1933 Letter from JW's to Hitler and Nazi Party
by kwr 60 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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jwfacts
The letter was printed in the Yearbook 1933.
Yearbook 1934 pp.134-138
"It is falsely charged by our enemies that we have received financial support for our work from the Jews. Nothing is farther from the truth. Up to this hour there never has been the slightest bit of money contributed to our work by Jews. We are the faithful followers of Christ Jesus and believe upon Him as the Savior of the world, whereas the Jews entirely reject Jesus Christ and emphatically deny that he is the Savior of the world sent of God for man's good. This of itself should be sufficient proof to show that we receive no support from Jews and that therefore the charges against us are maliciously false and could proceed only from Satan, our great enemy. The greatest and the most oppressive empire on earth is the Anglo-American empire. By that is meant the British Empire, of which the United States of America forms a part. It has been the commercial Jews of the British-American empire that have built up and carried on Big Business as a means of exploiting and oppressing the peoples of many nations. This fact particularly applies to the cities of London and New York, the stronghold of Big Business. This fact is so manifest in America that there is a proverb concerning the city of New York which says: The Jews own it, the Irish Catholics rule it, and the Americans pay the bills…. The present government of Germany has declared emphatically against Big Business oppressors and in opposition to the wrongful religious influence in the political affairs of the nations. Such is exactly our position…. Instead of being against the principles advocated by the government of Germany, we stand squarely for such principles, and point out that Jehovah God through Christ Jesus will bring about the full realization of these principles and will give to the people peace and prosperity and the greatest desire of every honest heart…. A careful examination of our books and literature will disclose the fact that the very high ideals held and promulgated by the present national government are set forth in and endorsed and strongly emphasized in our publications and show that Jehovah God will see to it that these high ideals in due time will be attained by all persons who love righteousness… Let us remind the government and the people of Germany, that it was the League of Nations compact that laid upon the shoulders of the German people the great unjust and unbearable burdens. That the League of Nations compact was not brought forth by the friends of Germany."How shocking the letter is, and equally so it that the WTS has applied to the Holocaust Victim fund for money oweing to JWs.
The Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation (Swiss Banks) CV-96-4849 is a fund to compensate people suffering from the Holocaust. As stated at http://www.swissbankclaims.com/index.asp (March 3rd 2006)
“This is the official information website for the Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation against Swiss Banks and other Swiss Entities. You may have important rights under a proposed $1.25 billion (U.S.) Settlement of a class action lawsuit against private Swiss Banks and other Swiss Entities for their alleged conduct related to World War II and the Holocaust.”In 1999 the Watchtower Society applied for compensation payable to itself.
http://www.swissbankclaims.com/PDFs_Eng/WatchTowerBible.pdf contains the letter from the Watchtower Society, including the request they receive a portion of the funds on the following basis;"Some Witnesses died prematurely and left no heirs to make a claim to the Swiss Bank Settlement Fund. However, the legacy of spiritual resistance that they left behind is of great value in the education of future generations about the importance of standing up for the dignity and value of human life. Representing these individuals, the Watch Tower would be pleased devote any allocated moneys solely to the interests of Holocaust education and the remembrance of the prisoners who bore the purple triangle, according as the court might stipulate."
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MidwichCuckoo
The 1933 letter (I believe) was written in April, 4 months after Hitler became Chancellor.
And the official Watchtower website
http://www.watchtower.org/e/19980708/article_01.htm
A few critics, however, including some former associates of Jehovah's Witnesses, charge that the Witnesses attempted to compromise with the Hitler regime in its early days. They claim that representatives of the Watch Tower Society tried unsuccessfully to curry favor with the new government and that, at least for a time, they endorsed the racist ideology of the Nazis, which eventually led to the murder of six million Jews.
These serious allegations are absolutely false. The following is a frank examination of the events in question, based on available documentation and historical context.
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Leolaia
jwfacts....What was printed in the Yearbook was the "Declaration of Facts", not the letter. I don't think they have ever published the letter (unless the 1974 Yearbook has it). The Declaration contains some real doozies as well, particularly the statements about the Jews.
