During
the Nazi regime from 1933-1945 in Germany, 838 Jehovah’s Witnesses actually lost their lives. The WTBTS increased the
numbers in 1950 to 1000, in 1951 to 2000, in 1964 to 4000 . In the
1974 yearbook they came clean and the number was 838, but in 1989 the
numbers increased again to 2000, and now in 2001 the number is still at 2000.
***
w50 12/15 500 Jehovah's Witnesses Again Endure Totalitarian Hate ***
Already during the Hitler regime about 1,000 Jehovah’s witnesses were executed
as traitors, because they not only refused to serve in the war but openly
opposed Hitler’s authority. Another 1,000 of Jehovah’s witnesses died in prisons
and concentration camps,
***
w51 2/15 105-6 An Open Answer to "The Vindicator" ***
That is why during the Nazi regime in Germany from 1933 to 1945 Jehovah’s
witnesses in that land refused to heil Hitler! as their Fuehrer or Leader,
and went to concentration camps and prisons, where 2,000 died cruel deaths,
and of the 8,000 that came out alive, 2,000 were invalided for the rest of
their lives.
***
w64 1/1 13 They Listened to an Angel ***
19 Hitler, a Roman Catholic, the arm of his church in Germany, forbade Jehovah’s
witnesses to preach the kingdom of God, and these modern-day Christians had
to say to Hitler’s Gestapo police: ‘Whether it is righteous in the sight of
God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves.’ They kept
preaching even though 10,000 of them were put in concentration camps and over
4,000 died there. The rest nearly starved to death. The war’s end aided their
survival.
***
yb74 212 Germany (Part One) ***
But despite the hard conditions, how those who worshiped Jehovah rejoiced!
They had been privileged to prove their integrity to the Sovereign Ruler of
the universe. During Hitler’s rule 1,687 of them had lost their jobs, 284
their businesses, 735 their homes and 457 were not allowed to carry on their
trade. In 129 cases their property had been confiscated, 826 pensioners had
been refused their pensions and 329 others had suffered other personal loss.
There were 860 children who had been taken away from their parents. In 30
cases marriages had been dissolved due to pressure by political officials,
and in 108 cases divorces had been granted when requested by mates opposed
to the truth. A total of 6,019 had been arrested, several two, three or even
more times, so that, all together, 8,917 arrests were registered. All together
they had been sentenced to serve 13,924 years and two months in prison, two
and a quarter times as long as the period since Adam’s creation. A total of
2,000 brothers and sisters had been ut into concentration camps, where they
had spent 8,078 years and six months, an average of four years. A total of
635 had died in prison, 253 had been sentenced to death and 203 of these had
actually been executed. What a record of integrity!
(635 died plus
203 executed equals a total 838 that actually died)
***
w89 1/1 21 "To Jehovah Belongs the Battle" ***
13 An outstanding modern example of bullying by Goliathlike political rulerships
took place in Hitler’s Germany. The mainline religions, both Catholic and
Protestant, compromised woefully in paying homage to Nazism, idolizing the
führer, saluting his swastika flag, and blessing his troops as they sallied
forth to slaughter their fellow believers in neighboring nations. So-called
Christians of all faiths—but not Jehovah’s Witnesses—were caught up in the
patriotic fervor. The book Mothers in the Fatherland reported: “[Jehovah’s
Witnesses] were sent to concentration camps, a thousand of them were executed,
and another thousand died between 1933 and 1945. . . . Catholics and Protestants
heard their clergy urge them to cooperate with Hitler. If they resisted, they
did so against orders from both church and state.” How bloodguilty both Church
and State became!—Jeremiah 2:34.
***
w2001 3/15 9 "Courageous Integrity Keepers Triumph Over Nazi Persecution"
The Nazi search for
Jehovah's Witnesses continued. By 1939, six thousand of them had been imprisoned,
and thousand had been sent to concentration camps. What was the situation
by the end of World War II? Some 2000 imprisoned Witnesses had died, over
250 by execution.
(250 executed 1750
died = 2000) |