Consolation, January 2, 1946
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Contents
Faithful Martyrs tn Concentration Camps 3
Parting Words of Executed Witnesses ' 4
Why Christians Were Tortured
Christians in Buchenwald
Faithfulness Under a Butcher’s Knife
. Liehtehburg
' U Organizing for Final Work
Opposition to Freedom in Freedom, Pa. 12 ft Is High Time the Jews Awoke
Why Do So Many Jews Cringe
Before the Ilierarchv?
“Thy Word Is Truth” ‘
God’s Name versus a Trinity
“Many Inventions” - '
Uneasiness About Atomic Bomb
Finespun Glass and Steel
Cain Built the First City
Radio and Television
A Strange Advertisement
Getting Russia Converted
The Love Feast Postponed
Monastery Life a Mistake
Do You Love Your Children?
You Must Be True to the Lord
Isaac Newton, Scientist, Bible Student
Daniel and the Revelation
Newton Was Honest
Forty-eight to Nothing
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In Brief
The Boy and His Mother
♦ The boy was a North Carolina boy, and his mother, the wife of a well-to-do merchant, is one of Jehovah’s witnesses. The boy was in the navy; he was located down at Key West, Fla., and, writing home to his mother, he said, in part:
There are only 29 Navy men here, so we eat, sleep and live, in general, you might say, with the Army. Our commanding officer here is a swell guy, and since they need another signal man here, and since I am top man here in the school, he is trying to get me stationed here permanently. It’s a good setup: good duty, good chow, good gang to live with, etc. But I want some sea duty. Now shore duty is ten times better than any sea duty one could possibly get, and no one knows that better than myself, yet I still want to go to sea, and I think maybe I’ll be there very soon. All my old buddies that were down here when I came down have long since been shipped out, and you know how I feel.
All joking aside, the more people I see, the more of life in general that I come to know, the more 1 am convinced that the things in which you believe, and your conception of the Bible, is 100-percent correct. It appears to me to be the only solution. And if I’ve said it before, I’ll repeat it now: you axe the most honest, upright, intelligent (to mention a few of your many virtues) person I have ever known or expect to know. When I try to compare the “cream of the crop” of the people I know with you, the difference is so, great that I am convinced that you must certainly be among the few people on the face of the earth today who are actually in the favor of the Almighty. This may not seem like me, to be writing sueh as this, but it is my sincere conviction and I feel that I should tell you.
The boy was drowned. At his funeral, conducted by Jehovah’s witnesses, five clergymen, two of them D.D.’s, were in the audience, listening attentively. ’
CONSOLATION
“And in His name shall the nations hope.”—Matthew 12:21, A.*9. V.
Volume XXVII Brooklyn, N.Y., Wednesday, January 2, 1946 Number 686
Faithful Martyrs in Concentration Camps
FAITH is a virtue seldom found today in men and women. After passing through two global wars the people in general are without faith either in God or in their fellow man. This is because faith is not found in a fox-hole or stirred up in a concentration camp.
There must first be a foundation for faith. Pointing to the proper basis for faith Christ Jesus said, “Have faith in God.” (Mark 11:22) The apostle then shows why this is necessary when he says, “without faith it is impossible to please him.” (Hebrews 11: 6) If one puts his faith on this sure foundation nothing will then be able to destroy it, not even ten years of terrible torture in a Catholic concentration camp. Such heat of ' affliction will only fuse one’s faith into the hardness of a diamond.
Faith, fidelity and integrity are virtuous qualities possessed by martyrs. The literal meaning of the word martyr is witness, and designates those who “bear witness” or “testimony” to their faith and belief in God. Such do so not by words and deeds only but also by their willingness to suffer persecution and torture, and even death, at the hands of religious zealots rather than break integrity. The faith of martyrs is imbedded in Jehovah their God and His Word, and nothing can uproot it. Such ones are therefore known as Jehovah’s witnesses.
The first of these faithful witnesses was the martyr Abel, son of Adam. After him Enoch, the seventh from Adam, walked with God in faithfulness. Noah W’as a preacher of righteousness amid a wicked generation. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Joseph and Moses, were al] men of faith. And after their day there were men of faith like Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. Neither should we overlook those devoted women of old who so faithfully served as Jehovah’s witnesses: Sarah, Rahab, Deborah, Naomi, Ruth, and Esther, and many others. All of these “through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. . . . and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; . . . and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world-was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise”.—Hebrews 11.
Christ Jesus was killed because He spoke the truth in faith, and hence was called “The Faithful and True Witimss”. His apostles likewise proved their faith and devotion under suffering and finally sealed their testimony with their blood. Martyr Stephen is another outstanding example of the early Christians who refused to renounce their fgith in Jehovah God. He was taken out and stoned to death by a pack of human wolves.
Centuries then passed lay. Yet when Hitler came to power in 1933 and started his Catholic-Action steam roller this •,same class of faithful and true Chris-ttians were the first obstacles he ran into. "With the arrogance of Satan the Devil Hitler boastfully declared that he considered these Christians as “quacks” and said that he would crush them beneath the weight of his “new order” of Church and State. This was the beginning of one of the most barbaric persecutions of Christians recorded in history. Men, women and children became the prey of the Gestapo ■wolf-packs. They were hunted out, tracked down and rounded up like wild animals and brought before . Nazi tribunals to stand trial for their life. One who was given such a mock trial before a kangaroo court wrote:
As I came before the Courtroom of the 2nd Senate, the verdict was just being pronounced upon my forerunner. You can see how this mince-machine works: I enter, the Senate (Tribunal) seat themselves, then comes a brief summary of the offense, threatened punishment, and then—someone spoke out of my mouth, a testimony [in my behalf], that these gentlemen could only say: “You are an industrious man and of good reputation everywhere ; won’t you be sensible, or do you stand by your decision? Ours is only the best advice, etc.” The Senate withdrew for a little while, then in view of the fact that I maintained my objection, the death sentence was decreed. I listened, and then after I had spoken the words, (<Be thou faithful unto death,” and a few other words of our Lord, it was all qver. A good half-hour—that’s how things go here. But never mind that now. For I have sueh peace, such tranquillity, that you can’t possibly imagine!
