Consolation, September 12, 1945
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Contents
Jehovah's witnesses Triumph over
- Concentration Camps
Faithful Even unto Death
Death Lost Its Terrors ,
Nazis Craved Denial of Jehovah
*-£ Life at Buchenwald
4 Trees and Bushes for Food
Commission to Preach Remembered
A Concentration Camp Flees
A Theocratic Assembly
Workmen Worthy of Their Hire
Jehovah Directs Their Movements
Triumphant Resolution
Final Triumph Sure
Russian Peoples and Waters
Public Meetings, East and West
Catholic Action
“What Shall We Have?".
Homes Made of Glass
What Work Will Man Do?
Montana, Idaho and Oregon
Politicians Must Eat
Bright Minds in Oregon
Martin Luther
Tctzel vs. Luther
'Diet of Worms and the Bible
Jehovah's witnesses in the Cameroons
Whooping Cranes May Disappear
Published every other Wednesday by WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, INC. 117 Adams St., Brooklyn 1, N* Y., U.S.A.
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In Brief
How the Priests Rob the People
♦ As a former Catholic I wonder what is wrong with the people’s mindM . they cannot see that they are tfeipg robbed by the priests whom they accept as God’s chosen men. Right now the c priests are filling their purses with money obtained for masses which they say are a means of delivering souls from “purgatory”, which, say they, is a place in which untold millions are burning alive in fires of brimstone, and suffering horribly frotn thirst until God feels that they have had enough, when He accepts them to heaven. Prices range from $5 up, according to the notion of the priest, with the time running from 20 to 30 minutes, according to the speed with which the prayers are recited.
The charge for baptism is from $3 up, according to the priest and the locality, but there is no record that John charged anything for baptizing Jesus Christ.
Confirmation brings another charge.
The marriage price is something to write home about. In the parish to which ■ I once belonged, if a couple asked for a low mass (one without music or singing) it would cost but $8. If the couple asked for a high mass, the priest got $10 or more. In other churches the prices range as high as $150. In my own case my husband paid $25, and for this I was allowed to walk on a strip of carpet and to have the use of four better chairs than if he had paid the priest but $10. At that time, 44 years ago, our men 'were getting but $10.50 a week as wages, and that always rankled in my mind. What pretense in the name of Almighty God! What blasphemy! What hypocrisy! When will the people awake?—S.N.
(The balance of the long letter con- ' tains details of robberies and indecencies of priests in New England whose names and addresses are given, and which would be a disgrace to even summarize.)
CONSOLATION
“And in His name shall the nations hope.”—Matthew 12:21, A.jS'.T.
Volume XXVI Brooklyn, N, Y», Wednesday, September 12r 1945
Number 678
Jehovah’s witnesses Triumph over Concentration Camps
A gripping account of God's people In Germany withstanding a twentieth-century revival of the Inquisition; their refusal to re* nounoe faith, their perseverance In preaching, and their deliverance.
WHEN the wrath of a war-mad world was flaming at white heat against Nasri Germany the Boman Catholic Hierarchy in the United States seized upon that moment to brand Jehovah’s witnesses as Nazis, Nazi sympathizers, fifthcolumnists. These epithets were flung at God’s Christian witnesses as thick and fast as the cries of “Reds!” and "Communists!” were hurled at them a few years previous. The change in the rabble-rousing Hierarchy’s name-calling tactics came when much of the odium attaching to Communism was shifted by an unstable public to Nazism.
But was this new cry any truer than the false charge of their being Communists? Was it, for instance, the president of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Jehovah’s witnesses who blessed as a glorious crusade that Fascist Mussolini’s rape of Ethiopia? or was it the pope of Rome ? Was it one of Jehovah’s witnesses who whitewashed that Butcher Franco by calling him a “fine Christian gentleman” -when he and his Nazi and Fascist buddies slaughtered Spanish democracy? or was it the pope of Rome? Was it a representative of Jehovah’s witnesses who unfurled the Nazi swastika over their meeting-place for worship in welcome of that madman Hitler’s invasion of Austria? or wms it flown from the Catholic cathedral of the pope’s Cardinal Innitzer? Was it not the Catholic priest “Father” Tiso (now held by the Allies as a war criminal) that Hitler made ruler over conquered Slovakia, and not one of Jehovah’s witnesses? Was it not the Hierarchy priests that followed Hitler’s legions into Poland and on into atheistic Russia writh their mobile truck-churches, in a boasted modern crusade? Furthermore, was it not the Vatican that espoused the cause of that sneaking Axis partner Japan as against invaded China’s cause? and established diplomatic relations with Nip-,pon after the Pearl Harbor attack? and recognized the Japanese-sponsored government of the Philippines instead of the claims of the United States?
Within the borders of Germany itself, was it not the Catholic bishops of Fulda who pledged loyalty to Hitler and expressed gratitude and indebtedness to the then-victorious German troops? Was not Hitler a Catholic? a concordat partner of the pope? and was he ever excommunicated, in accord with numerous requests from honest and liberal Catholic groups of Jaymen? Who, then, wmre the Nazi collaborationists, sympathizers, and fifth-columnists? Anyone who knows anything about wfliat has gone on in this battered old world for the past dozen years need not be told that it was the Roman Catholic Hierarchy and her dupes.
SEPTEMBER 12, 1945
Uncompromising Witnesses of Jehovah
But how did Jehovah’s witnesses stand in Germany and the one-time occupied countries? Did they heil Hitler, or collaborate, or even so much as compromise? Does the following report from a Nazi concentration camp sound like it ?—
/There was a flogging of five prisoners in the concentration camp of Sachsenburg, where a Bible student [Jehovah’s witness] was particularly brutally ill-treated by the camp commander in person. After the Bible student ■ had received eighteen strokes he moaned from the pain. The head of the commander was crimson red and he roared loudly: “You d---- schwein, cry to your Jehovah, that he
help you! Why doesn’t he help you? Call to him, that he crush us; then you can trample on us!” Then they flogged the Bible strident until he became unconscious. Nevertheless, seven more strokes rained down on him. They unbuckled him from the torture stake, and he fell down like a sack. He was lifeless on the floor.
