Posts by OrphanCrow

43

Account of Jehovah's Witness Women Prisoners in Auschwitz (very creepy)

by objectivetruth in

a book titled written by a long ti me ss member .rudolf franz ferdinand hoess.

here is a quote from this book : .

"a pleasant contrast to this type were the female jehovah's witnesses, called "bible bees" or "bible worms.

OrphanCrow

Yes, Kaik, there are many wartime records that have yet to see the light of day. And I am sure that archives in Germany, Austria and Czech republic would have valuable material.

The fifty year release date for the declassification of some war records has come and gone which has seen an upsurge of research material being presented, yet there are classified files that are still sealed - some have a 100 year release date and some will be never be unsealed. And then, there are the missing files, ones that have yet to be found. Like the box of files that mysteriously disappeared from Wewelsburg. Wewelsburg Castle had JW caretakers that looked after the castle until the end of the war. It would be interesting to know what was in that particular box of files.

As much as the Watchtower Society is perceived to be a USA based corporation with a religious arm/front, there are activities in other countries that have been critical to how their religion developed and Germany's role in the Watchtower Society's historical development is not always considered well enough.

I had posted earlier that the Society had major upheavals, financial difficulties, and re-structuring that occurred during the 20s and 30s. It was during this time period, between the two wars, that Rutherford changed his political/doctrinal stance and re-emerged from the dust as a brand new religion with American friends in high places and a mansion in California. What I left out of that earlier post on this thread was a mention of the activities that were happening in Germany with the Watchtower during those same years.

At the time that the USA Watchtower Society had major strife happening within its ranks, the same thing was going on in Germany. Conrad Binkele, of the German Watchtower Society, had a falling out with Rutherford and Binkele left the German Watchtower Society in 1925, leaving the Watchtower in Germany as a playground for Rutherford's plans to re-organize the Society's activities and re-structure the religion. From 1925 onwards, Germany was used as a 'testing ground' for congregational reorganizing. There is a good past thread on this forum that lays out the details of how, in Germany, the congregations were made smaller, the number of meetings changed, and the material simplified in the literature - all with a goal of retaining control and managing the sales force for the distribution of the literature. By the time Rutherford made his announcement about the new name for his religion in 1931, the 'market testing' for the most effective ways on how the religion was going to change had already been done in Germany. Germany had a much larger influence on how the American based religion developed during the critical years of 1925-1931, and then emerged as a 'new' religion, than most people realize.

43

Account of Jehovah's Witness Women Prisoners in Auschwitz (very creepy)

by objectivetruth in

a book titled written by a long ti me ss member .rudolf franz ferdinand hoess.

here is a quote from this book : .

"a pleasant contrast to this type were the female jehovah's witnesses, called "bible bees" or "bible worms.

OrphanCrow

"Did not the "Declaration" also include a clause that the signee would support the Nazi /National cause in addition to stop the wt propaganda?"

The following is a copy of the declaration as it was published by the Watchtower Society in one of their publications:

*from the website http://www.holocaust-trc.org/jehovahs-witnesses/declaration-renouncing-beliefs/

Declaration Renouncing Beliefs

Jehovah’s Witnesses, incarcerated in prisons and concentration camps, were given the opportunity to be freed if they signed this statement renouncing their beliefs. Few did so, even when beaten or tortured by their guards.

DECLARATION RENOUNCING BELIEFS
Concentration camp …………………………………………………………..
Department II

DECLARATION

I, the ……………………………………………………………………………….
Born on ……………………………………………………………………………
In ……………………………………………………………………………………
herewith make the following declaration:

I have come to know that the International Bible Students Association is proclaiming erroneous teachings and under the cloak of religion follows hostile purposes against the State.
I therefore left the organization entirely and made myself absolutely free from the teachings of this sect.
I herewith give assurance that I will never again take any part in the activity of the International Bible Students Association. Any persons approaching me with the teaching of the Bible Students, or who in any manner reveal their connections with them, I will denounce immediately. All literature from the Bible Students that should be sent to my address I will at once deliver to the nearest police station.
I will in the future esteem the laws of the State, especially in the event of war will I, with weapon in hand, defend the fatherland, and join in every way the community of the people.
I have been informed that I will at once be taken again into protective custody if I should act against the declaration given today.

……………………………………………………..Dated………………………..
………………………………………………………………………….Signature

Reprinted and translated in Jehovah’s Witnesses: Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom (New York: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., 1993); p. 661.

This is a good example of how the Society's bias informs their presentation of history. In the previous post, I presented information from an outside researcher that claimed over 50% of the Bible Students signed the pledge while imprisoned and 10% signed after they were sent to the camps and the reasons were given as to why it was more favorable not to sign than sign once a person reached the camps.

And yet the Society's spin is quite different, claiming very few signed.

That is a significance difference in perspective and which is the correct one? Or do the true figures or 'correct' viewpoint lie somewhere in between? I tend to gravitate towards the independent and outside researcher. The Society's track record for presenting truthful facts is not good. In fact, the Society's entire history is riddled with lies and confusion.