After such a farce as this, which reminds one of the mock trial given Jesus, these faithful witnesses were either executed or thrown into a concentration camp to bleed, suffer and die.
These martyrs of the twentieth-century Inquisition were known by various names, such as “Bible Students”, Bibel-forscher meaning literally “Bible Searchers”. Properly they were called “Jehovah’s witnesses” (Jehova’s Zeugen), because they were martyrs for Jehovah’s name’s sake. Over 6,000 of these witnesses were in prison camps at one time. Hundreds of them were executed by beheading, shooting or gassing. Hundreds of others died under the most fiendish tortures. And still hundreds of others died of starvation. And all of this because of their faith.
Parting Words of Executed Witnesses
But did all this brutal and cruel treatment 'crack’ these witnesses? Did their integrity bend under the Inquisition’s pressure? Their own words ring back with an emphatic No! Quotations from a few of the letters written by those who were later executed ■will show their unbreakable faith and integrity.
When you trust implicitly in God then you will always feel and see His sustaining power. And then you can, even with your heart breaking, you can smile! When the under officer from the Court called for me each time, and I smiled, he would say quite astonished: “Man, here they play with your life, and yet the fellow can laugh alxmt it!” My beloved brother if your turn should come, then trust wholly : in Jehovah. Put your mind at rest, and don’t . be terrified before these brutes. Be always clean and polite, the latter when it seems almost too hard, and again, trust in God and be His faithful witness.
My dear Hildegard, I must endure until my hour he come also. I will not look back, so that I cannot see anything that would draw me from my resolve. “No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God,” said the Lord. And you too, my dear Hilde, look not behind, but think of Lot’s wife. I have a radiant goal before my eyes, and in order to reach this I will count my life as dross, and place myself in those, Hands, and commend my spirit into His keep
ing. I shall fight for the honour of Jehovah and the glory of His name. I will fight for Him with the courage and boldness of a roaring lion. Yes, I shall fall as. the oak in the storm. Sometimes I experience an overwhelming hap-( piness, a tremendous joy in my breast knowing that my deliverance is near. The hour has come when the Almighty calls His people to himself, and what can be more glorious than ■ to live and to die for His name's sake?
And now, my dearest ones, there is no turning back I! There are still two hours left, but the die is cast! All the hardness and the pain have been overcome. But all through Him, who made me strong, Jesus Christ. And now, God bless you. Be strong, €or 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 me a crown of righteousness.” Therefore, “Onward, press on1” to the honor of Jehovah and Jesus Christ.
Dear Parents,
This evening I was told that my sentence will be executed tomorrow morning early. From the beginning I have placed my hope entirely in Jehovah and Christ Jesus. And truly, whatever my experiences have been I can say throughout it has always been for the best. I rejoice that I have overcome to victory, to eternal life, though not of my own strength, but through the great mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jehovah and our Lord
' Jesus Christ be praised for ever and ever.
- No faltering, no turning back, no compromise ; rather it was faithfulness even unto death. And it was such testimony multiplied many times over that made the world take note of the fact that God had witnesses in the earth, even in demonized Naziland.
A Swiss clergyman, Th, Brupbacher, observing this faithfulness of Christians in Germany said, “Here stands and suf-, fers an unheeded company in the front lines . , . who were the first to bear the brunt of the raving Nazi demons, * and who dared to resist in accordance with their faith: They suffer and bleed as ‘Jehovah's witnesses’ ...” Also the Swiss newspaper Oeffentlicher Dienst, in Zurich, said, “Crime, crying, to heaven . . . one of the most terrible accusations that have been raised against the demonized rulers of the Third Reich ... If the European statesmen and party leaders had but had- a particle of the courage of Jehovah’s witnesses, the world would have been saved the atrocious crimes of the demons of our time ...” (Both citations from the 1946 Yearbook of Jehovah's witnesses, page 138)
Not all these modern martyrs, however, received a quick execution. Thousands lingered and suffered untold agony on the very brink of death for eight or ten years in the vile prison camps. The New York Sunday Mirror (magazine section, February 9,1941), in an article on the concentration camps, said:
At present, many political prisoners are ■ from the ranks of the Bibelforscher (literally, Bible Searchers, actually Jehovah’s witnesses). There are few Communists, but very many plain citizens who could not embrace the new ideals and so became punishable . . . After release [from a local prison], any prisoner may, if the authorities so desire, be sent to a concentration camp for an indefinite period of “preventive custody”. Every Bibel-forscher must be so transferred, women as well as men. No Bibelforscher may ever attain freedom. Communists, except party officials, may possibly be released after some years of proved “conversion”. Bibelforscher, never!
Never, until Jehovah himself would bring them out; for the Nazis were determined that all of these Witnesses were to be exterminated from the earth. However, deliverance did come in God’s due time.
Why Christians Were Tortured
But why were these Christians, whose only crime was their faithful worship of God, subjected to all this terrible suffering? It was for the same reason that faithful men and women of ancient times were martyred. The purpose was to force them to break their covenant of faithfulness that they had made with God, If they would but renounce their faith, if they would but forsake their belief,. if they would but sign a statement that they were no longer Jehovah’s witnesses, then they could secure their freedom, But, oh, what faithfulness! They turned their back on the Satanic offer and chose to suffer the tortures of a long-drawn-out death rather than to compromise. Men and women of fidelity and integrity, a tower of strength in a desolate land of human despair. Truly, a people for His name, Jehovah’s witnesses !