That atrocity occurred in 1935, two years after papal nuncio Pacelli, now Pope Pius XII, helped maneuver Hitler into power and negotiated the concordat between Catholic Church and Nazi dictator. Before the fall of the Vatican-Nazi forces such scenes were multiplied many hundredfold. Through the follow-* ing report peer into one of the bestial concentration camps for women, where once more the center of .Nazi attention is one of Jehovah’s witnesses:
The woman overseer guarded the prisoners with trained bloodhounds. Several sisters refused, for conscientious reasons, to do war work. One day 85 sisters were beaten by order of the commander of the camp. While they were standing in line awaiting the blows, one sister encouraged the others to be brave. The commander (with an Eglon-like belly) noticed this and cried out: “Come over here; the Dutch woman!” She was infamously beaten in front of the others. She went back to her place, her head high. This courageous attitude enraged the “Eglon” commander. The sister was made to go into the bunker. After all the others had received their share of the brutalities she received 25 more blows, and was then shutmp again in the bunker. She lay down. It was freezing outside. The bed was attached against the wall. With her limbs covered with blood and her back bleeding, she was obliged to lie on the cement floor. She got colder and colder and her flesh became hard and burning. She prayed to God to help her. A few minutes later the door opened and she was taken into another bunker with a sister. This sister tried in vain to warm her sick companion. Finally, she lay down on the floor, and the sister who had been beaten nearly to death lay on top of her. They stayed all night in this-position. In this way a long-drawn-out death was kept off. Our Master has said: “This is my commandment, That ye love one an- ' other, as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) Himmler, who was personally present, said to the sister later, “I will make a sprightly German girl of you yet.” But the Galilean has triumphed: this sister was released and immediately re-entered the pioneer [full-time witnessing] service.
A new note rises to the surface in this report, a note of triumph for the cause of Christ Jesus, a note of vindication for the name of Jehovah God. Let us tune in this triumphant note as the dominating tone for this article, and tune out the discordant croakings of religious slanderers. The latter should not concern us overmuch when there are Godgiven victories to rehearse. As King David sang, “FiAt not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.” (Psalm 37:1, 2,10) Furthermore, the overwhelming weight of facts quashes their charges as part of a smear campaign and convicts them as the real Nazi collaborationists and totalitarianists. So away with lying re- . ligious tongues and their folly and fiction, and let us examine the facts showing triumph for a righteous cause.
The Issue
The full extent of the victory gained is seen only after understanding the issue at stake. Satan the Devil, the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), challenged Jehovah God that He could not put men on earth who would remain true to Him under severe test. Job’s case illustrates it. (Job 1:8-12; 2:1-6) Out to sustain his challenge, Satan has ever opposed those trying to maintain integrity toward God. Strangely, religion has been his chief weapon. Religionists persecuted and killed the prophets; religionists heaped reproach upon Jesus and engineered His death on the tree at Calvary; Roman Catholic religionists conducted the bloody Inquisition and murdered millions in their attempt to stamp out Christianity. Came the twentieth century, and Catholic Hitler. Publicly he came out in. defense*of Catholicism and against Jehovah’s witnesses, proclaiming the latter , group “dissolved”. To enforce the decree he called into play the concentration camps, and the battle between Satan and Godly integrity was on. Did integrity crack under the modern Inquisition?
, Faithful Even unto Death .
Just read the following lines written by two of Jehovah’s witnesses while imprisoned in concentration camps, and see if you cannot hear the triumphant tones of victory and vindication through integrity maintained even unto death ringing out strong and clear: Dearest Parents, dearest Karie, ■ _
“0 give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever.” Yes,’ my beloved ones, do this in spite of the grief; do it for me, for now all the burden lies behind me. Indeed, when this letter reaches you our Lord and Master will have taken me into His glory.
'And now I will briefly tell you about the last few days. After the first brief shock [sentence to death by beheading], which can well -be understood, our heavenly Father in an' swer to my prayers and my trust in Him, took me more firmly in hand. His peace has not
SEPTEMBER 12, 1845 left me since. My beloved ones, can there be anything more sublime than to be able to give our all for our 'Almighty Creator, Jehovah God, and our Redeemer, Christ Jesus? than to die for love and faithfulness?
It is already past midnight. I still have time to change my mind. Ah! could I be happy again in this world after I had denied our Lord? Surely not! But now you have the assurance that I leave this world in happiness and peace. My dearest parents! Oh, what have you not done in all your care for me! What more can I say? Only thanks and more thanks, and remind you of the greatness of bur Redeemer and our heavenly Father. Trust implicitly! So you too will see His glory in its fullness and never be sad. We shall see each other again for ever quite soon. Ah, but what are words? But even in this our faithful Mediator will let ,you know -what I want to say.
And now, my dearest ones, there is no turning back. There are still two hours left, but the die is cast! All the hardness and the pain has been overcome. But all through Him who made me strong, Jesus Christ. God bless you. Be strong, for I am not lost, but I can say with Paul: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for pie a crown of righteousness.” Therefore, onward, press on, to the honor of Jehovah and Jesus Christ! In parting, 1 Corinthians 1: 3-9; Psalm 126; Revelation 21 :l-7. Once again my heartfelt greetings and kisses,
From your fervent loving
. Bernde
The above letter was from a young man. This second one that follows is from husband to wife: ’
My dear Erna,
It is now my last night. My sentence has been read out to me and I have eaten my last meal. So when this letter reaches you my life will be fulfilled. We know that the sting has been removed from death and victory has been won over the grave. Naturally, this appears utterly foolish and ridiculous to most people; but that is of little importance. The hour will come when the name of the Almighty God will 'be vindicated and mankind will see it. When
' 5 they ask today why he has not done this up till now, then we know it is because His power will thereby be demonstrated more effectively.
