Some older examples:
1902 Russell seemed to dislike certain racist outlooks. But at one point he
wrote: "The secret of the greater intelligence and aptitude of the Caucasian un-
doubtedly in great measure is to be attributed to the commingling of blood
amongst its various branches; and this was evidently forced in large measure by
circumstances under divine control. It remains to be proven that the similar
commingling of the various tribes of Chinese for several centuries would not
equally brighten their intellects; and the same with the peoples of India and
Africa." ("Zion's Watch Tower," July 15, 1902, p.216)
http://www.freewebs.com/glenster1/RussellRickshaw2.jpg
1904 "CAN THE ETHIOPIAN CHANGE HIS SKIN?"
"We answer, No. But all will admit that what the Ethiopian cannot do for him-
self God could readily do for him. The difference between the races of men and
the differences between their languages have long been arguments against the
solidarity of the human family. The doctrine of restitution has also raised the
question, How could all men be brought to perfection and which color of skin was
the original? The answer is now provided.
"God can change the Ethiopian's skin in his own due time. Prof. H. A. Ed-
wards, Supt. of Schools in Slater, Mo., has written for the public press an
elaborate description of how Julius Jackson, of New Frankfort, Mo., a negro boy
of nine years, began to grow white in September, 1901, and is now fully nine-
tenths white. He assures us that this is no whitish skin disease; but that the
new white skin is as healthy as that of any white boy, and that the changed boy
has never been sick and never has taken medicines." ("Watchtowers Reprints,"
Feb.15, 1904, pp.3319,3320)
Russell taught that the skin color of Adam and Eve, originally perfect, was
Caucasian.
1937 Regarding the Roman Catholic church: "Amongst her instruments that she
uses are ultraselfish men called ‘Jews’, who look only for personal gain, and
who therefore readily yield to and join with the Hierarchy in any unrighteous
schemes."
"No one on earth can tell exactly what will come to pass; but those devoted to
the Lord, and according to the divine rule of applying the well known facts to
God's prophecy now in course of fulfillment, can well reach a reasonable conclu-
sion as to what shall come to pass. The question is, Will Great Britain and
America become Facist under the dominating control of the Roman Catholic Heir-
archy? The Scriptures and the facts seem to support that conclusion." ("Ene-
mies," J.A. Rutherford, 1937, pp.281,291)
1938 On November 9, the Kristallnacht began. In Germany, the "night of bro-
ken glass" began as Nazi troops and sympathizers looted and burned Jewish busi-
nesses (the all night affair saw 7,500 Jewish businesses destroyed, 267 synago-
gues burned, 91 Jews killed, and at least 25,000 Jewish men arrested).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht
Rutherford's Watchtowers in Germany began to criticize the treatment of Jewish
people by the German government. By this time, the JWs movement had been off
the German streets since Sept., 1937 (see 1936). Rutherford blamed Catholic
leaders instead of himself for getting his followers hurt and even killed.
1939 "Within many nations of the earth Jews are cruelly persecuted. Is there
any good reason why any person should be persecuted merely because that person
is a Jew? There is no just cause or excuse to persecute anyone. There is no
reason or just cause for the persecution of the Jews.... The common people
amongst the Jews believed Jesus, and received Him gladly; but their religious
leaders rejected and persecuted Jesus. The persecutors of Jesus were leaders of
religion, that is, the Pharisees, doctors of the law, who taught the Jewish peo-
ple. The leaders of the Israelites, called "Pharisees" and "doctors", indulged
in the practice of religion... Jehovah God had caused His prophet to foretell
that such perseuction would come upon Jesus by that class of persons (Isaiah 53:
1-12). This fact explains the cause for the persecution of the Jews, and from
what follows it will be seen that all perseuction is induced by the Devil...
"The Jews suffer cruel persecution at the hands of those who practice religion
of one kind or another. For instance, Hitler has his peculiar religion, which
is clearly the product of the Devil. Christians in Germany and elsewhere in the
earth suffer persecution at the hands of religionists because Christians serve
God and publish His name and His kingdom. All persons who desire righteousness
refuse to indulge in the persecution of others, regardless of what others may
believe. While it is true that the Jews are not Christians, yet because that
nation and people once bore the name of Jehovah God, even though they were cast
away as a nation, they are still the objects of the Devil's hatred and he in-
duces their persecution as a further reproach to the name of the Almighty God.
No doubt many Jews do wrong, but that is no reason or excuse for their persecu-
tion. The present generation of Jews are in no wise responsible for what the
Pharisees and others did nineteen centuries ago. Because of their name the Dev-
il hates them and causes their cruel persecution." ("The Watchtower," Nov.15,
1939, pp.16-18, "Jews")
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/scandals/133231/3/1933-Letter-from-JWs-to-Hitler-and-Nazi-Party
1940 (Date?) The following excerpts from Rutherford's booklet "CONSPIRACY
AGAINST DEMOCRACY"...
http://www.strictlygenteel.co.uk/booklets/conspiracy.html
...further indicate what caused the conflicts and fighting his JWs sound
trucks stirred up during the WWII era in a mostly Christian U.S.A.. Besides the
irony of Rutherford's pose of cursing anything that isn't clearly supported
scripturally, his message, emphasizing the damnation aspect of his exclusivist
pose, can be summed up this way:
Rutherford taught his followers his customized definitions to go with his
pose: that "religion" was created by Satan soon after the last apostle died and
is in direct opposition to the Bible. The Satanic religious and government al-
lies are "Many Jews, Catholics, and so-called 'Protestants,'" notably the Catho-
lic church, which he said "acts in full harmony and conjunction with the cruel
dictators, including Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and others of like political am-
bition. The head of that great religious organization is the adviser and close
ally of Hitler, who has threatened to overrun all the democracies of the world."
1946 A year after WW II, the late Rutherford's book "Let God Be True," used
for the next eight years to make converts, blamed the Jews for much of the Jews
own suffering:
"Much of their suffering has been brought upon themselves by their com-
mercial, rebellious course of action. They will ever be a target of assault
by Satan and his agents until Armageddon cleanses the earth of all opposers
of Messiah-Christ. Therefore, their only hope is to accept Jehovah's Mes-
siah, Christ Jesus, and come under the protection of his kingdom."
("Let God Be True," J.A. Rutherford, 1946 edition, p.209--omitted in the re-
vised 1952 edition)
JWs leaders have a way with irony sometimes. The problems of the JWs follow-
ers in Nazi Germany were largely brought on by the bogus prophet routine of
their own leader, Rutherford, a highlight being when he threatened Hitler that
he'd send the followers door to door with tracts critical of Hitler.
Rutherford didn't just drop Russell's Christian Zionism, he refuted Rus-
sell's prediction about 144,000 Jews in a restored Palestine and predicted that
there wouldn't be a Jewish nation (we now know as Israel):
"The facts and prophecies prove that the natural Jews will never again
be a chosen, regathered people. They have as a people flagrantly rejected
the Messiah, his truth and his kingdom. It is a false hope that they must
be regathered to Palestine and be converted in mass to Jesus Christ prior
to his second coming as a sign of the early establishment of his kingdom."
"Jehovah's Witnesses and the Third Reich: Sectarian Politics Under Persecu-
tion," James M. Penton, 2004, p.31
I guess sympathy for persecution can be a transient thing.
