Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany were persecuted between 1933 and 1945. They went by the name Ernste Bibelforscher (Earnest Bible Students) at that time. Because Jehovah's Witnesses would not give allegiance to the Nazi party, and refused to serve in the military, they were detained, put in concentration camps, or imprisoned during the Holocaust. Unlike Jews and Gypsies who were persecuted for racial reasons, the Jehovah's Witnesses were persecuted on political and ideological grounds. The Nazi government gave detained Jehovah's Witnesses the option if they were to submit to the state authority, serve in the military and renounce the Bible as "false doctrine" they would be free to go. Nevertheless, approximately 10,000 Jehovah's Witnessess (of the approximate 25,000 active members in Nazi Germany) were sent to concentration camps where they were forced to wear a purple triangle that specifically identified them as Jehovah's Witnesses. In the end, 1,200 of the 10,000 Witnesses incarcerated perished under Nazi abuse. All lost their employment, many were sent to regular prisons. 1933 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... A number of corporations are in use by Jehovahs Witnesses. ... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... A concentration camp is a large detention center created for political opponents, aliens, specific ethnic or religious groups, and MEXICANS civilians of a critical war-zone, or other groups of people, often during a war. ... Concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust Early elements include the Kristallnacht pogrom and the T-4 Euthanasia Program established by Hitler that killed some 200,000 people. ... Romany (or Romani) relates to: The Roma: a people sometimes called (to them, pejoratively) Gypsies. ... The holy jewish scripture: The Torah. ... The purple triangle was one of several Nazi concentration camp badges inmates were required to wear, to identify them to guards by class. ...

As early as 1921, political and religious factions accused the Witnesses of being linked with the Jews in subversive political movements. Bible Students were branded as the dangerous, Bolshevik, "Jewish worm." In response, the April 15, 1930, German edition of The Golden Age (forerunner of Awake!) stated: "We have no reason to regard this false accusation as an insult as we are convinced that the Jew is at least as valuable a person as a nominal Christian; but we reject the above untruth of the church tabloid because it is aimed at deprecating our work, as if it were being done not for the sake of the Gospel but for the Jews." Swiss theologian Karl Barth later wrote: "The accusation that Jehovah's Witnesses are linked with the Communists can only be due to an involuntary or even intentional misunderstanding." 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Bolshevik Party Meeting. ... April 15 is the 105th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (106th in leap years). ... 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Awake! is a general-interest magazine published by Jehovahs Witnesses. ... Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life, teachings, death by crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as portrayed in the New Testament writings of his early followers, that Christians consider to be part of the Holy Bible and place after the Hebrew Scriptures that they call the... Karl Barth on the cover of TIME magazine Karl Barth (May 10, 1886 - December 10, 1968) was a Swiss Christian theologian, and one of the leading thinkers in the neo-orthodox movement. ... Communism - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ...

In spite of the evident hostility of the Hitler regime, Jehovah's Witnesses organized a convention in Berlin, Germany, on June 25, 1933. Some 7,000 persons assembled. The Witnesses publicly made their intentions clear: "Our organization is not political in any sense. We only insist on teaching the Word of Jehovah God to the people, and that without hindrance." In 1934, in a document produced to clarify their neutral stance, they told Hitler that they "have no interest in political affairs, but are wholly devoted to God's Kingdom under Christ His King." After intensified persecution of this group, a world-wide body of Jehovah's Witnesses passed a resolution in 1936 again strongly condemning the Nazi regime. Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... For other uses, see Berlin (disambiguation). ... June 25 is the 176th day of the year (177th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 189 days remaining. ... 1934 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The kingdom of heaven (or the kingdom of God) is a key concept in both Judaism and Christianity. ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

During the same time period this group was also persecuted in the United States and many other countries for similar reasons, mainly because they refused to serve in the military or help with war efforts. In Canada during that time, Jehovah's Witnesses were interned in camps along with political dissidents and people of Japanese and Chinese descent. In the United States, the Supreme Court issued a series of landmark First Amendment rulings that confirmed the Jehovah's Witnesses right to be excused from military service and the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. (See also Supreme Court cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses.) The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... The first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. ... Dorothea Lange photograph of Japanese-American students reciting the Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance is a promise or oath of allegiance to the United States, and to its national flag. ... Internationally there have been numerous Supreme Court cases involving Jehovahs Witnesses, evidence of the churchs strong resistance to government interference in their beliefs. ...

External Links

• Holocaust Learning Center - Jehovah's Witnesses: Persecution
• Holocaust - Jehovah's Witnesses
• Awake!' 'July 8,1998 - Jehovah's Witnesses' Website
• Anti-Semitism of Jehovah's Witnesses Prior World War II

Additional Reading

• Simone Arnold Liebster:Facing the Lion - Memoirs of a Young Girl in Nazi Europe ISBN 0967936659