Sign or Else—/
One of the most conclusive proofs that these faithful Christians did not really endanger the state is the fact that all they had to do to gain their freedom was to sign a statement to the effect that they would no longer worship Jehovah and be His witnesses. There seemed to be no limit to which the Nazis would go to secure these signatures. First persuasion was employed; then flattery was used; and finally the Nazis inflicted the most diabolical tortures, especially upon women, in an effort to break their integrity with God. The same tactics were employed as in the Catholic Inquisition for securing a “confession” from innocent Christians.
A soldier boy on duty in Germany wrote to his mother in the United States, “One of the Germans, who had spent a year in jail for political reasons, told me that all Jehovah’s witnesses who were in jail over here had to do to get released was to sign a statement that they would 'heil Hitler’ and be 'good Germans’; but he said none of them ever signed the statements.”
The following excerpts are from the many letters received and show the unbreakable determination of Jehovah’s witnesses in refusing to sign.
Many other prisoners had also to work, but not under the same pressure as Jehovah’s witnesses, as the authorities wanted to compel us to sign. But they had no success. They always tried to find some way to give us extra punishment.
No visitors were permitted in the camp, but if anyone came who wanted to persuade us to sign, they were allowed to see us. In this way I was visited by my sister and my brotherin-law. Without avail they tried to persuade me to take the pen in my hand. Angry and without a word of farewell they went away.
At first I used to keep clean the offices of the political department of the Gestapo. Here I was often asked regarding signing. I only laughed at them and tofd them that I w'as no traitor. They asked me: “How long will you stay in the camp, then?” I answered: “Until our great God Jehovah gives me my freedom.” One of them said: “Yes, up the chimney!” (cremation). I told him that even' this could not frighten us, for our Father in heaven is able to give us new life, but that He would require our blood of them in the day of His wrath.
After some time I met an Adjutant Wulka and gave him and his wife many testimonies. They shared all their good food with me, apd often made suggestions regarding signing. When I again explained that I could not become a traitor, they said: “We wish we had such a strong faith.”
A year ago in February a commission was here from Berlin. At that time we were told it was the last opportunity to give our signatures, otherwise we would not remain alive Very long. But all the rhetorical resources of Satan’s representatives failed in front of the inflexibility and unwavering steadfastness of the children of God.
In June this commission was here again, and again we had to give an account of our hope and unflinching determination, and again those sisters stood before these men as representatives of The Theocracy. Fearlessly and boldly, they explained to the committee the two organizations, and that there could never be an agreement between them. At the close of the meeting one of these men said to the other: "Think of this: years in prison, years in camp, and yet this spirit and this deportment !” Now they have ceased asking for our signatures.
On one occasion a sister heard the leaders talking about us. They said: “The Bible Students do any kind of work, but one work they will not do. They will not take up the pen.”
During this time Himmler visited the camp. He caused some of the sisters to be brought from the cells and wanted' to persuade them to sign. They refused. Full of fury and rage he said: “We shall see who will hold out the longest, you or we I” In the cells we could always hear when punishment by whipping was being meted out. It was terrible, the beating and the shouting and then, unconscious and covered with blood, the beaten ones were brought back to the cells. Each of us thought, ‘When will it be my turn ?’ And all of us decided that we would even go through with this rather than sign.
In 1944 all the sisters had to report to the political department for examination. They were told: “This is the last opportunity to be given you to sign. -If you do not do so you will all be shot.” We knew that they had already shot some of the brothers because they refused to sign, in order to frighten the others. Boldly and frankly the sisters declared: “We are Jehovah’s witnesses and we shall continue to be Jehovah’s witnesses!” .
These statements show how inflexible the Witnesses were in refusing to sign up with the Devil. Contrast, if you please, this stand taken by Jehovah’s witnesses with that taken by the pseudoChristians of Vatican City in signing concordats with Mussolini (1929), Hitler (1933), and Franco (1941). Even a blind bat can see which ones are the genuine Christians.
‘Ye are in the world but not of it,’ was a maxim laid down by Christ, the Leader of these Christians of Germany. So they would not “he'd Hitler”, salute men, take part in the so-called “elections”, or participate in flag and swastika eeremo-nies. Neither would they work for the Nazi war machine even though they were beaten without mercy and threatened with death. In Buchenwald, for example, the prisoners were compelled, under the threat of being shot, to work in an underground war plant making V-bombs. Jehovah’s witnesses put their trust in God and refused to do such work on the grounds that it was a violation of the divine law. They were never shot. But, says the report, “Most of the prisoners who did work in the V-weapon factory were killed in a bombing raid.” A clear manifestation of the Lord’s protection over those who obey His law and not man’s.
Christians in Buchenwald
An American soldier, after meeting one of the faithful Witnesses who had been released from Buchenwald, wrote in August 1.945:
As soon as I had my first look at him I could easily tell that he had been in a concentration camp. He was thin, his cheeks sunk in and his eyes were sunk back in his head. But he did not seem hopeless and lost like so many other former concentration camp inmates I’d seen. His eyes had a warm, friendly look and he bad an air of confidence about himself. He told me about the eight years he spent in Buchenwald and he said that many, many of the other hundreds of Jehovah’s witnesses who were there died of torture, starvation, and many were killed outright.
Sir K. ft. van Staal, director of the Netherland newspaper Het Parool, who was one of the prisoners of Buchenwald, wrote among other things:
The Netherlanders bore the letter “N”. The political prisoners had this letter imprinted on a red triangle, with the exception of Jehovah’s witnesses, among which there were also Hollanders, whom the Germans called Bible Students and marked with a purple triangle.
