witnesses as individuals and religion, all from different and unique backgrounds, including one Jew who survived the Holocaust and became one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and his visit to the concentration camp where he suffered.
The Knocking video trailer on Jehovah's Witnesses can be seen here, and the PBS Knocking website attempts to answer questions concerning Jehovah's Witnesses and their beliefs, misconceptions, and practices. Myths and Realities are also considered. It is a fairly accurate and objective site on Jehovah's Witnesses.
The Knocking PBS Jehovah's Witnesses Independent Lens site can be viewed at this Jehovah's Witnesses link.
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Jehovah's Witnesses
A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust
"On April 1, 1935, Jehovah's Witnesses were banned by law. However, they refused to be drafted into the military services or perform war-related work and continued to meet. In 1935, some 400 Witnesses were imprisoned at Sachsenhausen concentration camp. By 1939, an estimated 6,000 Witnesses were detained in prisons and camps. Some were tortured by police to force them to renounce their faith. Few did so.
The children of Witnesses also suffered. They were ridiculed by their teachers because they refused to give the "Heil Hitler" salute or sing patriotic songs. They were beaten up by their classmates and expelled from schools. The authorities took children away from their parents and sent them to reform schools and orphanages, or to private homes to be brought up as Nazis.
In the concentration camps, Jehovah's Witnesses were required to wear a purple triangle..........
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Educational Materials For Public Schools:
Study Guide for the Documentary Video:
Jehovah's Witnesses Stand Firm Against Nazi Assault Classroom Edition Video (28 minutes) with Study guide (Brooklyn, NY., Watchtower Society, 1996). Description: As the Nazi killing machine engulfed Europe with terror, thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses suffered brutal persecution. In this video, ten historians from Europe and North America, and more than 20 Witness survivors, join in relating a story of courage and triumph that must be told.
Jehovah's Witnesses Stand Firm Against Nazi Assault. 56-page Study Guide (English/Spanish) with DVD used for public school (and other-approved in the U.S. and other countries for public schools) classroom instruction on JW history during the Nazi period.
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Arnold Liebster Foundation
Simone and Max Liebster each relate their stories in two books, Facing the Lion, the story of a young girl's determination against Nazi assault, a wonderful book for any young reader or teen. And Max Liebster's chilling account of his experiences as a Jew in German concentration camps. Max Liebster later became one of Jehovah's Witnesses, having learned about Jehovah's Witnesses while imprisonsed with them in the camps.
Crucible of Terror by Max Liebster, Jewish survivor of Germany’s Concentration Camps
Facing the Lion by Simone Arnold Liebster. Wonderful story of girl’s struggles during Nazi Germany, her pain, her endurance and integrity.
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Other Sites:
Jehovah's Witnesses Headlines provides information on Jehovah's Witnesses, many links from reputable third parties, as well as addressing some controversial issues concerning Jehovah's Witnesses, current news, stories and experiences, insight into the religious beliefs and practices and Jehovah's Witnesses and the Holocaust.
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Three Official Sites of Jehovah's Witnesses are:
* Jehovah's Witnesses Official Site incluces articles from the Watchtower and Awake magazines, on-line Bible, Bible study request form, Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs, articles on health, young people, Bible questions.
* Jehovah's Witnesses Public Relations Sites including press releases, current conflicts in foreign countries, Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs, frequently asked questions, Jehovah's Witnesses position and statements on child abuse, educational videos, blood transfusions and medical care, current issues.
* The Worldwide Association of Jehovah's Witnesses site hosts current Watchtower and Awake audio downloads, Christian music downloads, and Bible drama audio downloads for children and youth.
Related Notes:
Jehovah's Witnesses International Conventions were held in 2009 in Vienna, Austria; San Diego, California; Nairobi, Kenya; Soeul, South Korea; Rome, Italy, Honolulu, Hawaii, and a number of other locations. Some videos for these conventions from around the world can be viewed at this video link for Jehovah's Witnesses. (off-site-YouTube video).
A series of news reports on Jehovah's Witnesses International Conventions is also of interest.
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photo: Mauthausen Concentration Camp. P.H. Louw, Netherlands
Site created: December 27, 2009