So, my dear Ema, I thank you for the part of my life that you have shared with me. In all life’s circumstances you have been my ever, willing companion, and have accompanied me tin affliction to the end. I have now reached the end, and I pray that you may also endure your burden worthily in the future—the reproach which has fallen on me, and which falls immediately upon you. And so I look once more into your serene and glistening eyes, and wipe away .the last sorrow from your heart; and, in spite of the pain, lift up your head and rejoice, not about death, but over the life that God will give those th'at love Him.
Heartfelt greetings in love and true friendship, from ■
-Your loving husband,
K--
Death Lost Its Terrors
Though these two and hundreds of others triumphed over the concentration camps by continuing “faithful unto death” (Revelation 2:10), there were other hundreds who endured all the tor-' tures meted out to them and still survived in integrity toward Jehovah God. The following is quoted from a letter received from one of Jehovah’s witnesses in a concentration camp, which letter was addressed to other witnesses;
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I now take opportunity to send you the heartfelt greetings and love of all the brothers here. There are about 250, including many Holland is h and Polish brothers, who are living here as a family in one mind and one spirit. After many years of total confinement in this especially rigidly guarded eamp, the first opportunity has been afforded us, through the grace of the Lord and your kind provision, to come once again into contact with the costly things out of the bouse of the Lord, and to refresh ourselves with the wonderful food from His Word. You would be astonished if you could see with what calm assurance we sit here to this richly prepared table (Psalm 23: 4, 5), and what excellent refreshment the studies of Daniel 11 mean to us [articles in the Watchtower magazine, smuggled in]. Have we not observed for a considerable time the rise of the “king of the north”, and the role he and his hostile. disagreements with the “king of the south” play in the purposes of Jehovah?
Oh, dear brothers and sisters 1 after hard and grievous struggles, living constantly on the brink of death—which has for us long since lost its terrors—we feel the urge from the depths of our hearts to warmly encourage you, yea, to earnestly beseech you: be steadfast and persevering, immovable and fearless toward the “beast and his image”, and let not one inch of that be taken from you which, ■ with the help of the Lord, you have already struggled to achieve I We desire, dear brethren, with the aid of the enclosed song, to give you a description of the. spirit and triumphant confidence in the final victory which fills and animates us all here.
There is no whipped or beaten note or evidence of any broken spirit or ‘weariness in well-doing’ detectable in that letter; only calmness, rejoicing, quiet determination, fearlessness, and “triumphant confidence in the final victory”. At hand are the words and music of a song composed by one of Jehovah’s witnesses while in a concentration camp, whether or not the one referred to in the above letter. However, confidence and triumph and unbreakable integrity seem to almost shout from every note of the music and every phrase of the lyric. Its title is “Jehovah’s witnesses”. It tells of a people of God standing fast, fighting in the strength of the Lord, wielding the sword of truth, (God’s Word), enduring hunger and stripes and drudgery, and proclaiming that "many have died in integrity”. The words of the refrain match the serene power of the melody:
Jehovah’s witnesses, undaunted in strife. Fiery is the battle, wild raves the fight.
Are the bonds painful, the fetters sore?
Yet powerful the arm that upholds you!
Jehovah’s witnesses, in enemies’ land
And far from the homeland from loved ones banned,
consolation
Lift up your eyes to Him whose hand
Is stretched forth now to defend you.
Thereafter the one who composed the words and music of this Kingdom song joined the ‘many who had died in integrity’. He was sentenced to death and beheaded.
Nazis Craved Denial of Jehovah
That this issue of integrity is not a mere fantasy built up in the minds of Jehovah’s witnesses, but is the very center. around which the stormy events and persecution swirled, is shown by the following letter received by the Watchtower Society from a United States army sergeant, on April 25,1945:
When we entered the town of Wewelsburg it was part of my job as C.I.C. agent to visit that concentration camp in that town. They had about 50 Bible students in there. Two of us spent the whole afternoon there and really enjoyed talking to those intelligent people. I personally am Jewish and don’t know much about this particular religion. I must say, though, that these people really suffered for their belief. They have asked me to write you ’ a letter and let the whole world through you know that they are all O.K. I’m enclosing you the letter the Gestapo made them sign; and if they didn’t they either killed them or threw them into a concentration eamp. These people preferred the concentration camp and spent there 8 to 10 years. They told us some horrible stories of how they and Jews alike suffered and died for their religious belief. It’s about time that the whole world knows and realizes that everybody has the same rights and that that’s what we are fighting for. Let’s hope that it won’t be in vain.
The following is the enclosure mentioned:
Declaration
I recognized that the International Society of Bible Students spreads out a doctrine of error, pursuing aims dangerous for the state, hidden behind religious actions.
I therefore turned off totally from this organization and freed myself completely from their doctrine.
SEPTEMBER 12, 1945
I assure by this never again to be active for the International Bible Students Society.
I promise to deliver immediately every person communicating this doctrine of error in my presence or showing a tendency as a Bible student in some other way. I shall bring all Scriptures of the Bible students handed over to me to the nearest office of police.
In future times I shall respect all the laws of the state to be completely a member of the community of the people.
I, too, have been taught to expect my repeated arrest, in case of violating my declaration given today. .
It remains impossible for me to subscribe the above declaration, being as before a fanatical Bible student. I shall never break my oath given to Jehovah God. I refuse military service decidedly.
Concentration Camp Niederhagen Wewelsburg, ................ 19...........
At the bottom of this particular copy of the ■ declaration sent by the army sergeant to the Society the witnesses from that concentration eamp had written, in the hand of one of their group, the following : “Bible students company of Wewelsburg are very well under Jehovah’s protection.”