This sect were, because of their faith, opposers of the National Socialism and its members testified about it regardless of prohibitions and punishment.
A number of times they were called to the
tower [office], where they were offered the opportunity of being set at liberty, provided they would sign a declaration withdrawing their predictions (apparently the Nazis had a more superstitious fear of these JehovahJs witnesses than they were willing to admit). Not one man would sign the desired declaration ’ I . . . Those who were in the concentration * camps the longest were the German communists, social democrats and the so-called Bible Students, who had been arrested since 1933 and 1934. [1946 Yearbook of Jehovah’s witnesses, pages 167, 168]
In a B.B.C. German Overseas Service Program from London on May 6, 1945, the following report was given:
Among the prisoners who had been locked up in Buchenwald ever since the camp has been in existence—that means eight whole years—there are about 300 men who had been brought there because of the Christian faith . . . Most of the Christian prisoners are Bible Students . . . The hardest work was imposed on those Christian prisoners. They had to work in the quarry most of the time, and from there they were forced to pull up fully loaded lorries at running pace, all the time being ill-treated with truncheons by the S. S. under whose severest guard they were kept.
Every three months the Christian prisoners Were given a form to sign. It was a declaration that the person in question would desist from his false doctrine. To sign tills means immediate liberty. But never did it happen that these Christians signed such declaration. For Hitler it seemed to mean very much to get the signatures' of the Christians. Every day some of the prisoners were called and beaten with all possible and impossible objects to enforce their signatures . . . Most of the prisoners look like skeletons now. But a minister with a violet triangle told me, “Already in 1939 we were shadows when we marched to the -quarry. We ate the green from the frees and bushes.”
But what sustained these witnesses and carried them through those long years of persecution? It was their implicit trust, hope and confidence in Jehovah God and His. preciops promises.
Faith—so solid and well founded on the Bible and its Author that not even eight years of Nazi quarry-blasting could shake it loose! On this point the B.B.C. report continues and says:
It turned out that the number of deaths was comparatively low amongst the Christian prisoners, in spite of the bad treatment and the systematic starvation. "Faith has sustained us,” they declare, “the belief that God will justly avenge us has kept us. Strict rules of life and putting divine laws into practice are the foundation of our inflexible steadfastness.” Other prisoners confirmed -that from the beginning to the end the position .of the Christian prisoners was a unique anti-fascistie manifestation.
Also the opinion of Mr. Bjorn HalL strom, London editor of Svenska Mor-genbladet, is interesting on this matter of faith. In his letter of May 18,1945, to the London office of the Watchtower Society, he said:
When I recently visited the Buchenwald Concentration Camp, I came across the prisoners belonging to the Society of “Bibel-forscher”. I have written and broadcast extensively about their sufferings in the camp. As a matter of fact, they were treated worse than any other group, but they managed, through their belief in God, to survive better than any others. The other prisoners testified to that as well! .
Starvation
Hunger among these Christian martyrs was not limited to Buchenwald; it was suffered in all the camps. From another camp a report on this says:
Can you imagine what tempests have swept over us in these times intending to shake us and to lead us to disunity and unfaithfulness! Indeed, Satan left nothing unattempted. From outside the.hardest drudgery; shoveling sand, carrying stones, carting earth, excavation work, etc.; severe treatment, by far insufficient nourishment: potato peelings, weeds, bunches of flowers, even wood shavings and anything else found its way into our stomachs in order to benumb the horrible feeling' of hunger. We became as thin as skeletons. Twice such a starvation diet lasting for months! Often we thought it was our end.
Insufficient rest due to crowded living conditions, especially in the punishment block, added to the suffering of hunger. These blocks were built to accommodate 100 persons, but 400 were required to live in them. Later this figure was increased to 875, and in the last days before the crack-up wheii these blocks were used as transient stations for passing transports, 1,200 and 1,500 were jammed in. On one occasion 1,880 were literally packed in I What a terrible fight there was at the end of the day! Some would get near enough to the table to get something to eat; others would go hungry and grab a few square inches of space to lie down on; while the latecomers got neither food nor bed. In these barracks, with a few exceptions, were the most wicked element of the camp. Nothing was safe, not even one’s life.
Faithfulness Under a Butcher’s Knife
If your spirit hasn’t been stirred by these indignities against humanity in general, and Christians in particular, then read the following incident that happened to a dear old lady of 63. It is enough to make the blood of a cold fish boil.
When our work was changed, I was sent 'to a laundry. There the work was also very hard, and I became ruptured. I was sent to the barrack for the sick and was operated upon. The doctor said to me: “You Bible worm, if you die, then your Jehovah is' responsible.” During the operation he said: “Bible worm, we have now a good opportunity: tell me now, what is Armageddon?” I answered: “Doctor, when Armageddon comes nobody will need to ask that question any more, for the whole world will know, and you too, Doctor.” When I was operated upon he said: “When you are quite well again, come forward and sign and go home to your husband.” I answered: “I cannot go to my husband, for he is also in the concentration camp; and as for signing, that
Showing some of the Nazi concentration camps
does not come into the question so far as I am concerned.” Then he was quiet. He visited me for a week, and then the nurse said to him: “Look, now, at the old woman. How wonderful the wound has healed.” “Yes,” said the doctor, “Jehovah has helped her.” Yes, I can truthfully say that Jehovah helped me, otherwise *1 would not be alive, for I was an “experiment rabbit”, if you know what that means. The nurse said to me: “The kind of rupture you have cannot be operated upon.’ It is fatal.” But Jehovah did not permit that, all thanks to Him.
In Dachau Jehovah’s witnesses were used as human “guinea pigs” against their will and many died as a result. Also in that slaughterhouse “the invalids, brethren and invalid prisoners, were gassed”.
