• France
    1980 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • BROTHERS KNORR AND HENSCHEL VISIT

      The French press, both in occupied and unoccupied France, had carried a news dispatch in January 1942 announcing the death of Brother Rutherford. The news of his death and of his being succeeded by Brother Nathan H. Knorr had even reached the Dachau concentration camp by 1943. But who was Brother Knorr?

      The French brothers were able to have their first personal contact with him on November 17, 1945, when he and his secretary, Brother Milton Henschel, made a brief stopover in Paris. This visit lasted only a few hours, but it provided some opportunity to discuss reorganizing the work and getting it on a legal footing. However, that night Knorr and Henschel had to catch a train for Berne but promised to return.

      Eleven days later, on the morning of November 28, Brothers Knorr and Henschel and their interpreter, Alfred Rütimann, arrived at the Paris East train station and were met by Henri Geiger and his son. A visit was made to the American embassy, the American Chamber of Commerce in Paris, and finally a lawyer. As you may recall, in October 1939 the work had been prohibited in France by order of the Ministry of the Interior. So this matter needed handling through proper channels in order to obtain legal recognition of our work.

      That evening Brother Knorr spoke to 21 brothers and sisters in Paris through an interpreter for an hour and three quarters. All were very enthusiastic and expressed their joy in their privileges of service. Brother Knorr promised to have clothing sent to them. He had seen the brothers’ great need for such material assistance, as their clothing was old and worn out. Of the eventual arrival of this clothing, Brother Geiger wrote:

      “This promised sending​—eight tons of clothing men, women and children—​came in in 75 cases and has been distributed among the brethren. Numerous were those whose eyes became humid when holding their gifts in hand, and all wholeheartedly thank their American brethren for this true Christian gift. So, numerous brethren were better equipped for the gospel-preaching work during the coming winter.”