Museum

ClassAvenger

Is it true that they have a section for Jehovah WItnesses in the Holocaust museum in Washington? A JW friend told me about it, and I was like "really?". If it's true, why is there a section for them?

SanFranciscoJim

According to the Holocaust Museum web site:

Jehovah's Witnesses endured intense persecution under the Nazi regime. Actions against the religious group and its individual members spanned the Nazi years 1933 to 1945. Unlike Jews and Sinti and Roma ("Gypsies"), persecuted and killed by virtue of their birth, Jehovah's Witnesses had the opportunity to escape persecution and personal harm by renouncing their religious beliefs. The courage the vast majority displayed in refusing to do so, in the face of torture, maltreatment in concentration camps, and sometimes execution, won them the respect of many contemporaries.

Source: http://www.ushmm.org/education/resource/jehovahs/jehovahsw.php?

I doubt the museum would want to get involved in the accuracy of statements as presented to them by the WTBTS, even there is a lot of information exposing collaboration and inaccuracies on a number of JW-related web sites.

Badger

Collaboration or not...a lot of witnesses did die there for their beliefs...They have just as much right to be memorialized.

SanFranciscoJim

Collaboration or not...a lot of witnesses did die there for their beliefs...They have just as much right to be memorialized.

I agree with you 100% Badger. Sorry if I came off sounding otherwise; that was not my intention.

I do, however, believe that the public has a right to full knowledge of the entire story, not a biased one. There were many Jewish, gay, and gypsy collaborators, too, and this is public knowledge.

Having said that, I feel the Holocaust Museum is doing a great service by remembering the memories of all who were persecuted at the hands of the Nazis. We should never forget this atrocity.

ClassAvenger

Oh I see. The reason I was asking was because they made it sound like this was another proof that they were the true religion. But I guess that would also make the Jewish the true religion. Well, thanks for the information guys.

mizpah

The individual German Jehovah's Witnesses who suffered and died in the Nazi concentration camps should get recognition. But the irony of the situation is that the Watchtower Society and its president, Rutherford, did all they could to pacify Hitler and the Nazis to save their property in Magdeburg. And this was done by condemning the Jews as well as the "Anglo-American" empire. Yet, the Watchtower seems to be capitalizing on this favorable publicity of the museum. Many Jehovah's Witnesses have now made a visit to the Holocaust Museum as a "pilgrimage."

One only wishes that the Watchtower Society was more forthright in its history of the organization. Instead, it has whitewashed what actually occurred and has hidden the facts.

Panda

Several years ago after a special holocaust survivor talk at UT. One young student came up to our survivor and said she was a JW and that JW's had also been in concentration camps. I said yes that's true however the jw's had a choice. (I also wanted to hug her and tell her how wonderful that she was in college) Many of the midlinger jews(sp?) had no choice even if raised christian. Even half or quarter jewish, it was their birth that decided their fate. Many would actually have supported Hitler and won the war for him, but his racist fears prevailed and so many christians were murdered for partial jewish blood lines. JW's had a choice. So I blame the brainwashing WTS for their deaths. They were in fear of their everlasting lives, being fed such drivel for years.

heathen

I think the WTBTS should be recognized for their refusal to join ranks with hitler . I also think the catholic church should be condemned for what they did . I thought it was a joke when the pope made a public apology for joining in anti semetic practices during WW2.

TresHappy

When I visited Dachau in 1980, we toured the museum and watched a short film about the history of the concentration camp. I remember hearing the Jehovah's Witnesses being mentioned as people who were persecuted. Perhaps someone has been there more recently and can refresh my memory!

SanFranciscoJim

I think the WTBTS should be recognized for their refusal to join ranks with hitler .

I disagree with the above statement. Rather, I think individual Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany should be recognized for their refusal to join ranks with Hitler.

Erich Frost was put in charge of the Watchtower Society's underground work in Germany in 1936.
According to the book Die Falschspieler Gottes, quoting Gestapo document Haftbuch Nr. 292, Gestapo Berlin, Dienststelle II B 2, Frost was betrayed to the Gestapo by August Fehst, a district servant in Germany (one of eight). Once Frost had been taken into custody, instead of "standing firm", he betrayed the names of the other seven district servants to the Nazis! This was done without his being administered any torture tactics. For his cooperation, the Gestapo rewarded him with transport to the German-occupied island of Alderney for the duration of the war. What did the WTBTS do about this? He was appointed German branch overseer - a position he held until 1955!

While there were many valiant individuals in Germany who stood their ground, their leaders, rather than setting the example, collaborated and compromised their own beliefs.

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