Another inhuman and grueling torture practiced in all the camps was the “Roll Call”. Overworked and with insufficient sleep prisoners were forced to get up at five o’clock in the morning and stand out* doors for an hour or two, rain or shine, hot or cold, while the roll was called.
Once a prisoner escaped. The siren sounded and everyone had to leave the “block”. This was at half past two in the night. The whole eamp had to turn out and stand on parade until eleven o’clock the next morning. We received nothing to eat the whole day. After a couple of days the prisoner was caught and everyone had to stand on parade again. What a terrible sight it was I Tom by dogs, she was led around the camp in order to frighten the others.
t '
Lichtenburg
In this camp there were a number of Jehovah’s witnesses, most of whom were women. One day one of the Christian women was called to the director. After all efforts to make her change her mind about signing had failed, they threw her into a dungeon with only a stone bench built in the wall for a bed. There she remained alone for over half a year. Her health suffered very much but she remained unshakable in her faith.
The rest of Jehovah’s witnesses were kept in a special block known as “station No. 4”. Here there was always a shortage of food, and it had the most cruel of the guards. Because of the obstinate refusal of these ! Christians the director, Ta-maschke by name, was often heard to say, “They should be stood against the wall.” This “obstinacy” consisted of refusing to assemble with the rest of the prisoners to listen to the speeches of the Nazi party leaders. The official report of this incident made to the Berlin authorities at the conclusion of the war says:
The climax was reached in October, 1938, when they tried to force us again to listen to a Nazi talk. Because we refused, the SS and women guards became very embittered and angry, and beat us with their fists and heavy
key-chains and kicked us down the stairs, and in this did not even consider the age and sickness of the women. .
By the next talk they had, on October 6, 1938, they had already taken measures to bring us into the courtyard. They attached the fire hose to the hydrants, and when we refused in the evening to listen to the talk they opened the hydrants and trained the fire .hose against us. AH those who were hit with the water were . badly bruised and showed blood spots under ' the skin. Soon station No. 4 was completely under water. The water ran down the stairs. Those who had not been pushed through the door by the force of the stream were mistreated and brought into the courtyard. Soaked to the skin the^ had to stay during this cold October evening and listen to the talk. Furthermore they put us under heavy guard for fourteen days. When they saw the futility of their efforts to force us this way, and because it made so much commotion that even the population of Prettin heard about it, they stopped their strong-arm tactics. The leaders of the camp saw to it, however, that we were deprived of privileges. For instance, we were permitted to write only five lines every four months and could buy only two marks’ worth of goods every two weeks. This continued until February, 1944.
That is a sample of the “noble” qualities of Nazi manhood; an outrage perpetrated against defenseless women. It would be torture enough for men to experience, but when we think of knocking women down with a fire hose-at pointblank range, causing the skin to become bloodshot, and then dragging the poor creatures out and standing them up drenching wet in freezing October weather to listen to the ravings of a demonized Nazi, it fills one with righteous indignation. A sane man would never treat a dog that way; but, alas, these victims were representatives of the Most High God. One trembles to think of the awful recompense that will shortly be poured out in full measure on these criminals by the High and Lofty One, who thunders: “Vengeance is mine: I will repay.” —-Romans 12:19.
By putting their implicit trust in these sure promises contained in Sacred Writ Christian martyrs of the twentieth-century Inquisition were able to withstand the onslaughts of the demons. They were not like others round about them, who, without faith, lived in a condition of hopeless despair. Rather these witnesses of the Lord looked forward with eagerness to the day when they would again be free to take up their house-to-house preaching work.
Organizing for Final Work
The Allentown Morning Call, noting this faithfulness of Christians under persecution, published an enlightening editorial on November 19, 1945:
Jehovah’s witnesses in Europe
Conviction of a large group of Germans who operated the Bolsen and Oswiecim concentration camps in Germany during the war was attended at the same time by acquittal of fourteen women and men which indicates that, while feeling was running high at the trials and memory has not failed as to the enormous atrocities committed against thousands of people in these camps and the wanton destruction of even more than escaped, passion was not permitted to prevail. In the end, the innocent who had been caught in the dragnet with the guilty were absolved. Or if they had been guilty, evidence failed to show it and in accord with our system which is operating now for the benefit of the Germans, they will go free.
While the victims in these and other camps were for the most part Jews and Russians, with a sprinkling of people of just about all the countries of Eastern Europe who had fallen into German hands, some of the camps at least had a very large number of Germans, not of Semitic stock. Even Germans whose Aryan descent was not in the slightest doubt fell victims of the cruelty that was of the very essence of Nazism.
, This fact is brought to our attention again by the journey abroad of a former Allen-tonian, Nathan Knorr, who now is the head of that large and growing sect, Jehovah’s witnesses. He has gone to Germany [surrounding JANUARY E, 1946 countries] to rally the large number of German members of this sect who had run afoul of the Nazis just as they ran afoul of our own American government through interpretation of their religious tenets which denies salute to the flag, military service and other matters. In Germany the treatment they received in prison camps was almost on a par with that accorded former German enemies in the war, but according to reports, those who survived the treatment have emerged like those early Christians who survived Roman martyrdom to carry their faith into all parts of the world.
It is to bring the consolation of their American fellows to these now freed and free Germans, who certainly never were Nazis, that takes Mr. Knorr into that country. And with him goes the hope of his sect that there may be growth in their numbers as they go forth with their customary missionary spirit, for theirs is a dynamic, evangelistic religion.
Tempered in the fire of persecution and the severest suffering, they can be expected to carry their doctrine far and wide in Europe, for such is the nature of man that he becomes steeled in vicissitudes and his religion becomes the stronger and the more governing force in his life according as he has had to struggle and suffer to maintain it.
