NAZISM
(Also called National Socialism)
(See also Concentration Camps; Germany [Nazi]; Hitler, Adolf; Holocaust [Nazi Era])
(Note centered headings below: Jehovah’s Witnesses; Quotations)
Austria: w05 5/1 24; w86 6/15 27
Catholic Church:
asks forgiveness of Jews: g98 4/22 29
bishops urge Germans to fight for Nazism: w89 3/1 4
book The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany: re 270
converted Jewess beatified as Catholic martyr (1987): g87 11/22 13
document We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah: g99 6/22 30; g98 10/22 26-27
French bishops during Nazi occupation: g92 9/8 29
incites government against Witnesses: jv 659-660
open letter of American Jewish Congress to Pope John Paul II (1987): g87 11/22 14
silence of pope: w89 4/15 11-12; g89 3/8 29
silent cooperation by clergy of: g87 11/22 13-14
support of Nazism: re 40, 237-238; g95 8/22 12-13; g94 10/22 8-10; w89 4/15 10-12, 22-23; w89 5/1 6; g87 4/8 18; g87 4/22 6; g87 8/8 28
church silence: w00 9/1 32; g95 8/22 12-15
clergy opposition: g95 8/22 13-14
clergy support: re 39-40; w97 8/15 32; g95 8/22 13-14; w89 4/15 23; g87 4/22 6
news clippings: g95 8/22 13
revised “New Testament”: w97 10/1 19
Czechoslovakia:
Terezín Fortress: g 3/12 19-20
Denmark: w89 3/1 12
discussion: g90 10/22 24, 26-27
Eichmann, Adolf: g86 4/8 13-14
Himmler, Heinrich:
attitude toward Jehovah’s Witnesses: w20.07 12-13; g93 4/22 7
attitude toward other nationalities: g89 4/8 9, 11; g87 3/22 26
Holocaust: ijwbq article 45; g95 8/22 3-15; g89 4/8 2-20
death marches: brfi 25-26, 31; w13 8/15 18, 22; w03 10/1 19; w98 1/1 27-28; jv 665
extermination squads (Einsatzgruppen): g89 4/8 5-6
German churches admit shared blame: g95 9/8 28
Jehovah’s Witnesses persecuted: ijwfq article 57
Kristallnacht: g90 9/8 18
not against Jews only: g89 4/8 9-16; g87 11/22 14
ordinary citizens unconcerned: g 10/12 27
Polish people: g89 4/8 9-11
reality of: g89 4/8 4-8
“Spa Terezín”: g 3/12 19-20
Vatican’s awareness of: g89 3/8 29
Lebensraum (living space) policy of conquest: g89 4/8 9, 11
meaning of term: g90 10/22 24
photo of Nazis in Nuremberg stadium: g88 10/22 21
Poland: g89 4/8 8-11
Protestant support: g89 11/8 19
racism: g87 3/22 26
rise to power: re 237-238
due to World War I: g87 5/8 20
end of Third Reich (May 8, 1945): brfi 31
“undesirables” sterilized or killed: g89 11/8 21
church silence: g89 11/8 21-22
von Papen’s role: re 237; w89 4/15 10-12
why nominal Christians were favorable: g02 8/8 6; w00 9/1 32
Jehovah’s Witnesses
appreciation for Witnesses under:
letter from former Jesuit student: g95 9/22 30
memorial plaque (Buchenwald, Germany) (2002): yb03 13, 21-23
memorial plaque (Hungary) (2002): w03 1/15 32; yb03 23
speakers at Auschwitz memorial day (2003): w05 8/15 30
arrests: jv 553
books discussing:
A History of Christianity: w93 2/1 5
Anatomy of the SS State: g89 4/8 13-14
Betrayal—German Churches and the Holocaust: w00 9/1 32
Between Resistance and Martyrdom—Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Third Reich: brfi 5; w11 4/15 21
Commandant of Auschwitz: jv 663
Forgive—But Do Not Forget: w93 7/1 19
Ideology of Death: w97 8/15 32
Imprisoned for Their Faith—Jehovah’s Witnesses in Auschwitz Concentration Camp: g 4/06 11
Kirchenkampf in Deutschland 1933-1945: brfi 5; re 102; w90 2/1 22