All of the reports concerning Jehovah’s witnesses now filtering out of Germany mention this declaration, and stress the importance the SS guards put upon getting the signatures of God’s people to it. Above all else they wanted a renouncement of faith in Jehovah God. It harks back to the Hierarchy’s Inquisition of the Middle Ages, and even beyond that to the ease of ancient Job and the issue involved away back there, namely, integrity toward God despite Satanic affliction. Satan through his Nazified religious dupes was bent on cracking the witnesses’ integrity; the witnesses, determined to keep it unbroken. To sign the pledge to recant would have meant freedom from concentration camp tortures for the witnesses and a
* 7
victory for Satan over God in the vital point at issue; to refrain from signing and to stand fast in integrity meant indescribable cruelties and sufferings and oftentimes death for the witnesses, but a vindication for Jehovah and His side , of the issue. This latter course would bring to the faithful creature eternal * life in Jehovah God’s new world of right
eousness. Hence it is clearly seen that whether in life or death Jehovah’s integrity-keeping witnesses would triumph over concentration camps and religion and Satan.
One out of the original twelve apostles turned traitor, but that was a large percentage in comparison with the proportion wTho signed Hitler’s renunciation sheet. This is shown by the following, quoted from The Reporter, issue of July 1, 1945 (published in Washington, D.C.):
The Bulletin [of the Central Board for CO’s in London] also recalled the statements of Dr. Emil Maurer, district chairman of the Socialist Party in prewar Vienna, himself a German internee. At the time Dr. Maurer was in the Buchenwald concentration camp, in September, 1938, he said the camp population was about 6,000, of whom 1,200 were religious pacifists, largely members of the Bible Students, the German counterpart of the Jehovah’s witnesses.
Dr. Maurer declared that these men were repeatedly offered release from the camp if they would drop their objections to joining the Wehrmacht, but of 800 men to whom the offer was made, only three accepted [other reports from Buchenwald indicate that these were not active witnesses of Jehovah, but ■pretenders].
Life at Buchenwald
As the Allied armies pushed into Ger' many, the oppressive and bloody hand of the Nazi SS guards was lifted from the ones imprisoned in concentration camps. A party of journalists from neutral countries recently (April, 1945) returned from a visit to Bucheriwald. Among their stories, obtained during their two days of talking with the Buchenwald internees, some of the most terrible concerned the persecution of Jehovah’s witnesses. "The Swedish journalist and B.B.C. broadcaster, Mr. Bjorn Hallstrbm (London editor of the Sven-ska Morgonbladet), brought back from Buchenwald a historic document recording soiner of the treatment suffered by these people. This document has been the basis of several broadcasts over the British and American European services. Parts of it follow:
Jehovah’s witnesses in Buchenwald Concentration Camp
After National Socialism came to power, one provincial government after another banned the I.B.S.A. (Jehovah’s witnesses). From the 28th June, 1933, on which day the ban in Prussia was declared, their gospelpreaching activities and meetings were subjected to pressure. Bible students have in spite of this ban proclaimed the kingdom of God as the only hope of the world. The greatest wave of arrests began in the spring of 1936, after the ones in charge of the work in Magdeburg had already been arrested in the autumn of 1934. The reasons given for the arrests were refusal to salute the flag and to give the Nazi salute; nonappearanee at the election voting centers, at factory and business roll calls and at meetings of every kind; refusal to become members of any organization of the N.S.D.A.P. (National Socialist German Workers Party); and, furthermore, refusal to fulfill duties in the Labour Korps and army.
Inhuman and disgraceful treatment has been the lot of these people until this hour. This group was burdened with the hardest tasks. In the beginning they were obliged under the strictest supervision to pull up fully loaded wagons from the stone quarry at the double. In August, 1937, the Punishment Company was formed, and was only disbanded in 1944. All Bible Students, with the exception of a few specially qualified men, were enrolled. The most brutal camp guards swung their cudgels and the Punishment Company was the elite of the Buchenwald concentration camp in the carrying of heavy burdens ‘ and in work output. In the first years the
Punishment Company consisted only of Bible students, except for a few homosexuals and other unclean elements. Without any real reason all newcomers of the Bible students wore put in the Punishment Company and remained there for three to nine months.
On the 6th of January, 1938, tfae opportunity offered itself for the Bible students of the Buchenwald concentration camp to purchase their freedom by signing that they would recognize the Nazi state and renounce their belief in the establishment of the kingdom of God. With the exception of but a few who by mistake were given the violet badge (one given to all Bible students) this offer of the eamp fuehrer was rejected. Now, because of that, mistreatment and pressure were increased in order to curb this people. Daily a few were called to the gate and were ill-treated with every possible and impossible object to force them to sign and thereby cause them to be unfaithful toward their God.
Trees and Bushes for Food '
From the beginning of March till December, 1938, they were not allowed to send or receive letters or make any purchases [such as food].-After this they were allowed to write one letter of 25 words to their relatives monthly. Like shadows these creatures with the violet patches moved through the camp. Colossal hunger raged in the bowels of these people, so that the green from trees and bushes was eaten with dry bread.
Whitsuntide, 1939, the entire group of Bible students had to appear on the parade ground. After a speech by “Jonni” (Unter-stuf. Hackmann), began a shocking drill in two parts. There was rolling, hopping, creeping and running, because, as the worthy representative of National Socialism declared, This association has gone to seed.’ This procedure lasted for an hour and fifteen minutes, during which the block fuehrers lent aid with the heels of their boots and sticks.
In particular the veterans of the last war with amputated legs who were not able to bend their knees were severely struck on the head. Covered with perspiration, the whole group had to stand at the gate for one hour, because, according to the opinion of “Jonni”,
SEPTEMBER 12, 1945 it worked so well. There was no midday meal, but instead the camp band hail to play some music.
After,the war broke out in September, 1939, all Bible students were brought to the gate on the 6th of the month. Roedl, the chief camp fuehrer, declared; “You know war has broken out. The German nation is in danger. New laws are coming into force. If you now refuse to fight against France or England you will have to die.” Two companies of fully equipped guards stood at the gate. There was not a single one who, on the demand of the camp fuehrer, declared himself willing to fight for the greatness and honor of Germany and its beloved fuehrer. After a moment’s silence, suddenly the order was given; “Hands up! empty your pockets!” Then these ‘makers of a happier world’ fell upon this small band of p^ple and took from them their last penny. Most likely they were short a few hundred marks for a comrades social! .