The apostles and disciples of Christ when persecuted “went every where preaching the word”. (Acts 8:4) So also will these witnesses of Jehovah in Germany continue to fulfill their commission, “Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations.”-—Matthew 28:19, Am. Stan. Ver. _
Such zeal and determination to continue on, after passing through this twentieth-century Inquisition, comes from having 'and exercising faith. The raging sea of wild Nazi terrorism dashing against these witnesses for ten years failed to sweep them away, because this faith wTas anchored in a solid Rock. In the words of the psalmist they say: “Jehovah is my bock, and my fortress, and my deliverer.”-Ps. 18:2, Am. Stan, Ver.
(Faithful women endured more In the Naz* concentration comps than here related. In the next Issue of “Consolation" more of this heort-rendlna atory will be told.)
• 11
Opposition to Freedom in Freedom, Pa.
A PUBLIC meeting campaign was be. ing held in the town of . Freedom, Pa., at the public high school auditorium. The first two meetings of the series went j along fine, with attendances of 107 and 4 102 respectively. It so happened that the next week was the time for the distribution of Consolation No. 678 to all the officials, and seemingly it shocked the religious susceptibilities of a certain organi-, zation with headquarters at Rome. Catholic Action began immediately, by those of that faith bringing pressure on the members of the school board. While the • leading members of the school board were not Catholic, they took the “easy” way out by canceling further use of the high school auditorium to Jehovah’s witnesses to continue with the last two lee-tures of the series. The chairman of the auditorium committee gave the reason that the school building supported by taxpayers’ money could not be used to “pan” Catholics. He since stated, “If you just had not put outdhat magazine when you did, everything would have been all right” This occurred Friday night
Not giving up, they interviewed this same man again Saturday morning to see if some arrangement could be made to hold this one meeting (the next week Was going to be canceled anyway because of the Cleveland meeting). He was contacted at a barbershop and stated, “I told you Friday, that I could not do anything for you. I was commissioned by the board to advise you that you could not have the school for any more lectures. The Catholics in town say that if Jehovah’s witnesses want to smear the Catholics let them build a church like the rest, but they cannot use a building supported by the taxpayers’ money. They objected to paying taxes on a school and have it used to ridicule Catholics. I received many phone calls from Catholics objeet-( ing to you having the school.”
He was asked, “Did you receive any phone calls from Protestants or others ?”
To which he replied, “No, not one.” ■
He was then asked, “Then you attribute the cancellation of the school for use by Jehovah’s witnesses entirely to Catholic Action in Freedom?”
Answer, “Yes.”
Then it was decided to contact a local doctor, Who was president of the school board. While this interview was brief, it will be noted how he admitted he was bowing down to Catholic Action in Freedom ; because this is what he stated when he noted we were Jehovah’s witnesses: “I have spent sixteen hours on the telephone this week on account of you fellows and 1 don’t want anymore of it. You are not going to get the school. You have been delivering some papers in town and you cannot do that.”
He was asked, “Are you going to bow down to Catholic Action like that?”
The reply, “Yes, by God! Right or wrong. I got a lot of sick people to look after. Good day.”
The meeting was advertised just as though nothing happened. Attempts were made to locate another place, but these proved futile.
While it rained Sunday morning, and up to about 1: 00 (meeting at 3:00) we began to wonder what we were going to do, as we planned an outdoor meeting. It soon stopped raining, and shortly thereafter the sun began to shine. Just before meeting time the crowd began to gather in front: of the school, and by meeting time 1.23 persons had assembled to hear the talk, as shown in the accompanying picture. Not over 200 feet away there was a steep side street, so steep, in fact, that there is a concrete block at the bottom and top to prevent car traffic, apd the crowd was moved over to it and stood in a close semicircle about the speaker, and all heard the talk, “Two Worlds in Final War,” without any further disturbance. They all stood attentively during the talk. The second picture was taken during the talk. ■
Above: Doors looked to the truth at Freedom, Pa., Sunday, 3:00 p.m., September 23, 1945.
Below: Truth undaunted in Freedom, Pa., Sunday at 3 :15 p.m., September 23, 1945.
While the meeting was in progress the chief of police and the burgess (mayor) drove up and stopped a couple of times, . and it was later learned that someone overheard them saying, ‘There was good order and there was nothing we could do about it.’
It was learned later that some of the broadminded taxpayers were indignant, as they too were taxpayers and believed that freedom should be upheld for all rather than bowing to a foreign power that always is the enemy of freedom.
The Devil’s attempt to thwart the Lord’s work again failed miserably, as a greater number heard this talk than either of the previous two of the series. It demonstrates that the Lord’s arm is not shortened and that where an effort is put forth the Lord’s blessing is manifest.
All thanks are given to Jehovah in the aiding of His servants to overcome obstacles to the praise of His name. We rejoice in singing His praise with the psalmist as recorded in Psalm 96:1, 2, 4 (Am. Stan. Ver.), “Sing unto Jehovah, all the earth. Sing unto Jehovah, bless his name; . . . For great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised.’’-Contributed.
It Is High Time the Jews Awoke
JEHOVAH GOD is not seeking to bless the obdurate and the conceited, no matter what may be their physical ancestry. “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to' revive the heart of the contrite ones.”—Isaiah 57:15.
Nothing is more beautiful than the spirit of any man or woman, Jew or Gentile, who is really meek. “The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.” (Psalm 25:9) “The Lord lifteth up the meek; he casteth the wicked down to the ground.” (Psalm 147 < 6) "The Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.” (Psalm 149:4) “With righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth.” (Isaiah 11:4) “The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord.” (Isaiah 29:19) “Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth.” (Zephaniah 2:3) “The meek shall eat and be satisfied.” —Psalm 22 : 26.