Kreuzzug gegen das Christentum (Crusade Against Christianity): brfi 30-31; g95 8/22 9; yb87 143-144
Les Bibelforscher et le Nazisme: w92 2/1 32
Les Témoins de Jéhovah face à Hitler: w99 10/15 32
Mothers in the Fatherland: pc 27-28; re 39
My Story: w06 8/1 6
New Religious Movements: A Perspective for Understanding Society: jv 664-665; w86 9/1 21
Of Gods and Men: w86 9/1 20-21
Persecution and Resistance of Jehovah’s Witnesses During the Nazi Regime 1933-1945: brfi 5
The Churches’ Response to the Holocaust: g98 11/22 13; jv 194; w88 4/1 21; g87 4/22 10
The Nazi Persecution of the Churches 1933-45: w94 1/15 5; w90 8/1 19
The Nazi State and the New Religions: Five Case Studies in Non-Conformity: jv 553, 663; w91 11/1 12; w90 8/1 19
The Religious Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Baden and Wurttemberg, 1933-1945: brfi 5
Values and Violence in Auschwitz: w93 2/1 5; jv 663
Widerstand und Emigration. Das NS-Regime und seine Gegner: brfi 5
Widerstand “von unten.” Widerstand und Dissens aus den Reihen der Arbeiterbewegung und der Zeugen Jehovas in Lübeck und Schleswig-Holstein 1933-1945: brfi 5
brochure Purple Triangles—“Forgotten Victims” of the Nazi Regime: brfi 1-32
Catholic Church incites government against: jv 659-660
children keep integrity: g 8/11 18-20; w09 6/15 4
children taken away: brfi 8-9; g 8/11 18-20; w07 9/1 9; w04 10/15 28; g93 9/22 15-19; yb89 123-125
claim that Witnesses compromised with Nazism: g05 10/22 10; g98 7/8 10-14
commendation for courage: w05 8/15 30; w01 6/1 21; w95 9/1 32; g87 4/22 6
comments by—
de Gaulle, Geneviève: w05 8/15 30; g95 8/22 10; jv 664
Gluck, Gemma La Guardia: w06 8/1 6
Himmler: g93 4/22 7
comments from Witnesses sentenced to death: w07 7/15 31
compromise by some: yb89 130-131
concentration camps: ijwfq article 57; brfi 10-19, 30; w04 10/15 27-28; jv 659-665, 720; g92 11/22 18-19; w89 6/15 27; yb89 113, 116-118, 131-133; g89 4/8 13-16; w86 6/15 27
survivors praise Witnesses: g 8/07 30; g95 8/22 10-11; w93 7/1 19
dates of significant events: brfi 30-31
‘declaration renouncing faith’ promoted by Nazis: w11 1/15 11; g03 9/8 19; jv 660-661, 663
content: jv 661
discussion: brfi 1-32; g89 4/8 12-16
European exhibition (1995): g96 6/8 16-19
executions: brfi 20-24
exhibition at Auschwitz (2004): g 4/06 10-11
expose Nazism from beginning: g95 8/22 3-12, 14-15
faithful unto death: kr 150; w04 12/1 28; g94 10/22 11, 13-14; yb89 110-111, 119-123
Gestapo Command to fight Witnesses: jv 553
Hitler’s threat: w05 12/15 22; g95 1/8 12; jv 552-553
Holocaust Museum (U.S.): g94 2/8 30; g93 5/8 31; g93 11/8 16-19
presentation on Witnesses in Netherlands: g99 9/22 24-25
housekeeper’s conduct wins family: w05 5/1 31
Jewish Witnesses: yb02 143; g01 12/22 19-23; w98 6/1 28-31
letters from Witnesses about to be executed: kr 150; w09 12/15 27; yb09 169; w07 7/15 31; w05 5/1 18; w03 1/15 32; w01 11/15 32; g95 8/22 5; jv 662; w89 1/1 32; yb89 121-122; w86 2/1 13; w86 6/1 11
letters to Hitler and Hitler’s government: brfi 6; w11 10/1 14; g03 1/8 31; g95 8/22 8; jv 315, 552, 693-694
letter to Witness about to be executed: yb89 122-123
life story of girl separated from family: g93 9/22 15-19
life story of girl whose parents were murdered: w04 12/1 24-29
love shown to neighbor who was responsible for arrest (France): g98 10/22 7; w95 6/15 6-7
