(2/2011) Never Again: World War III & The Witnesses

America: You are under attack and in the middle of World War III.  But what are you doing?  Watching football?

Look at the news–the Middle East is erupting.  What happens there will affect us here.  Religious minorities have been leaving the Middle East (especially Christians) for the last 100 years.  That war has been on your shores already (think 9/11).  Religious minorities will come under attack in the United States too. 

An important lesson from history:

During World War II, Jehovah’s Witnesses were rounded up by the Nazis because they were a large group that stuck to their beliefs.  They were persecuted alongside Jews, Polish Christians, Gypsies, and other minority groups.  Jehovah’s Witnesses were considered political prisoners, and were some of the first people imprisoned (right along with journalists and publishers which condemned the Nazis).  It was termed “protective custody” by the Nazis. (1935-1939)

Prisoners held by the Reich wore colored triangles–well known is the yellow Star of David, worn by Jews. And Catholic priests wore red triangles, but the Witnesses were given a purple triangle, separating them from other religious groups.  Hans Hesse, author of Persecution and Resistance of Jehovah’s Witnesses During the Nazi Regime writes that this group was set aside from other religions.  Their religious convictions caused them to be seen as outsiders in Germany.  Hesse adds that they would not salute Hitler, allow their children into the youth movement, participate in parades, nor join the Nazi movement.  When an opportunity was given to renounce their faith, they would not. (1)

Punished severely, the Nazis even beheaded Jehovah Witness women.  (Think Helene Gotthold who died in this way, Dec 1944). (2)

In 1936, the Gestapo arm of the Nazi government began compiling a list of Jehovah Witnesses. To do so, Nazi agents infiltrated the religious group. (3)

Approximately 10,000 Witnesses went to the German camps and 2500 died there.  (4) 

“Nazi authorities denounced Jehovah’s Witnesses for their ties to the United States and derided the apparent revolutionary millennialism of their preaching that a battle of Armageddon would precede the rule of Christ on earth. They linked Jehovah’s Witnesses to “international Jewry” by pointing to Witness reliance on certain Old Testament texts. The Nazis had grievances with many of the smaller Protestant groups on these issues.” (5, 6)

Historian Sybil Milton concludes that “their courage and defiance in the face of torture and death punctures the myth of a monolithic Nazi state ruling over docile and submissive subjects.” (7)

After the Nazis attacked the Jehovah Witnesses, they began their assault on the mainstream churches. (8)

“In response to Nazi efforts to destroy them, the worldwide Jehovah’s Witness organization became a center of spiritual resistance against the Nazis. An international convention of Witnesses, held in Lucerne, Switzerland, in September 1936, issued a resolution condemning the entire Nazi regime. In this text and other literature brought into Germany, writers broadly indicted the Third Reich. Articles strongly denounced the persecution of German Jews, Nazi “savagery” toward Communists, the remilitarization of Germany, the Nazification of schools and universities, Nazi propaganda, and the regime’s assault on mainstream churches.” (9)

The lesson to be learned: Jehovah’s Witnesses–you have reached World War III and once again you will be targeted.  Who will hold firm?  Who can run? (Some of the Witnesses fled Germany.)  Who will reach out to others?  Have you recognized the signs from history?

Catholic and Protestant churches:  I know that you see the Witnesses as those without a cross, perhaps view them as a cult.  But know this: Religious groups will be attacked first.    You are weak already–your membership dwindling.  Now is the time to ban together as fellow human beings–children of one God who made us all.  Is this so difficult to do?  I think not.  Christians–that is your God-given duty–love others as yourselves.  Do NOT attempt to convert anyone.

Another history lesson:

The Catholic Church was suppressed by Nazis in Poland. In addition to the deaths of some 3 million Polish Jews, 2 million Polish Catholics were killed.  Between 1939 and 1945, an estimated 3,000 polish clergy (18%) were murdered; of these, 1,992 died in concentration camps. In the annexed territory of Reichsgau Wartheland, churches were systematically closed, and most priests were either killed, imprisoned, or deported to the General Government.

The Germans also closed seminaries and convents, persecuting monks and nuns throughout Poland. Eighty percent of the Catholic clergy and five of the bishops of Warthegau were sent to concentration camps in 1939; in Chełmno, 48%. Not only in Poland were Christians persecuted by the Nazis. In the Dachau concentration camp alone, 2,600 Catholic priests from 24 different countries were killed.  These were people who had protected the innocent.  One such man was Julian Czyzycki (1911-5/12/1942).  A Polish Jesuit priest, he died a martyr, put to death by the Nazis at Dachau.  A brave man, he died protecting others.  The Vatican remained silent on this time period, known as the Gentile Holocaust. (10)

The Jehovah’s Witnesses are good, honest, God-fearing people.  They work hard and are bold in their speaking.  BE GLAD!  This is what has helped them endure the Nazi regime.  Learn from them.  Support them now as they begin to speak out against religious oppression.

Jehovah’s Witnesses: you must realize that you are not the only ones who are right.  God is for all people.  Even, all Jehovah’s Witnesses, and not just a few.  Stand with others who are of faith.  Do NOT attempt to convert anyone.

For religious minorities and all people of faith who worship God, this is the Way Out.  God’s Law is Love.  Stick together.  Help each other.  Many of you already do this, accepting the differences and looking for the similarities:  Muslims, Jews, Christians, Witnesses, Hindus, Sikhs, etc… 

This is the time to say, “NEVER AGAIN.”

There is only God.  On the Last Day of End Times it is His Name Only which will be lifted up.

1) Hesse, Hans. Persecution and Resistance of Jehovah’s Witnesses During the Nazi Regime. P. 18. http://books.google.com/books?id=mcxD0qxHMO0C&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=sylvia+jehovah%27s+witness&source=bl&ots=0G3t_aCtJj&sig=zwfPI8r-F_itS0jVLHeKPDCaxEI&hl=en&ei=7FpHTeivI4HegQek0MncAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CE8Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

2) http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005394

3) http://www.holocaust-trc.org/Jehovah.htm

4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Jehovah%27s_Witnesses_in_Nazi_Germany

5) Judith Tydor Baumel, Walter Laqueur:The Holocaust Encyclopedia. pp.346-350.

6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Jehovah%27s_Witnesses_in_Nazi_Germany

7) Judith Tydor Baumel, Walter Laqueur:The Holocaust Encyclopedia. pp.346-350.

8) http://www.holocaust-trc.org/Jehovah.htm

9) Ibid.

10) Craughwell, Thomas J., The Gentile Holocaust Catholic Culture.

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Liz Colado resides in the United States.  An essayist, and a poet since childhood, her poems reflect the images and premonitions of her subconscious dreams.  The writing of poetry has been her escape to a world apart, a dimension of other, a reality considered.  The meaning of poetry has helped center her all of her life.  She is also the main character of a life exposed, written by an anonymous author.  Read the poetry of Liz Colado and consider the interior of her mind to be the discovery of a personal dream journal on the edge. The author publishes exclusively at Basil & Spice. Visit Liz Colado’s Writer’s Page.

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