The Jews ought to be able to understand those scriptures, as well as the statement of the psalmist “The meek shall inherit the earth” (Psalm 37; 11), and the words of Jesus, "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5: 5) So, why can’t the Jews for once and for all learn true humbleness and realize that they are no better than and no different from other people, and that if they wish salvation they must take it in God’s way and not seek it otherwise! ’
The sufferings of the Jews have been truly terrible. The Romans put 1,100,000 to the sword in the destruction of Jerusalem, but the meek ones, who heeded the counsel of the One that was "meek and lowly of heart”, not only found rest to their souls, but were spared from death or captivity in that calamity that befell ail but the followers of Jesus. The Jews were banished from France in 1192, from England in 1290, from France again in 1394, from Spain in 1492, from Portugal in 1496, from Naples and Sicily in 1504, from Prague in 1520, from France a third time in 1615, and from Russia in 1795. The terrible sufferings under Hitler and his comrades are too recent to need any mention.
Are the Jews Meek?
There is no evidence in the Scriptures that the Jews as a people are meek. On the contrary, Jehovah’s witnesses not
only find it stated in the Bible that the Jews are “stiff-necked and hard-hearted’’, but when they call at their homes with the message of God’s kingdom they witness the same characteristics. They seem to think that because they are Jews, and were once God’s chosen people, they must ever remain that way. Nothing could be a worse mistake. Many Protestants have a similar hallucination, that because they “believe in Jesus” therefore they are “saved”. They forget that “the devils also believe and tremble” and that nobody is really saved until he gets to the end of the way.
In recent years there has been a tremendous effort to, reinstate the Jews in Palestine, but there is no evidence of the Lord’s blessing upon such reinstatement. Palestine-is but a small country, only slightly larger than the combined areas of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, it has but a relatively small area of arable land, and the political obstacles are at present insurmountable. .
The Jews themselves claim that there are 600,000 Jews there now, and that 2,000,000 more could be accommodated shortly, and that within ten years the land could accommodate a Jewish population of 5,000,000, and all without dispossessing a single Arab. They also claim that when outsiders did not interfere they had no difficulty in getting on with the Arabs.
Now they are in straits. Of the 6,500,000 Jews on the Continent, outside Russia, only 1,500,000 survived Hitler’s reign of terror; and although the Jews had more than 1,000,000 soldiers in all Allied armies, 35,000 of whom volunteered in Palestine itself, yet these people were given no place at the San Francisco conference.
There is no evidence that if the Jews got the whole of Palestine they would ever willingly surrender to Him whose right it is to rule all the earth. A group of 50,000 men and women are so sure that they are God’s elect to govern Palestine that several acts of violence have been traced to them, such as the throwing of bombs, the killing of police officials, and the assassination of Lord Moyne, British minister resident in the Middle East. But that does not get them anything of favor with -either God or man.
Why Do So Many Jews Cringe Before the Hierarchy?
THOUGH not a Christian, I take this opportunity to express my admiration for your courageous stand on all problems of our times, social, economic, religious. I most admire your heroic (for it takes plenty of courage and forthrightness to attack such a powerful world organization) struggle against the Roman Catholic Hierarchy.
As a Jew who has spent many years of his life in Catholic-controlled countries, and who has seen them in action when they had the power in their hands, I could never understand the apparent sympathy of the JewTs of the United States towards ’ the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, as it was exemplified, for instance, in the Smith-Hoover presidential election in 1928. How could those Jews, with the memory of the pogroms in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia still in their minds, join in partnership with the same type of individuals as caused our miseries since the Middle Ages?
I wish to congratulate you again and again on your courageous stand on all questions of justice, and your fearless expose of those who are false Christians. May Jehovah give you strength, courage and long life.—A first lieutenant in the medical section of a United States separation center in Pennsylvania.
aSWOM is Truth-
—John 17:17 .
God’s Name versus a Trinity
THE last of Christ’s faithful apostles died near the end of the first century of our era. Toward the end of the next century there arose a Latin scholar, name Tertullian, who gave out the theory that Christ was Almighty God himself, and used the word trinitas (Latin for trinity) to give the idea of three persons of one substance ip one god, A contemporary 'of Tertullian, namely, one Theophilus of Antioch, used the Greek -word trias in his writings about A.D. 180, and from which word trinitas or trinity is drawn. That doctrine as taught today, according to the creed of the Church of England, is: “There is but one living and true God, . . . and in unity of this God-Head there be three persons of one substance, power and eternity; the Father, The Word, and the Holy Ghost.” What is the result of such doctrine?
It is a noticeable fact that in the religious sects of “Christendom” the name of Jesus has been made more prominent than that of Almighty God. Catholic clergy have induced their parishioners to pray to Mary, the human mother of the child Jesus, and to worship her, giving this woman worship which, however, they are hasty to explain is not worship equal to that given to God. In the religious systems the names of Mary and Jesus are oftener 'mentioned than is the name which Almighty God gives to himself in the Sacred Scriptures, namely, Jehovah. The very titles or names which this One gives to himself in His Word do of themselves disprove a trinity of three persons of “one substance, power and eternity”. v
In flat contradiction of a “trinity”, His Word teaches there is but one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and the Giver of life to all creatures. Christ Jesus is the Son of God, the beginning (not the author) of God’s creation, and the great executive officer of Jehovah God in carrying His purposes into operation. The holy spirit (old-fashionedly called “the holy ghost”) is the invisible active force of God, and not a person at all; and hence God can pour this spirit out upon or give it to those who are in full harmony with Him and who are assigned to perform service in His name. Let the proof of the above be made from God’s Word, not Tertullian’s or Theophilus’ word, and then let honest people abide by that. As Bomans 3:4 reads: “Let God prove to be true albeit every man be false Rotherham’s translation.