At an inspection of the interior-commands by the camp fuehrer all of the Bible students were separated and sent to the stone quarry, although they were 90 percent disabled. Only men possessed by demons could make such devilish decisions. During this time all medical treatment for Bible students was stopped. Only faith in a just, divine vengeance kept and supported these people. It was also remarkable that during the dysentery epidemic at the beginning of the war only two Bible students out of 450 died. Strict rules of life and living in harmony with divine laws are the foundation of their inflexible steadfastness.
In March,, 1940, the Bible students had to stand at the gate every evening for eight days because the camp elder had reported that they had been talking to Jewish prisoners, in spite of the orders of the camp office, and had not avoided the forbidden paths between the Jewish blocks. .
On the 15th of January, 1942, all the Bible students were again called to the gate because they had refused unanimously to take part in the woolens contribution for German troops fighting on the Eastern front, in spite of the so-called “good advice” of a few of the camp inmates, who thought that for tactical reasons
they must have a share in it. The judgment of the eamp-informer was as follows: '‘You criminals of the state,' you dogs of heaven, you do not think it necessary to support the fight-irfg front. Today you will work in the open [in 38 degrees of frost] until nightfall." Their „ entire underwear was taken off. It is not ^possible to describe what then happened, because willing elements like kapos and controllers were only too ready to take the last pullover from the Bible students. (This action was introduced only after the camp-elder had made his report to the camp fuehrer.) When the groups returned in the evening all leather shoes had to be handed over and they were given logs in exchange.
On February 15, after the noon roll call, the whole group was again called to the gate, where the camp-informer read a regular bill of indictment. Twenty Bible students w&re accused of rebellion because of ignoring camp regulations, bribing the block-elder with a slice of bread and white cheese, leaving the block during darkness, and turning off the radio during speeches of the Nazi government. With the loose snow eight inches deep, the ‘winter sport’ began, and ended only after all were steaming and totally exhausted.
Strict Neutrality
During that time the Gustloff works [armament industry] were opened. Then began a terrible proceeding for the Bible students, who refused to support the fight of the Axis powers by producing weapons in any form. Because a few, for fear of being beaten or killed, did such work under the pressure of willing instruments of the Dev^l, they were immediately excluded from the community of this neutral people.
When in the beginning of the year 1943 everywhere in Germany a renewed activity of the Bible students started, thousands were brought before the Peoples Court in Essen, Berlin and Munich. This affected the Bible students in the various camps in such a manner that their communal block [up to this time the Bible students had been kept strictly isolated from the other prisoners] was dis' solved in the middle of November, 1943, and they were assigned to different blocks.
It is worthy of mention that among about 200 of Jehovah’s witnesses who lived to see the liberation of Buchenwald camp there were people of from barely 17 to 70 years of age. One of the two youngest after he had been made a member of [a Nazi military body] was brought to camp in full battledress. The last batch came from Silesia. Among the seven batches of newcomers who had refused to respond to the call for the Volksturm (people’s army) was a youngster of barely 174 years. Their motto was: "Rather die than serve a system which the Word of God names ‘the abomination of desolation’."
From the beginning to the end the position of the Bible students in the Buchenwald concentration camp was a unique anti-Fascist demonstration.
Tying in with the above and tending to round out the picture of concentration camp life as experienced by Jehovah’s witnesses is the following report from one who was not one of Jehovah’s witnesses, but who spent eight months at Buchenwald and Dachau:
In Dachau there were at- that time only about 60 or more of Jehovah’s witnesses. They occupied special barracks and were strictly isolated from all other prisoners. No one was allowed to approach their barrack or to talk to them, and anyone who violated this regulation was punished by 25 lashes and solitary confinement. When Jehovah’s witnesses were marching out to their place of work the street leading to the exit was in advance cleared of all other prisoners. By all these precautionary measures the camp administration manifestly tried to prevent the witness to God’s kingdom. Jehovah’s witnesses had to work seven days a week; all other prisoners, with the exception of another isolated group, the “blacks", only six days.
They are harassed not only by their guards, but just as much by their fellow prisoners. They are cruelly mocked by guards and bitterly scoffed by unbelieving fellow sufferers, all accomplished by shocking blasphemies. But neither brutalities nor derision can in the least change either their unswerving steadfastness or their serenity. The other prisoners
are usually depressed, gloomy, melancholy, and many commit suicide; whereas Jehovah’s witnesses are apparently left mentally un, disturbed. They did not shrink from lashing, long solitary confinement, torture, or even from death.
Commission to Preach Remembered
God’s people in Germany and the occupied countries did not choose the easy way out. They did not collaborate nor even compromise. They made absolutely no contribution to Hitler’s war machine. Patiently they endured all the horrors the concentration camp poured upon them. Their integrity was unbreakable. But Jehovah’s witnesses do more than suffer for Christ’s name’s sake; they preach ‘This gospel of the kingdom”! Their triumph over loathsome religion’s inquisitional torture holes burst far beyond 'any stoical endurance of tribulation; it flashed out brilliantly into the glorious field of Kingdom proclamation! The concentration camps failed dismally not only in the attempt to crack integrity by making the witnesses sign a renouncement of faith, but also in the effort to still lips consecrated to sing the praises of God and His kingdom! Miscellaneous reports mention witness work done in the camps, and one concerning Buchenwald informs that Watchtower magazines were even produced within the camp. Occasionally word comes of SS guards turning from Nazism and'consecrating to Jehovah God, and thereafter suffering with their former victims, Jehovah’s witnesses. Most striking to date, however, is the almost unbelievable report that comes from refugees from Germany, now in Sweden. From this thrilling report, dated June 9, 1945, the following is quoted:
According to the consensus of evidence from fellow internees, Jehovah’s witnesses had to undergo the worst treatment in the camps. One of these witnesses, a man from Flanders, writes ■ “Only an unswerving desire to live, hope and trust in Him, Jehovah, who is all-powerful, and love of The Theocracy, made it possible to endure all this and win the victory.—Romans 8:37.”
