They Stood Firm Amid Nazi Persecution

THE fearless integrity of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Nazi Germany stands out in stark contrast to the position taken by churches of Christendom. This is noted by professor of history John Weiss in his book Ideology of Death. He writes:

“In 1934 the Evangelical church insisted the Nazis must be ‘welcomed by Lutheranism,’ and thanked ‘the Lord God’ for giving the Germans a ‘pious and trusty overlord.’ . . . A Protestant bishop wrote to his clergy, ‘[Hitler] has been sent to us by God.’” Weiss continues: “The German Methodist church . . . agreed with Bishop Dibelius that Hitler had saved Germany from an imminent Bolshevik revolution, bringing peace and stability . . . The Mormon church advised its faithful that opposing Hitler was a violation of Mormon law.” And he adds: “Catholics were told it was a sacred duty to obey the new state, a duty never withdrawn even after the full horrors in the east were known to the clergy.”

But what about Jehovah’s Witnesses? Professor Weiss points out that “as a group, only the Jehovah’s Witnesses resisted the Nazis.” Thousands of them were incarcerated, continues Professor Weiss, “yet any Witness sent to a concentration camp could have been released simply by signing a paper renouncing his or her faith.”

Regarding the integrity of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Professor Weiss comments: “Their example illustrates the uniquely stubborn and heroic power early Christianity had before institutionalization and commitments to the social order overwhelmed the desire to live an uncompromising life. As a Protestant pastor wrote of them, ‘Not the great churches, but these slandered and scoffed-at people were the ones who stood up first against the rage of the Nazi demon, and who dared to make opposition according to their faith.’”