Midwich...That quote is especially interesting in light of the Hitler letter:
A few critics, however, including some former associates of Jehovah's Witnesses, charge that the Witnesses attempted to compromise with the Hitler regime in its early days. They claim that representatives of the Watch Tower Society tried unsuccessfully to curry favor with the new government and that, at least for a time, they endorsed the racist ideology of the Nazis, which eventually led to the murder of six million Jews. These serious allegations are absolutely false.
Did they not "endorse the racist ideology of the Nazis" when they said that "opposing (bekampft) the Jewish-materialist spirit domestically and abroad" is a "just principle" of the Reich? What would such "opposition" involve? Did they not know of what Hitler had already written in Mein Kampf? Did they not similarly endorse the racist ideology by treating as a "just principle" the provision that protects only the "ethical and moral beliefs" that do not conflict with those of "the German race"? I doubt the author really shared the same views as the Nazis regarding the Jews, but this shows the extent to which he wanted to "make nice" with them. The Declaration of Facts that was sent to Hitler and adopted at the convention has another statement along the same lines, which maligns the Catholics and Jews for joining together to boycott Germany because of the Nazi Party's principles. The whole reason why there was a boycott was because of Germany's treatment of the Jews:
http://www.ajhs.org/publications/chapters/chapter.cfm?documentID=230
By condemning the boycott, the German Declaration sides with the Nazis on this matter, and even criticizes American Jews for taking this stand. Although Rutherford was not probably responsible for this particular statement, "representatives of the Watch Tower Society" still were. Both statements from the Hitler letter and the German Declaration appear below:
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MidwichCuckoo
Leolaia - the WT is riddled with hypocrisy, if any other 'Religion' behaved the same way, the WTBTS would be (in fact does bhave) like a dog with a bone.
The paragraph before the one I quoted reads...
History recognizes that only a few groups courageously stood up and spoke out against Nazi terror. Among them were Jehovah's Witnesses, described as "a tiny island of unflagging [moral] resistance existing in the bosom of a terrorized nation." Their courageous stand is well documented by respected historians.
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Leolaia
The stand taken by many individuals was courageous, and the stand taken by the organization after 1933 was fearless, if not reckless (that is, forcing German JWs to distribute what would have been considered political propaganda within Germany; today, the Society takes a much, much, much more "low key" approach in countries "under ban," but that was not the case back then). But what transpired in 1933 involving Rutherford, the branch overseer in Germany, and other Watchtower officials was anything but courageous.
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MidwichCuckoo
Absolutely - it must have been very courageous to make a personal stand, and the 1974 Yearbook states that 203 Jehovah's Witnesses were executed (although, isn't the WTBTS trying to claim compensation for more?) Yet, when reading the WT article, it looks as though they are trying to rewrite History. I imagine none of those 203 knew that their leaders were 'prostituting' themselves to the enemy.
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MidwichCuckoo
...and this letter jwfacts (thanks for that - saved) has posted link to.. http://www.swissbankclaims.com/PDFs_Eng/WatchTowerBible.pdf .. is disgraceful. The WTBTS ought be ashamed. How on EARTH can a corrupt organisation have the gall to claim compensation? They can't even disguise their greed in that letter, try as they might. I'd better shut up...I'm miffed now
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fullofdoubtnow
"Some Witnesses died prematurely and left no heirs to make a claim to the Swiss Bank Settlement Fund. However, the legacy of spiritual resistance that they left behind is of great value in the education of future generations about the importance of standing up for the dignity and value of human life. Representing these individuals, the Watch Tower would be pleased devote any allocated moneys solely to the interests of Holocaust education and the remembrance of the prisoners who bore the purple triangle, according as the court might stipulate."
Just how low are these people prepared to stoop in pursuit of $$? I wonder what the "Holocaust education" they have in mind would be? A two-page article in the awake perhaps?
Did they actually get any money out of this, or are they likely to? I would hope not.
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badboy
I WONDER WHAT WT WOULD DO IF COPIES OF THIS LETTER WERE DISTRIBUTED IN A PUBLIC PLACE OR EVEN DOOR-DOOR.
IF WT DOESN'T SUE, IT MUST BE TRUE.
