Jehovah's Witnesses Research Paper
To die for what you believe in
The Holocaust is known for the mass murders of Jewish people under the power of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party, which is also known as the National Socialist group, but there were many other groups that were persecuted during this time. The National Socialist group also persecuted Gypsies, Homosexuals, Blacks, handicapped and disabled, and last but not least Jehovah’s Witnesses. Jehovah’s Witnesses were not persecuted because of their racial appearances but because of their religion. Sometimes religion can be more important than your own life. The Jehovah’s Witnesses were targeted because of their refusal to swear loyalty to the Nazi’s or to serve in their armed forces. (Jehovah’s Witness: Article)
Before the Holocaust started, the Jehovah’s Witnesses were actually targets of other groups “Mainstream Lutheran and Catholic churches deemed them heretics. Moreover, citizens often found the …show more content…
Witnesses’ missionary work – knocking on doors and preaching –to be invasive.” (Jehovah’s Witnesses: Article) To this day, many people find that the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses are very bothersome. When they open the door, most people don’t want to stand there listening to someone preach and talk about religion for so many minutes. But after the Nazi’s came to power the persecution of this group took a turn for the worse. “They refused to swear loyalty to the Nazi regime. Moreover, their international theological and organizational contacts were anathema to the Nazi police state. Initially, witness indifference to the Nazi state manifested itself in the refusal to raise their arms in the Heil Hitler salute, join the German Labor Front (which all salaried and wage workers were forced to join), participate in Nazi welfare collections, and vote in elections.” Because of the things they refused to do, the Nazi’s started passing laws saying that it was banned for them to carry their religious literature. When they would have meetings, the Gestapo would come in and break it up and occupy the place they were meeting. “The German’s had put a ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany… When you had the … bible, which has the name Jehovah in there, they called this the Jewish bible. The person who had that bible could be arrested with no trial whatsoever.” (Liebster , 2009) Many of the Jehovah Witnesses would create books that would talk about their religion and they would go door to door and try to convert people. Many of the Jehovah’s Witnesses were made up of German people. Roughly, about 25,000- 30,000 Germans had become members of the Society of International Bible Students, another name for the Jehovah’s Witness. (Jehovah’s Witness: Article) Because many of the Jehovah’s Witnesses were German, they gave them a choice. Join their party and serve in the armed forces or else. Many refused and were sent to face persecution, death camps, or concentration camps. Their religious beliefs are based on the teachings of Charles Taze Russellin the city of Pittsburgh during the year of 1872. (Jehovah’s Witness: Article)
The children of the Witnesses were ridiculed and expelled from school for no reason. Many of the students were shunned or beaten. (Jehovah’s Witness: Article) Many of the children then did not have an education because of the way that the German student’s and faculty treated them. There were times even when they found reasons to remove children from their parents and send to places where they can be brought up as “Good Germans.” Many children were forced to be Nazi’s.
Because of the large amount of Witnesses who refused to join the Nazi’s, the amount of Jehovah’s Witnesses that were persecuted escalated.
“The number of Jehovah’s Witnesses who died in concentration camps and prisons during the Nazi era is estimated at 1,000 Germans and 400 from other countries.” Although with that statistic, it is believed that more Germans died than others but non-German Jehovah’s Witnesses had it worse. Many of them were executed for refusing in the German military. 250 people died in many gruesome ways. Some were beheaded like Helene Gotthold, many were worked to death in concentration camps, and many just died on the spot. The persecution of the Jehovah’s Witnesses was wrong. These people who stood up for what they believed in died in pain, in horrible gruesome ways that nobody should have to. The work of the Jehovah’s Witness proved to be a very strong faith. Because of the Jehovah Witnesses that died for their religion, many could say that religion is not as important as their life, but for these people it
is.
Work Cited
Liebster, S. (2009, January 23). Interview by USC Shoah Foundation Institute. Holocaust survivor simone liebster testimony clip "jehovah witness persecution", Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m9QnVYU08U
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Jehovah’s Witnesses: Article.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10006187. Accessed on [10/04/2013].
