JANUARY 10, 2019
GERMANY

Memorial Site in Germany Organizes Traveling Exhibition Recognizing Persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses

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The Ravensbrück Memorial Site has organized a traveling exhibition entitled “Forbidden and Persecuted—Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp and in the Penitentiaries of the GDR.” It highlights the difficulties that Jehovah’s Witnesses faced in Germany under the Nazi regime (1933-1945) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany; 1949-1990), as well as the Weimar Republic (1918-1933). (See box “ Persecution and Legal Challenges Under Three German Governments.”) The exhibition debuted on Sunday, April 22, 2018, at the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp Memorial Site in Fürstenberg, Germany. During 2019, the exhibition will be featured in the German cities of Erfurt, Rostock, as well as in Potsdam, where it will be hosted in the parliament building for the state of Brandenburg.

A biography of one of the “double victims,” Adolf Graf, included in the exhibition.

The exhibition features 12 biographical displays of brothers and sisters who were “double victims,” having been persecuted by both the Nazis and the Communists of the GDR. Also included are audio stations featuring recordings of stories and farewell letters from Witnesses who were condemned to death, as well as readings of newspaper articles and historical documents from the Nazi period. The exhibition demonstrates that, unlike the tens of thousands who were imprisoned because of their ethnicity, political views, or perceived crimes, our brothers were imprisoned because of the conviction of their faith.

In a speech during the opening ceremony of the exhibition, historian Dr. Detlef Garbe explained: “From the beginning, the unwavering faith and confidence, the spirit of unity, and the uncompromising stand of Jehovah’s Witnesses made them a target of particular SS hatred. . . . Their unconditional confidence in the divine promise of salvation and their very pronounced sense of solidarity gave Jehovah’s Witnesses the inner strength to remain faithful to their conviction even in concentration camps.”

Even today, when Jehovah’s Witnesses face opposition and government bans, such as is the case in Russia, they are confident that Jehovah will continue to sustain them.—Isaiah 54:17.

Persecution and Legal Challenges Under Three German Governments

Weimar Republic (1918-1933)

Throughout Germany, the clergy attempted to take legal action against Jehovah’s Witnesses, then known as the Bible Students. As early as 1922, brothers were charged with “illegal peddling and refusal to pay peddling taxes,” and severe sentences were meted out to those found guilty. Between 1927 and 1930, nearly 5,000 court cases involving the Bible Students were instituted.

In 1928, at the instigation of church leaders, the State Revenue Department retracted the tax exemption status for the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. The churches later openly admitted their goal was to negatively impact the Bible Students’ preaching work. The brothers took the matter to trial and the courts later ruled in their favor.

In November 1931, Munich police banned the literature of the Bible Students in the region of Bavaria. In February 1932, the government of Upper Bavaria upheld this ban, and in March of that year, the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior rejected the Bible Students’ appeal considering it “without foundation.”

National Socialism (1933-1945)

On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany and immediately began restricting freedoms of assembly and press. During a special preaching campaign to distribute the booklet Crisis from April 8 to 16, the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses were banned in Bavaria. After the campaign, other states also banned the Witnesses’ work.

Many of the clergy supported Hitler and his persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses. On April 20, 1933, in a radio broadcast honoring Hitler’s birthday, Lutheran minister Otto said:

“The German Lutheran Church of the State of Saxony has consciously come to terms with the new situation and will attempt in closest cooperation with the political leaders of our people once again to make available to the entire nation the strength of the ancient gospel of Jesus Christ. The first results of this cooperation can already be reported in the ban today placed upon the International Association of Earnest Bible Students and its subdivisions in Saxony.”

By the summer of 1933, Jehovah’s Witnesses had been banned in the majority of the German states (a national law banning their activity was passed on April 1, 1935) and the building that was used as the branch office for Jehovah’s Witnesses at the time was confiscated by Hitler’s storm troopers. The homes of brothers were regularly being searched, and many Witnesses were arrested.

By the end of World War II, of the approximately 25,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany, about 10,700 were persecuted by the Nazis, 2,800 were sent to concentration camps, and about 1,000 lost their lives.

German Democratic Republic (1949-1990)

Also known as East Germany, the republic identified itself as anti-fascist, yet their treatment of Jehovah’s Witnesses was similar to that under the previous dictatorial government.

Between 1950 and 1985, more than 5,000 Witnesses were found guilty by the courts of “anti-state activities,” “state-threatening communication,” and “warmongering.” The average prison sentence for our brothers and sisters was five and a half years.

A total of 62 Witnesses died in custody in the GDR.

Jehovah’s Witnesses

Memorial Site in Germany Organizes Traveling Exhibition Recognizing Persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses

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