In the concentration camp at Neuengamme, near Hamburg, a great and well-planned offensive was commenced, in the greatest secrecy, in the beginning of 1943. This took the form of fully organized activity for the giving of the witness among the various inhabitants of the camp. Some of the brethren produced literature, and testimony cards were written in the different languages spoken in the eamp, while special “shock troops” were formed for the purpose of bearing the testimony to all the internees in a methodical manner. In this way these were made acquainted with the message, back-calls were made on those who showed interest, book studies were commenced, and even regular lectures were arranged with the aid of an interpreter for Russians and Poles.
This powerful and organized testimony naturally aroused the enemy’s wrath, but countermeasures were of no avail. However, towards the end of the year an order came from Berlin that Jehovah’s witnesses were to be distributed among all the barracks, and that they were not to be permitted to be in the same barracks together. But instead of ’ this being a hindrance to the work, possibilities for coming into contact with the other prisoners increased. In this way each block was thoroughly worked, and those of goodwill who were met received regular instruction. Special Testimony Periods were arranged, with the result that time in the service for The Theocracy and testimonies given were increased. Some of the interested themselves began to take part in witnessing,
At times these took their stand under dramatic circumstances. One morning, for example, at the morning parade all Jehovah’s witnesses were ordered to taloe a few paces forward for special examination. It happened that a boy of nineteen years, who had quite recently heard the message, stepped forward from the division to which he belonged and took his place among Jehovah’s witnesses. He was taken to the commandant of the camp, who threatened him with 25 strokes. The boy answered: “I have today taken my stand for Jehovah, and that holds good, not only despite 25 strokes, but even if you take my life.” The commandant then shouted, ‘Tiring an iron bar I In ten minutes’ time he won’t be a Jehovah’s witness any longer I” The young brother endured even this treatment, however, and was later one of the most energetic publishers.
SEPTEMBER 12, 1045
\ In this camp a regular camp newspaperen-iitled iVeu-'s Ab out God's Kingdom was published by Jehovah’s witnesses. Among other things .this contained information of the ■ progress of the work in Holland, Belgium, France; Switzerland, England, etc. Information regarding the St. Louis convention and of Brother Rutherford’s death, and who -had been chosen as his successor as president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, was also given in this newspaper. Some copies of The Watchtower had been received from time to time, as well as a service letter.
When special persecution was experienced by the witnesses an increased testimony and further conquests for The Theocracy resulted. In one camp the authorities tried to force the witnesses to do work for the military powers, but without success.-One of their number was therefore taken away to be shot. When others in the camp saw’ his courage, and saw' with what joy he waved to his friends, it made such a deep impression that as a result ten fellow prisoners took their stand for . Jehovah. .In • that camp at least one hundred died ea‘ch day of hunger, but not one of Jehovah’s witnesses died for this reason. A sister fell sick and was thrown onto a bunk where two dead and two dying were lying. But Jehovah led her to health again. In that same camp there were together 300 who accepted the truth, among them 227 Russian youths!
From another camp it is reported that it - was an offense punishable by death by hanging to have a Bible in one’s possession. A fe-... male superintendent, who clearly show'ed her hatred of the message of God’s kingdom, found a Bible in the possession of a sister, who was the only witness in that camp. The sister was, how’ever, permitted to live, but all her possessions were burnt—except the Bible. She had that returned to her on her own request!
"Free! Free!”
The year 1945 saw' an end of the horrors of the Nazi concentration camp inflicted upon Jehovah’s witnesses. With undeniable power the Allied forces closed on Hitler’s Third Reich like two huge iron jaws, and reminds the student of God’s Word of the prophecy foretelling the swallowing up of the totalitarian flood by the democratic powers of earth. (Revelation 12: 15-17) This action by the Allied forces caused the collapse of the devilish concentration camps, and along with thousands of others Jehovah’s witnesses held there look forward to complete release. Typical of many cases is that disclosed in the following letter.- It is from a father to his son. The son was 11 years old when the father was incarcerated; he is now 19. During the 8.years elapsed the son lived in Switzerland and served the Lord faithfully as one of Jehovah’s witnesses, devoting his full time to the work. Won’t the reunion of father and son be a joyful one! The main portions of the letter follow (dated April 25, 1945):
Weimar-Buchenwald No. 730, Block II My dear boy,
The peace of God through Ohrist JesUs be with you. My dear Willy, eight years have already passed since we could either see or write to each other. I hope that through God’s guidance these few lines will reach you. As you have already learned through the papers or over the radio, we were freed from this Nazi-terror crowd on the 11th of this month by the Allied troops. As the Allied troops reached the camp several of us ran to help as they cut with insulated pliers the electricity-conducting wires surrounding the camp. Here and there a white flag torn from a sheet or a shirt fluttered high in the wind, flags of the Soviet Union were hoisted, shouts of joy resounded, and in between one could hear the rattle of rifles, machine-gun fire, and here and there the boom of a tank cannon.
All this took place within a few minutes. As I regained my senses somewhat the tears welled up and flowed unrestrainedly over my
, cheeks. I just couldn’t help it. I was not alonp, but many others just wept with me, too. Free! Free ! What a wonderful word after all these years! I can tell you now, these years, they were hard! What I have endured of hunger, stripes, and ruthless treatment in six years’ camp and two years’ prison! Indeed, it was sometimes unendurable. The first years particularly were hunger years. The physical pressure that was burdened upon one broke the spirit, and I must ask myself, when I look baeTt on all this, how one could endure it all. Well, it is past now. This did not happen to me alone, but thousands and thousands had to bear this lot under the heel of Nazi rule. How many companions have been wrenched from ’ us in all these years by death, yes, by violent death! So many did not see the flush of the morn of freedom again. Well, it is past now. If I wanted to write in detail all these things I wouldn’t get finished this evening. This pen itself would resist writing of all the misery, suffering and torture that we have had to suffer and endure in this camp. '
We are no more prisoners, but are free and can receive visitors, but may not yet leave the eamp, I’m sorry to say. We shall get cards of identity, but it is uncertain when we shall leave here. *
Dear Willy, how are you, my dear boy? Are you in good health still ? I hope so. I am now all right, only I’ve heard nothing of mother, what she is doing and how she is. I hope that she is well, and is still safe at home.