The Holocaust is known for the mass murders of Jewish people under the power of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party, which is also known as the National Socialist group, but there were many other groups that were persecuted during this time. The National Socialist group also persecuted Gypsies, Homosexuals, Blacks, handicapped and disabled, and last but not least Jehovah’s Witnesses. Jehovah’s Witnesses were not persecuted because of their racial appearances but because of their religion. Sometimes religion can be more important than your own life. The Jehovah’s Witnesses were targeted because of their refusal to swear loyalty to the Nazi’s or to serve in their armed forces. (Jehovah’s Witness: Article)
Before the Holocaust started, the Jehovah’s Witnesses were actually targets of other groups “Mainstream Lutheran and Catholic churches deemed them heretics. Moreover, citizens often found the …show more content…
Witnesses’ missionary work – knocking on doors and preaching –to be invasive.” (Jehovah’s Witnesses: Article) To this day, many people find that the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses are very bothersome. When they open the door, most people don’t want to stand there listening to someone preach and talk about religion for so many minutes. But after the Nazi’s came to power the persecution of this group took a turn for the worse. “They refused to swear loyalty to the Nazi regime. Moreover, their international theological and organizational contacts were anathema to the Nazi police state. Initially, witness indifference to the Nazi state manifested itself in the refusal to raise their arms in the Heil Hitler salute, join the German Labor Front (which all salaried and wage workers were forced to join), participate in Nazi welfare collections, and vote in elections.” Because of the things they refused to do, the Nazi’s started passing laws saying that it was banned for them to carry their religious literature. When they would have meetings, the Gestapo would come in and break it up and occupy the place they were meeting. “The German’s had put a ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany… When you had the … bible, which has the name Jehovah in there, they called this the Jewish bible. The person who had that bible could be arrested with no trial whatsoever.” (Liebster , 2009) Many of the Jehovah Witnesses would create books that would talk about their religion and they would go door to door and try to convert people. Many of the Jehovah’s Witnesses were made up of German people. Roughly, about 25,000- 30,000 Germans had become members of the Society of International Bible Students, another name for the Jehovah’s Witness. (Jehovah’s Witness: Article) Because many of the Jehovah’s Witnesses were German, they gave them a choice. Join their party and serve in the armed forces or else. Many refused and were sent to face persecution, death camps, or concentration camps. Their religious beliefs are based on the teachings of Charles Taze Russellin the city of Pittsburgh during the year of 1872. (Jehovah’s Witness: Article)
The children of the Witnesses were ridiculed and expelled from school for no reason. Many of the students were shunned or beaten. (Jehovah’s Witness: Article) Many of the children then did not have an education because of the way that the German student’s and faculty treated them. There were times even when they found reasons to remove children from their parents and send to places where they can be brought up as “Good Germans.” Many children were forced to be Nazi’s.
Because of the large amount of Witnesses who refused to join the Nazi’s, the amount of Jehovah’s Witnesses that were persecuted escalated.
“The number of Jehovah’s Witnesses who died in concentration camps and prisons during the Nazi era is estimated at 1,000 Germans and 400 from other countries.” Although with that statistic, it is believed that more Germans died than others but non-German Jehovah’s Witnesses had it worse. Many of them were executed for refusing in the German military. 250 people died in many gruesome ways. Some were beheaded like Helene Gotthold, many were worked to death in concentration camps, and many just died on the spot. The persecution of the Jehovah’s Witnesses was wrong. These people who stood up for what they believed in died in pain, in horrible gruesome ways that nobody should have to. The work of the Jehovah’s Witness proved to be a very strong faith. Because of the Jehovah Witnesses that died for their religion, many could say that religion is not as important as their life, but for these people it
is.
Work Cited
Liebster, S. (2009, January 23). Interview by USC Shoah Foundation Institute. Holocaust survivor simone liebster testimony clip "jehovah witness persecution", Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m9QnVYU08U
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Jehovah’s Witnesses: Article.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10006187. Accessed on [10/04/2013].