CATHOLIC OPPOSITION BEGINS

The Catholic Church, which had long held the monopoly in regard to religion in Luxembourg, took steps to try to stop the progress of the truth of God’s Word. At its instigation, police regulations were made to discourage people from viewing the Drama and to create the impression that it was prohibited. This impression was furthered by means of false reports in the Catholic press.

Nevertheless, using the addresses received at public meetings held after the Photo-Drama, pioneers were able to find the first persons in Luxembourg who were truly interested in the truth. In the south, the first Luxembourger who endeavored to become a true footstep follower of Christ was Fred Gores. How he got started is expressed by his following words:

“On one of the evenings, when public meetings were held, I got acquainted with a man in his middle thirties. And we both expressed the desire to convey to other people the new truth learned. After talking it over at my home, we informed Mr. Riedmiller of our determination. Shortly after that, Mr. Riedmiller brought along a large supply of booklets with the title ‘The Kingdom, the Hope of the World,’ some books and a so-called testimony card. As far as I remember, this testimony card was written in two languages: one side was German, and the other, French. The purpose of calling was mentioned on this card, together with a brief witness about the end of the world and the hope of a paradisaic earth.

“We beginners, my partner and I, one day took courage and went to a street we picked out to make our first try. No one had shown us how it was to be done. We had never done anything similar before. In spite of that, we took good courage and fully trusted in Jehovah. He would assist us, we thought to ourselves. And, indeed, Jehovah did help us in his own way. In a friendly manner we greeted the people and presented the testimony card. While the people were reading the card, we opened the suitcase and displayed our literature. It is noteworthy that, right from the beginning, we each went to the doors alone, without any fear that someone would ask questions that we might not be able to answer. We knew that it was the truth we represented. This strengthened us and made us confident, come what may.

“I well remember the first house I visited. A kindly man, of advanced age and with an artificial limb, at once accepted the book Creation and ordered a Bible. We had a friendly conversation and I promised to return to him as soon as possible to deliver the Bible . . .

“The joy to have had such a fine reception at the first house gave me the needed strength to continue, although in the next houses the people were skeptical, yes, even rejecting the message. After a short while, the police appeared and made a quick end to our work. They confiscated our suitcases with all the contents, drew up a protocol and ordered us to go home. What else could we do? Of course, we complained to Mr. Riedmiller about these experiences but he comforted us by supplying us with new literature. We bought a new suitcase​—this time of cheap cardboard—​and we tried again. Gradually we became wiser, and, after repeated confiscations of our literature and equipment, we started to hide the literature in the pockets of our overcoats and went from door to door without a suitcase. In this way we were less conspicuous.”

In Luxembourg city it was especially Eugen Reuter who started the proclamation work, in 1931, using the booklet The Kingdom, the Hope of the World. But opposition was encountered here too. Brother Reuter recalls: “Repeatedly Brother Riedmiller, as well as other pioneers, had been stopped by the police in their preaching activity from door to door because of the law on peddling. The proclamation of the truth proved to be a thorn in the flesh of the Catholic clergy in particular. Because of freedom of religion being guaranteed by the constitution, our preaching could not be stopped. Therefore, the pretext of peddling was used in an effort to stop the witnessing. The attempt was, however, without success. Because of the resistance, our zeal was stirred up. In spite of court convictions and, at times, acquittals, more and more interested persons had an active share in witnessing. The police accused us of peddling and taking orders for books.

“After three years of activity by Brother Riedmiller, an important countermeasure was taken by the authorities. Brother Riedmiller was escorted by two policemen to the German border and expelled from Luxembourg. Our lawyer stated that top officials had explained to him that August Riedmiller was deported from Luxembourg to protect the Catholic Church in the country. After several months the police urged Sister Emma Riedmiller to leave the country too. The third pioneer from Germany voluntarily left the country sometime later because of his impending expulsion.”

GERMAN INVASION

Suddenly, on May 10, 1940, Luxembourg was surprised by an invasion. In fact, almost all Europe was flooded with German troops with one blow. There was not much time to think about it. In the city of Esch-sur-Alzette, the officials decreed that all inhabitants should take the necessary things and leave at once for the French border.

On that day the activity of most of Jehovah’s witnesses practically ceased in the country of Luxembourg and the publishers were dispersed like a flock of sheep without a shepherd. The individual publishers faced severe trials during the next five years. Well-known brothers, who took the lead, were taken into protective custody because of reports made by some Germans who had settled here and who served as spies for the German army. After several months in the prisons of Luxembourg and Trier, the brothers were released but forbidden to do any preaching. However, even during these crucial war years it was possible to do some underground work, and, as a result, a few new disciples were baptized. Two brothers from Luxembourg, suspected of having continued preaching, faced a specially severe test. They were the only Witnesses from Luxembourg sent to the concentration camps.

