• Austria
    1989 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • A Tumultuous Meeting in Vienna

      When on a tour of various branch offices in 1922, Brother Rutherford, the Watch Tower Society’s second president, included a visit to Vienna from May 30 to June 1. Plans were made for a lecture to be given in the spacious Katharinenhalle. Would the reception be more favorable than when Brother Russell had attempted to speak in Vienna 11 years earlier?

      When Brother Rutherford and his interpreter, Brother Conrad Binkele (from Switzerland), ascended the platform, every available space in the hall, including the aisles, was packed with people. Some were even seated on the platform, right up against the speaker. Others were still trying to get in. However, among the thousands present, there were a few hundred who had come not to listen quietly to the talk but, rather, to disrupt it. Opposers of the Bible’s message had their henchmen stationed throughout the audience, particularly toward the rear of the hall.

      All went well for about the first 40 minutes of the talk. Brother Rutherford had been warned, however, that there would be an attempt to stop the meeting. So he first covered the main points of his discourse, with the intention of elaborating afterward. But as soon as the main points had been dealt with, a tumult broke out. Some 200 to 300 troublemakers began to shout and stamp their feet like a wild herd of cattle. Young men and women jumped onto chairs and signaled in all directions. As with one sharp blow, these troublemakers brought the talk to an abrupt end.

      Brother Rutherford tried to appeal to the audience to calm down and behave properly, but in vain. Again he tried to speak to the audience through his interpreter, saying: “I want to take a vote of this audience and see how many wish to hear this lecture through.” Most of the audience raised their hand affirmatively. But the riotous ones loudly voiced their disapproval. With a firm voice Brother Rutherford now said: “Those who do not wish to hear, please withdraw from the hall immediately and let the people hear who do wish to hear.”

      At that, the full anger of the disturbers was unleashed. The leaders of the commotion pushed their way through the aisles. When they came to within 15 feet [5 m] of the platform, the troublemakers began to sing the “Internationale.” Their action was so frenzied that it appeared they were demon possessed.

      The manager of the hall now arrived and demanded that the speaker leave the platform immediately. Brother Rutherford hoped that the storm would blow over and that the police would subdue the crowd so that he could continue with the lecture. But this was not the case. The manager switched off some of the lights, but the opposers turned them on again. Becoming still more alarmed, the manager and two or three of his assistants ran to the speaker’s stand, seized Brother Rutherford by his arm, and pulled him to the rear out of sight.

      As the mob reached the front of the platform, they were still singing, and a few of them cried: “Where is he? Where is he? Our flag is red!” The mob, not able to find Brother Rutherford, posted guards at the exits. But they evidently overlooked a door at the rear of the platform. This door, usually locked and barred, was immediately opened. Brother Rutherford and Brother Arthur Goux, who had come with him from New York, rushed through it, and the door was promptly closed and bolted again.