loyalty to fellow Witnesses: w01 10/1 23
meeting with correspondence censor (Denmark): w89 3/1 13
narrow escapes: re 21; w04 12/1 27; w97 8/1 21; g92 11/22 20-21; yb89 125-127, 129
Nazi judge risks life to spare Witness: yb89 127-128
Nazis who thereafter become: g90 9/8 17-21; g86 4/22 13-16
Bernhardt, Gottlieb: g 2/10 18-20
Wurm, Ludwig: g95 1/8 11-15
neutrality: ijwfq article 57; brfi 21; ed 20; yb89 114-123; g87 9/8 7; w86 9/1 20-21
number remaining after: brfi 31
persecution: ijwfq article 57; w08 9/15 8; re 39-40; w01 3/15 8-9; w00 4/1 19, 24-28; jv 552-553, 659-665; g93 5/8 31; w90 2/1 22; w89 6/15 27; w88 2/15 17-18
persons:
Alfermann, Joachim: w07 10/15 32
Appel, Rolf: brfi 22
Arnold, Simone: brfi 9
Arzt, Louis: brfi 9
Benink, Gerrit: brfi 28
Bernecker, Heinz: brfi 22
Danner family: w09 6/15 3-6
Dost, Evert and Ansje: brfi 29
Engleitner, Leopold: brfi 18; w17.03 10; w05 5/1 23-28
Frost, Erich: brfi 28
Fundis, Heinrich: brfi 21
Gotthold, Helene: brfi 24
Harms, Johannes: brfi 23; g95 8/22 5
Henning, Max: brfi 29; w96 6/1 21-23
Hisiger, Joseph: w09 3/1 20-23
Holtorf, Ferdinand and Natalie: w05 1/1 18-23
Jung, Eugène: brfi 9
Kazak, Anastasia: brfi 27
Klose, Erwin: g92 11/22 18-21
Krause, Anneliese: brfi 8
Kühnel, Karl: brfi 24
Kusserow, Wilhelm: brfi 23
Kusserow, Wolfgang: brfi 23; g95 8/22 5
Letonja, Anton: g03 2/8 16-20
Letonja, Willi: brfi 20
Liebold, Kurt: brfi 21
Liska, Hermine: g 8/11 18-20
Mewes, Berthold: brfi 8
Moser, Alois: brfi 27
Moserth, Max: brfi 21
Ott, Gertrud: brfi 27
Poetzinger, Martin and Gertrud: brfi 29
Rehwald, Hans: brfi 23
Rehwald, Josef (Joseph): brfi 28
Reuter, Georg: w97 4/15 15-16; g90 9/8 17-21
Riet, Narciso: w05 6/15 32
Schmidt, Hermine: brfi 27
Speidel, Sigurd: brfi 21
Stossier, Johann: g93 11/8 18
von Bennekom, Jacob: brfi 20
Wanner, Willi: g86 4/22 13-16
Wauer, Ernst: w91 8/1 25-29
Weseler, Paul: brfi 21
Winkler, Robert Arthur: brfi 28; w88 2/15 17-18
Wohlfahrt, Franz: g94 10/22 8-15
Wohlfahrt family: brfi 22
Zehden, Emmy: brfi 24; g97 1/22 31
Poland: w07 9/1 9-11; w04 10/15 27-28
purple triangles: ijwex article 13; w07 9/1 10; w06 2/15 32
exhibitions based on: brfi 3-4
refusal to compromise: w06 8/1 6; re 39, 102; w05 8/15 30; jv 660-661; w90 8/1 19; w86 9/1 20-21
contrast with churches: w97 8/15 32
refusal to heil Hitler: g 8/11 18; w04 12/1 25; jv 196, 669
resolution sent to Hitler: brfi 5; yb87 148
resolution “Warning!”: g95 8/22 9
school report “Forgotten Victims of Nazism”: w04 9/1 29
spiritual food provided: brfi 21, 31; w89 3/1 12; yb89 101-110, 129-130
telegrams to Hitler’s government: g95 8/22 8; jv 315, 552, 693-694; yb87 143
traitors: w89 5/1 11-12
Ukraine: yb02 142-143; g00 9/22 19-20
underground activities: brfi 7; w89 5/1 11-13; yb89 101-110
video Jehovah’s Witnesses Stand Firm Against Nazi Assault: w01 6/1 21; yb98 46-47; g97 6/22 14-15
Quotations
cross and swastika came ever closer: g95 8/22 13; g94 10/22 3
exceeds in horror the rough-and-ready butcheries of Genghis Khan: g94 11/8 11
Jehovah’s Witnesses:
against all odds, Witnesses in the camps met and prayed together, produced literature and made converts: jv 663
all who saw them die were deeply moved, and even the execution squad itself was affected: jv 663
a thorn in the side of the Monarch of Munich: w88 4/1 21
