{"id":6618,"date":"2023-01-20T10:58:14","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T07:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/?p=6618"},"modified":"2023-01-20T10:58:14","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T07:58:14","slug":"holocaust-remembrance-thousands-of-jehovahs-witnesses-among-the-millions-of-nazisms-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/holocaust-remembrance-thousands-of-jehovahs-witnesses-among-the-millions-of-nazisms-victims\/","title":{"rendered":"Holocaust Remembrance: Thousands of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses among the millions of Nazism\u2019s victims"},"content":{"rendered":"

On January\u00a027, the world will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day,[1]\u00a0a symbolic date to commemorate the victims of Nazism. Murderous Nazi terror targeted millions for reasons of biology, nationality, or political ideology. But few people know that the Nazis\u2019 victims included thousands of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, who suffered for their Christian faith.<\/p>\n

\"Concentration
Concentration camp uniform jacket with a purple triangle worn by a Jehovah\u2019s Witness inmate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, also then known as Bible Students, were \u201cthe only group in the Third Reich to be persecuted on the basis of their religious beliefs alone,\u201d says Professor Robert Gerwarth.[2]\u00a0The Nazi regime branded Witnesses \u201cenemies of the State,\u201d according to historian Christine King, because of \u201ctheir very public refusal to accept even the smallest elements of [Nazism], which didn\u2019t fit their faith and their beliefs.\u201d[3]<\/p>\n

On religious grounds, the politically neutral Witnesses refused to give the \u201cHeil Hitler\u201d salute, take part in racist and violent acts, or join the German army. Moreover, \u201cin their literature they publicly identified the evils of the regime, including what was happening to the Jews,\u201d stated King.[4]<\/p>\n

Witnesses were among the first sent to concentration camps, where they bore a unique uniform symbol\u2014the purple triangle. Of about 35,000 Witnesses in Nazi-occupied Europe, more than one-third suffered direct persecution. Most were arrested and imprisoned. Hundreds of their children were taken to Nazi homes or reformatories. About 4,200 Witnesses went to Nazi concentration camps. Leading authority Detlef Garbe wrote: \u201cThe declared intention of the NS [Nazi] rulers was to completely eliminate the Bible Students from German history.\u201d[5]\u00a0An estimated 1,600 Witnesses died, 370 by execution.[6]<\/sup><\/p>\n

The Nazis sought to break Witnesses\u2019 religious convictions by offering them freedom in exchange for a pledge of obedience. The standard\u00a0Erkl\u00e4rung<\/em>\u00a0(issued beginning in 1938) required the signee to renounce his or her faith, denounce other Witnesses to the police, fully submit to the Nazi government, and defend the \u201cFatherland\u201d with weapon in hand. Prison and camp officials often used torture and privation to induce Witnesses to sign. According to Garbe, \u201cextremely low numbers\u201d of Witnesses recanted their faith.[7]<\/p>\n

Genevi\u00e8ve de Gaulle, a niece of General Charles de Gaulle and member of the French Resistance, said of female Witness prisoners in Ravensbr\u00fcck concentration camp: \u201cWhat I admired a lot in them was that they could have left at any time just by signing a renunciation of their faith. .\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0Ultimately, these women, who appeared to be so weak and worn out, were stronger than the SS, who had power and all the means at their disposal. They had their strength, and it was their willpower that no one could beat.\u201d[8]<\/p>\n

The failure of Nazi coercion in the case of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses contrasts with widespread societal conformity to Nazi aims before and during the Holocaust. The nonviolent resistance of ordinary people to racism, extreme nationalism, and violence merits thoughtful reflection on this International Holocaust Remembrance Day.<\/p>\n

\u2014 John Nicholas Gay is a public information officer for the Jehovah’s Witnesses, United States Branch. For more information about Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses during the Holocaust can be found on\u00a0jw.org<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n