1 When did you have the last news of your mother? The last I had was on the 25th of February, but nothing since then. Please be so good as to try all ways and means to get into touch with her. Ask perhaps the Occupation authorities, or the police in Karlsruhe. Perhaps it is possible with prepaid telegram or with registered letter, perhaps even over France. See what can be done, and give me as soon as possible news of yourself and of your mother.
I will close for this time, and just give you a poem written by a comrade, born out of this time of suffering. So now good-bye, my boy; the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ continue to protect and guide you in all your
t vyays. My warm love to you and your dear mother.
SEPTEMBER 12, 1046
Your father, '
Josef Seitz
Heartfelt greetings to all the brethren—• till we meet again.
A Concentration Camp Flees
At hand is a very graphic account of the breakup of the* concentration, camp Sachsenhausen, written by Jehovah’s witnesses incarcerated there at the time. All of the following is drawn* from this firsthand report, and partial quotations will be made therefrom. -
The events covered occurred from April 21 to May 5 (1945). As the Russian armies plunged on into Germany itself, fear gripped the camp officials. ' Preparations were made for evacuation, and flight toward the American lines. Previously and in anticipation of this day Jehovah’s witnesses had determined that they would try to remain in one group when the exodus began. They set a meeting place and made the necessary plans. It was well that they did, because chaos reigned the night before the departure. In this camp of from 25,000 to 30,000 prisoners nearly everyone that night turned robber The camp leaders had robbed the Jews, rioting prisoners robbed the camp leaders, and they in turn were robbed by others. Robbers became the robbed, and the cycle of thievery sped along. On this night 12,000 Red Cross packages were stolen. Demonized block leaders tried to keep the prisoners in order, and many that night were whipped to death and others shot.
. A Theocratic Assembly
What were God’s people doing during all this ? They were safe in the seclusion of the tailor shop. Listen to their report:
The Lord’s people were all together, waiting for further instructions from the officials. In the meantime, we tried to firing sick brethren from other sections to the tailor shop. We did not leave a thing there. We planned on taking everything along with us. Some had
Watchtowers, others had Bibles and other literature. Then we had our first Kingdom assembly, something we had not had for many years! The quietness and peace of oUr meeting was only interrupted by the shooting of those prisoners who were caught plundering. Otherwise, our assembly was very blessed and '•strengthened all of us in view of our coming Delivery. During the preceding years we had often talked of this day.
Next morning the exodus started. In group-columns of 600 they marched out,
Scale 1:1,000,000
Enjlish Milts - Kilometers ,
I JO 10 • Iff 40 O f FD ICl JO *□ |Q
Route followed by Jehovah’s witnesses as they
marched to
from Sachsen hausen concentration camp the American lines near Schwerin
the midst of the witnesses'
column be-
first the ■ Czechs, then the Poles, followed next different nationalities, and lastly went the G e r-mans. United, Jehovah’s witnesses were the last to leave. Though they numbered only 230, no others were allowed to join their group. Why? Because they might be witnessed to? No, that did not govern decisions in this time of flight. The officials had a wagonload of goods they had stolen, and they put this booty in cause the witnesses w’ere the only ones they trusted. They knew the witnesses were not thieves; they knew7 God’s people would he guided by God’s law forbidding stealing, even in their dealings with their persecutors I At this dramatic point listen again to the report:
Then the signal came: “All Jehovah’s witnesses, ready to goSo we packed everything together. We put a sick sister on u wagon and slowly we marched each column in groups of five out through the door. For the first time we walked, through the door we entered from five to nine years ago, the place which we never believed we would leave alive. So the Devil and his henchmen thought and so reminded us frequently. But the Lord had a different thought on the matter. Sachsenhausen was now behind us. The joy that entered our hearts can never be expressed ih words.
was and
was this
Our isolation in the past caused no difficulty, because no one wished to join the Bible students, because they were ill-treated; but . now everything was changed, because they saw the Lord was with us. We had much difficulty in hindering those foreign elements’ joining us. Our column walked on the endless road flanked on the right and left by armed SS men. The air was icy and cold and there was rain and hail, real April weather. As inconvenient as it was, it had a wholesome effect. Tiredness was gone, the body fresh and alert the hard road more agreeable way than in warm weather. During the first night and the following day we walked 51 kilometers without anything to eat, except a small portion that was left over.
in Jehovah’s Strength
One hour out from Sachsenhausen they could see and hear the great explosions of the Russian bombardment of that place and Oranienburg. The Russians were hard on their heels. The Nazi guards became much excited, and anyone that lagged or dropped exhausted was shot. Dawning light disclosed a road littered with dead bodies. In a short distance 300 dead were counted. Before the flight ended at the American lines thousands w^re strewn along the line of march. In corroboration of this part of the witnesses’ report, the following news item from the New York Times of July 30, 1945, is of special interest:
Largo Caballero, Once Head of Spain’s Republic, Killed by SS
Madrid, July 29—Francisco Largo Caballero, stormy Spanish politician and one-time premier of the Republic, was shot to death by German SS guards while he and other prisoners were abandoning Sachsenhausen concentration camp, according to advices received here. The information, from a former fellow prisoner with Senor Largo Caballero, said the 72-year-pld Spanish leader had been shot when he fell from exhaustion by the roadside while camp was being evacuated. The date of his reported death is not available. Senor Largo Caballero headed the activities of the Union General de Trabajadores during; the Republic, when he was successively minister of labor and premier.
But the report of the witnesses exults:
From our troop of about 230 brothers and sisters none, not even the weakest, was lying on the road; in spite of the fact that we had some brothers from 65 to 72 years of age. They were all standing faithfully. You could again see the Theocratic spirit and arrangement and how the Lord’s angel protected us. How ‘ wonderfully on this day the promises were fulfilled by Jehovah from Isaiah 40:29-31!—“He giveth power to the. faint; and to them that have no might he increaSeth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.”
