Jehovah's Witnesses

by Olivia Bradstreet

During the Holocaust the Jehovah's Witnesses were prosecuted along with many other religious and racial groups.

The Jehovah's Witnesses, founded in 1870's America, were never truly welcomed in Germany and had very few friends. Even before the Nazis took hold, the Jehovah's Witnesses were not a particularly popular group, and their religious literature was often banned. When Hitler did take hold of Germany, they also would refuse to do the “Heil Hitler” salute, did not vote, and they did not join the German Labor Front or the army. They do not fight for any county (it against their religion), and Germany at the time was still recovering from losing WWI.

After Hitler became chancellor he banned Witnesses from certain areas in Germany, and eventually in 1935 the whole country. Twice the police raided Jehovah Witnesses' offices and confiscated religious literature. In 1934, Jehovah's Witnesses sent a letter to the government explaining their beliefs, which explained why they didn't vote, etc. This failed to convince the Nazis of the groups harmlessness. The Nazis then sent many Witnesses to concentration camps and prisons, and several were executed. Every Witness lost their job and benefits. After this the Witnesses were almost totally persecuted. A Gestapo was set up and began making lists of suspected Jehovah's Witnesses.

By 1939, including those from Austria and Czechoslovakia, 6,000 Witnesses were put into concentration camps and prisons.

Many Jehovah's Witnesses could sign a declaration renouncing their religion, but very few did.

All the while, Jehovah's Witnesses were still working, continuing to pray together, study the bible, and convert others. In the concentration camps they would still do these things, peacefully fighting the Nazis.