beam of light in a dark age: g97 6/22 14
bravest: g95 8/22 14; g87 4/22 6
brought morally to their knees the might of that Gestapo power: g95 8/22 12
Christian martyrs, unshakable opposition against coercion of conscience: g95 8/22 14; g93 5/8 4
collective and uncompromising defiance that commands respect: w11 10/1 14
commanded eventually even the respect of the SS: jv 664
could have been immediately freed: w05 8/15 30
diamond hard in their resistance: g93 5/8 5; g89 4/8 14
did not cooperate with any facet: pc 27-28; re 39
did not doubt their own roots, for their faith had been evident since the time of Abel: jv 665; w86 9/1 21
did speak out, from the beginning, with one voice, with tremendous courage: g98 10/22 27; g95 8/22 15
faith in God and trust in promises of Bible gave strength to resist: g97 6/22 15
Hitler government had placed itself in the position of God; resistance became mandatory for Witnesses: brfi 5
like a light that never flickers: w88 4/1 21
most important of Nazi objections was their political neutrality: g98 11/22 13; jv 194; g87 4/22 10
Nazis panicked: w86 9/1 21
never allowed themselves to be “reeducated”: w92 2/1 32
no other group exposed to sadism of SS-soldiery in such a fashion: w93 9/15 14; jv 553
no other resistance organization took comparable initiatives: brfi 5
no other sect displayed anything like the same determination in the face of the full force of Gestapo terrorism: w90 8/1 19
no other sect suffered as much: brfi 5
one out of every two imprisoned, one in four lost lives: w96 2/1 6; w90 8/1 19
one third were killed: w90 2/1 22
only against the Witnesses unsuccessful: w01 7/15 19; w93 9/15 15; jv 553; w91 11/1 12
only religion that completely refused to accede: w05 8/15 30
only they resisted: w97 8/15 32; w86 9/1 20-21
ordinary people who stood firm: w05 8/15 30
persecuted on religious grounds only: jv 660; w86 6/15 27
persecution till death struck just them: w00 4/1 25
refused any cooperation: g95 8/22 14; w93 2/1 5; g87 4/22 6
refused to endorse or collaborate: w00 9/1 32
refused to have anything to do with Nazis: w04 2/15 6-7
rejected National Socialism with greater determination than the Christian churches: w01 6/1 21
seemed protected against the camp experience: w92 2/1 32
small group, relying on faith and resolute solidarity, succeeded in withdrawing: brfi 5
solid ideological force: w93 2/1 5; jv 663; g89 4/8 14-15
SS was never quite equal to the challenge: brfi 13; g95 8/22 12; g89 4/8 15
stance positively influenced other prisoners: g 4/06 11
surprisingly, for the Nazis, they could not be eliminated: g93 5/8 5; g89 4/8 14
these slandered and scoffed-at people stood up first: w97 8/15 32; g95 8/22 14
this (Jewish) institution acknowledges and admires: g00 4/8 31
time-honored methods of persecution, torture, imprisonment, and ridicule were not resulting in the conversion of any Witnesses: jv 664; w86 9/1 21
tiny island of unflagging resistance: g98 11/22 13; jv 663; g89 4/8 14-15
to think that we Christians of today are ashamed of the so-called sect: g95 8/22 14
uncompromising faith: re 102; w90 2/1 22
unusual heights of human dignity and moral behavior: w92 2/1 32
we hold in honor the memory of these people: g97 6/22 14
won their battle against Nazism: w93 2/1 5; jv 663; g89 4/8 14-15