For the first two days and nights there was much marching but little eating and resting. Many were so weak they saw black. But a rest was scheduled when the straggling columns reached the heavily bombarded city of Neu Ruppin. No quarters could be found for the thousands of prisoners, and much turmoil and confusion developed. But Jehovah God was with His witnesses yet. One witness had lived near this city when he was arrested nine years before. He knew of some consecrated women who were still in possession of a house and barn. To that home trudged the witnesses and—but let the report tell it:
Here we had an experience that cannot be described. Surely those dear friends did not hope to ever see that brother again. Now he was again before them after nine years. With tears in their eyes, they cried, <(Oh Lord, our God, he is alive!” The joyful emotion was simply heart-rending. When they were told that we were over 200 Jehovah’s witnesses to stay there overnight, they said they were willing to put 100 in their barn and that the rest would be in some neighboring bams. At first .it was quite difficult, but after the people heard that we were all in the column of Jehovah’s witnesses all fear was gone, and regardless of what the SS could do the Lord gave us a blessing. These events amazed our group leaders. -
In two barns there were over 100 brethren in each. They prepared to rest, happy to have a roof over their heads and to lay down their tired, worn-out bodies. In spite of the exhaustion of the brethren they still gave a witness and opened the hearts of many of the people there, who became more and more friendly. The next morning they prepared some victuals and cooked some stuff for us, and the Lord is sure to reward them according to, His promise in Matthew 25: 31-40. The little town of Bechlin [where the quarters were finally located] had certainly never seen so many of Jehovah’s witnesses singing the praises of Jehovah, and surely this gave a more excellent witness than the brother who was there nine years before.
Workmen Worthy of Their Hire
This account shows that the people were afraid to allow the prisoners to use their barns for stopovers. Why? Because the prisoners generally plundered and stole everything at hand, and the people were afraid to have them around. But the above shows that they trusted Jehovah’s witnesses, and that the witnesses testified of God’s kingdom and greatly com-
forted their hosts. As a result, they were not only housed but also. fed. Even as they marched along the witnesses would . testify to the residents concerning the Kingdom, and in return were showered with much food and provisions. Then they would have to rush to catch up with the moving columns. But even in all their tribulation they never for a moment fort got that they were commissioned to preach. '
On the march from Beehlin to Hagelin (about 28 kilometers) the account graphically describes how some of the other prisoners got their food, saying:
Troops could be seen and troop movements [■of the German forces] showed that we were close to the front. On both sides of the road we saw the dead bodies of prisoners. Then we saw homes destroyed by the aviators, and saw airplanes burning, and saw dead horses, and over the cadaver we 'saw the Russian and Ukrainian prisoners going out of their groups like wild beasts and with knives and fingers tore out pieces of meat from the dead horses, and some ate it cooked and some ate it raw. . Their hands and faces were covered with blood. The same goes for the sacks of potatoes. They tried to rob them, and then the guards would shoot them, and often you could seo the dead bodies over the sacks of potatoes.
What a contrast to the way God’s people were provided for! Just listen to these field-witnessing experiences, and see how Jehovah God caused His be. k>ved ones to find favor in the eyes of the people because their first concern was proclaiming the Kingdom and other needs were confidently left up to Jehovah to provide:
In the little village of Ragelin I came to a house where there were 12 army men, and I gave them a witness concerning the kingdom of God and our experiences in the concentration camp. They all listened very attentively, and then said, “You shouldn’t speak so loud„ because in the next room there are some of the guards called SS.” I said that we would talk all the louder and that they also had to know that we are noy in the time of the fulfillment of the announcement made on October 7,1934, in which we proclaimed that Jehovah is against the Nazi regime.,We did not stop talking then and we will not do any “soft-pedaling” now. The result was that those German army men did everything to help us, and we left with rich provisions for our holy brethren with great rejoicing.
In another ease there were some soldiers and they collected money for us and one of the sergeants gave 20 marks and encouraged us, saying, “Keep your heads up, boys, it is only a short while and you will be delivered.” . From some farmers we received bread and milk, flour, potatoes, and even some buttered bread. In many cases the hearts of the people were so opened up to us after we gave them a testimony concerning the Kingdom: one farmer divided his last bread with us. Everywhere we realized that it was a great fulfillment of Jehovah’s prophecy as foretold at Amos 8:11: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.”
So the account of the flight from east to west unfolded, with many cited instances of how7 the gospel was preached and His witnesses prospered. One time a four-day stop was made in a large beech forest. Water was scarce. Most of the prisoners, still numbering nearly 25,000, rushed madly into the meter-wide brook whose water was not fit for cooking, much less drinking. They were driven back with clubs and rifle shots. In keeping with their custom, the witnesses camped off to themselves. They dug a . little well, and in this way a limited supply of clean water was obtained. It was the marvel of the camp and aroused much jealousy from their neighbors. Then the report reads:
Other brethren built some cottages of foliage, and many of them developed a really fabulous ability and it looked just like the feast of tabernacles of the Jews in Israel. We could not help thinking about the words of our camp leader Kolb, whom we saw just’ before we entered Behlow [the beech forest]. He said: “Now go there and build your tabernacle like the children of Israel and see if you get some manna from heaven.” By this he meant that we would get nothing from them to eat. Nevertheless, the Lord had made provision for His people for everything necessary, manna spiritually as well as physically.-
All during this trek Jehovah’s witnesses started the day with prayer and Kingdom songs. They held group studies at every opportunity, and preached to the people. Their camp life was organized. They were divided into small groups, and each group had its head, who represented that group in the common council. All provisions went into the one-big ‘‘kitchen” and were used to the benefit of all. How different from the rest of the encampment, where everything was controlled by selfishness’
On April 29 the forest was left and the march resumed. The next few- days pass as the others: the main body of prisoners hungering and rioting and many being shot; the witnesses of Jehovah witnessing to the people and in return blessed with food. The report describes the horrible hunger that .stalked through the camp at large, grass, herbs, bark and cooked roots being eaten and from 100 to 110 dying daily.
…