There is but one First Cause, namely, He who is “from everlasting to everlasting” and “whose name alone is Jehovah” as stated at Psalm 90:2- and Psalm 83:18. The immortality of whicluHe is possessed He does not make the common property of His creatures: ‘“who only hath immortality, . . . whom no man hath seen nor can see,” because He is divine. (1 Timothy 6 :16) At the prophecy of Isaiah 45:5 He states: “I am Jehovah, and there is none else; besides me there is no God.” At Isaiah 43.: 11: “I, even I, am Jehovah; and besides me there is no saviour.” At Isaiah 42:8; “I am Jehovah, that is my name; and my glory will I not give, to another, neither my praise unto graven images.” (According to American Standard Version)
This great First Cause revealed himself to His creatures by various names or titles, each of which is deeply significant and does not admit of trinitariap co-equals. The name “God”, or elohim in the Hebrew’ original text, appears in the Bible in connection with the beginning of creation, at Genesis 1:1. That name or designation especially refers to Jehovah as the Creator of heaven and earth and the Giver of breath to earthly creatures. “Thus saith God Jehovah, he that created the heavens, and stretched them forth; he that spread abroad the earth and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit [not a trinitarian ghost, however] to them that walk therein.” (Isaiah 42:5, Am. Stan. Ver.) Thus elohim or God, as a designation, represents Him as the First Cause and refers to His responsibility as regards all creation.
To faithful Abraham Jehovah declared himself under the name or designation “Almighty God”, according to Genesis 17:1. Such name was spoken in connection with His covenant with Abraham. At that time Jehovah said, in substance, to Abraham: T have made and do now make a covenant with you that you shall be the father of many nations and this shall be signified by your name which is changed now from Abram to Abraham. I am the Almighty God.’ Such name ‘Almighty God” was a complete guarantee to Abraham of the great Eternal One’s unlimited ability to carry into operation His announced purpose. Abraham was then an aged man; his wife also .was past the years of bearing children. Jehovah had told him that there should be a son born to him by his aged wife and, in effect, He said to Abraham: cMy name Almighty God is a guarantee that this shall come to pass.’ Jehovah also used the name “God Almighty” to Abraham’s grandson Jacob.* (Genesis 35:11) It indicates the unlimited power of Jehovah, and that for Him to will a thing means it shall be done. *
t To the prophet. Moses God declared himself most positively by the name Jehovah. Some translators have rendered this name merely as “Self-existing One” or “The Eternal”. It means much more than that; jt signifies God’s purpose toward His people. God chose Israel as His peculiar people; and Jehovah was the name by which that people knew ..’Him. God directed Moses to go to the
Israelite^ and tell them’Jehovah had . sent^ him; and then His words to Moses showed the meaning of the name Jehovah because stating His purpose. He said: “Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I'am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem'you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments: and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and -ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God [elohim], who bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land which I sware to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for a heritage: I am Jehovah.” (Exodus 6:1-8, Am. Stan. Ver.) The name Jehovah signifies to God’s chosen people His purposes concerning them, and specifically His purposes concerning His Son Christ Jesus and “the church of God”. ‘
* By King Melehizedek Jehovah revealed himself by the name Most High: “Blessed be God Most High.” And Abraham said: “I have lifted up my hand unto Jehovah, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth.” (Genesis 14:20,22, Am. Stan. Ver.) Hence Jehovah’s Son, Christ Jesus, is not on a level with His Father Jehovah, who is the Supreme One or Most High. This name Most High refers to Jehovah’s relationship to all His creation, including His only begotten Son; it refers to Him as the Suprenie Ruler over all powers and principalities. Anything and everything that is held in possession by any creature Is both from and subject to the will of the Most High. He is above all. There is none like Hirn, and no power can prevent His carrying out His will. The name bespeaks supremacy of the One to whom all governments, powers and creatures must in due time be in subjection. He is the Author, the Maker, the Executor, and the Finisher of His purpose. He works through His chosen instruments to accomplish His
will and purposes. “The most High dwell-eth not in temples made with [human] hands.” (Acts 7:48) What then!
*It is a dishonor to God’s name and a reproach to Him to teach the people that . there are three co-equal persons in one 1
a
Many Inventions
THIS is a little story about some of the latest inventions. Man is an inventive animal. Not all of his inventions are good ones. The wise man indicates this when he says, “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions [or, evil devices].”—Ecclesiastes 7; 29.
The Word chishshabown, above translated “inventions”, occurs but twice in Holy Writ. The other place is at 2 Chronicles 26:15, where it is translated “engines”, and because of 'the big mistake that King Uzziah made when he turned from doing “that which was right in the sight of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 26:4), it will be just as well to quote a little from the Scriptures. It seems that Uzziah was the outstanding armament builder of his day, “And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and as long as he sought [Jehovah], God made him to prosper.”—2 Chronicles 26:5.
And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines. And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gurbaal, and the Mehunims. And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad eyen to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly.
Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem . at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them. Also he built towers in the desert, and digged many wells: for he had much cattle, both in
God and one God in three co-eternal persons of one substance. The great Jehovah God is completely separate and distinct from all. He is the Creator. AH others, including His Son Jesus Christ, are creatures.
the low country, and in the plains: husbandmen also, and vine dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he loved husbandry.
Moreover Uzziah had an host of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their account by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king’s captains. The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were two thousand and six hundred. And under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.
And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to east stones. And he made in Jerusalem engines [chishshabown], invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.
But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against [Jehovah] his God, and went into the temple of [Jehovah] to burn incense upon the altar of incense. And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of [Jehovah], that were valiant-men: and they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto [Jehovah], but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from [Jehovah] God.
Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of [Jehovah], from beside the ineense altar. And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead,' and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because [Jehovah] had smitten him. And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death.—2 Chronicles 26: 6-21,
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