FAITH TRIED IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS

One of these two brothers, Victor Bruch, supplies this report:

“In the prison of Trier we were given the familiar form to sign. By my signature I would confirm that I had followed a doctrine of error, that I disowned my faith, that I did not possess any literature from the Watch Tower Society, that I would not distribute it anymore, that I would report anyone who approached me with literature, and that I would respect all German laws. The Gestapo tried to weaken us by all means. When I persistently refused to accept these offers by not signing the form, the Gestapo took me into the concentration camp in Buchenwald/​Weimar, on January 2, 1941. First we two brothers were transferred to the penal settlement for three months and we had to work in a quarry, with poor food and not enough rest. I can never forget the following episode:

“When we arrived in Buchenwald, we were shaved bald, and chased naked to the bath across an icy street, then again across the street to the barracks where we were given clothes. There at a long counter we received from a prisoner our prisoner’s clothes, one piece after another, starting with the shorts. Behind this prisoner who supplied us with our things another prisoner stood, opposite me. Repeatedly he asked what there was new outside the camp. I did not reply. We were informed in prison that frequently the Gestapo disguised themselves in prisoner’s clothes in order to spy. I thought about this while he was asking and decided, ‘You’re not going to find out anything from me.’ As I received my final piece of clothing, he said to me: ‘You can talk to me, I am the same as you.’ It was indeed Brother Ernst Hassel from Saarbrücken. Later I understood this curiosity; the brothers had been in custody since 1937 and were cut off from the organization. The knowledge that one had was always pondered over and during the daily discussions at the various tables it was exchanged in fragments.

“After several months, it was in January 1942, the officials of the camp announced that if a prisoner possessed an additional pullover, besides the one received from the camp, he should hand it in immediately for the soldiers on the eastern front. Because all of Jehovah’s witnesses refused to supply even a handkerchief for war purposes they all had to stand for hours on the parade grounds on January 15, 1942. Then they took away the pullovers and, as a penalty, we had to work nights. Under floodlights we had to level a hilly area into a playing field. It was hard work after quitting time, with the soil frozen hard and with a temperature of −20 degrees Centigrade (−4 degrees Fahrenheit). Our shoes were taken away from us and we had to march wearing wooden clogs. But even during these hard times Jehovah assisted us. Only three weeks passed and all the clothing that had been taken away from us was placed in the prison block, neatly cleaned and repaired, with the remark that it was an overly hasty mistake. The officials in Berlin had not approved this method. . . .

“We were removed from our community block in the spring of 1943 and scattered in various political blocks. The camp management hoped to break the resistance of Jehovah’s witnesses in this way. But just the opposite occurred. Now we had a better chance to share our faith with others.

“In February 1944 craftsmen were needed in Lublin and so I was sent there. An effort was made to change us into being good Germans and not Luxembourgers anymore, much less witnesses of Jehovah. When I refused, I again had to go to a camp. My private clothes were torn from my body and I was brought to a secondary camp, in Pulawy. Here in Pulawy, a sawmill, we experienced terrible nights. The prisoners slept in a barracks together with the guards, separated from them only by a wooden partition. Almost every night there was repeated shooting between the partisans and the guards.

“As the Russians approached, we were deported to Auschwitz. Those brothers and sisters who had been in Auschwitz for a time had positions of trust. Several sisters were allowed to walk to the city without a guard to make purchases for their mistresses. In this way the sisters could contact brothers outside. They cared for a special, hard and dangerous job. They copied whole Watchtower articles into blue paper-covered school notebooks and tried to circulate them among as many as possible. I got some to read too. One theme I remember very well. It was ‘Consolation for the Dispersed Ones.’

“Again the Russians advanced. That meant for us a transfer to another area. It was a mad chase across Germany. Some of us were jammed into closed cattle cars and sent away. Our food for this journey was one loaf of bread. This had to last for three days. But in this case, too, we could rely on Jehovah’s wisdom. One brother told us: ‘If they already say three days, then we had better divide up our bread for six days.’ The fact was that ten days remained. At the stops we ate plantain (or ribwort), grass and anything that was growing near the railroad tracks, in order to keep from starving. On the eleventh day we arrived in Ravensbrück. More than 1,500 died of hunger during the last days of that trip. As soon as someone died, he was placed at the end of the railroad car and the carcasses were piled up in layers.

“In emergency barracks we were separated from the other prisoners by barbed wire. We had to be content with a half liter of vegetable soup and a slice of bread a day.

“Again the Russians seriously threatened the camp. This meant a transfer into another region. It was necessary to march for days. We brothers always tried to stick together. There were forty-nine brothers and one interested person who stuck together and encouraged one another. During one night there was shooting such as I had never heard before. When dawn broke we noticed, to our great astonishment, that the German guards had disappeared. After we washed ourselves, which for weeks had been very rare, we fifty went to the nearby village to find out what had happened. We observed there that all public buildings were occupied by Americans.

“Then we came together on a meadow at the outskirts of the village and a brother spoke a prayer of thanksgiving to Jehovah for His wonderful liberation. This took place on May 3, 1945, in Rubz. For days, we continued to march until the brothers gradually scattered so as to arrive at their homes. Jehovah had helped us to survive a difficult and trialsome time. This was possible only with his aid.

“On June 18, 1945, I arrived at home in Esch-sur-Alzette. To my greatest joy and gratitude, I there found my wife and children, who had arrived home only five days earlier than I. And this occurred after our being separated without any word from one another for almost two years.

“Through all these difficult years the text in Proverbs 3:5, 6 was a fine guide for me. It states: ‘Trust in Jehovah with all your heart and do not lean upon your own understanding. In all your ways take notice of him, and he himself will make your paths straight.’”