This is why researching history is so fascinating and frustrating at the same time. There are so many different accounts with each having their particular bias and ethnocentric point of view that it is important to acknowledge the biases behind the interpretation of historical 'facts'. For example, I once tried to track down a comment made in one of the Society's publications concerning Felix Kersten, Heinrich Himmler's personal 'doctor'. Apparently, the quote was taken from Kersten's Diary. So, I got Kersten's Diary, read it, never found the quote or any reference whatsoever to what the Watchtower claimed. Then I found out that Kersten had left behind so many pages of handwritten material, that it was heavily edited, not once, but, I believe, six times, which each edited version being published in different countries, and with different material presented in each. The diaries have been criticized for deliberately presenting material in order to either hide certain details or distort what Kersten actually recorded. I had read the version published in Britain. There was a version published in New York which is more than likely the edition the Society used.

And speaking of different versions of publications, the Society has a history of publishing very different material in their German magazines than those published in Britain or North America.

A poster earlier had made the comment that we have a USA based view here. That is simply because the material that exposes the history of the German Watchtower to the North American audience is only recently accessible. I have discovered many interesting things from visiting German websites.

16

Why doesn't the GB make field service optional for certain congregation members only similar to the Mormons?

by yadda yadda 2 in

ephesians 4:11 makes for a strong case that not every member of the congregation should have to go door-to-door.. "so christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,..".

this shows that different members of the first century congregations served different ministerial functions.

so why don't the jw's say that field service is no longer compulsory for all congregation members, only for those who feel a calling for it per eph 4:11..... the mormons sort of do this with their young men and women 'elders' doing 2 years voluntary, genuinely full-time service (these mormons boys put in some big hours 6 days a week and have their meals provided for them, etc!

OrphanCrow

I think the door to door work is on its way out.

As far as all the historical literature quotations as to what they have believed to this point, they are irrelevant.

The rank and file will accept any 'new teachings' from the Society at any time. They will just spin it as 'new light'. The rank and file will eat it up and see the change as yet another sign of the Great Tribulation.

43

Account of Jehovah's Witness Women Prisoners in Auschwitz (very creepy)

by objectivetruth in

a book titled written by a long ti me ss member .rudolf franz ferdinand hoess.

here is a quote from this book : .

"a pleasant contrast to this type were the female jehovah's witnesses, called "bible bees" or "bible worms.

OrphanCrow

"I think you here have a very USA-based view on the matter and try to make that view true also for Germany, but that is utterly false. The name JW did not "hit" in Germany, and they were known as Bible Students - Bibelforscher - all the way down to and thru WWII. True, there were a very few BS in the US sense of the word also imprisoned, but in Germany JWs were known as BS and hence were very much part of the WT."

The history of the 'JWs' in Germany often leaves out the significance of Conrad Binkele.

"Addtionally, not all JWs sufferred equally, and many lived in the WWII imprisonment in relative comfortability working as servant for highest Nazi officials likes Heydrich and after war revolutionary and various retribution tribunals wanted to prosecute them for compliance with the Nazis. "

I have made a list - a lengthy list - of the assignments that the BS/Jws 'prisoners' were given during the war.
Most of this information comes from Between Resistance and Martyrdom: Jehovah's Witnesses in the Third Reich by Detlef Garbe and Dagnar G. Grimm.

The following positions are in addition to the JWs that were at Wewelsburg - Wewelsburg Castle camp held just over 300 JW prisoners from 1940 0nwards. Wewelsburg is a discussion that requires more detail than this list.

As early as 1938, Hans Loritz, the commanding officer of Dachau, had BS/Jws work for him privately. Loritz owned land near Lake Wolfgang in Salzkammergut (Austria) and used the Bible Students (crew of 9) to build a mansion boathouse and landing pier. Loritz later increased the work crew to 25 Bible Students after he had been transferred to the Sachenhausen camp in 1940. Also, SS Arthur Liebehenschel had a building project near lake Wolfgang that he used 15 Bible Students for a work crew as well.

From 1940 and on, until 1945, 30 to 40 BS/Jws were assigned to work at Bayrischzell SS Mountain Hotel and Holiday Resort in Sudelfeld am Wendelstein. Their duties there were mostly groundskeeping - parks and garden maintenance and improvement. They had a fair degrree of freedom of movement and adequate food in spite of having to work hard.

Between 30-40 BS/Jws were assigned to work at the SS Sanatorium Hohenlychen near Ravensbruck.
This was a military hospital for the SS and it was used as a health resort for the Nazi leaders. Oswald Pohl, Albert Speer, Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler, Adolph Hitler, and others were known to use this resort. The BS/Jws assigned here did not wear a camp uniform but were able to administer their duties while wearing civilian clothing.
The Sanatorium was run by Dr. Karl Gebhardt (Himmler's personal physician) who conducted surgical experiments on prisoners. He was also the president of the German Red Cross. Gebhardt was the physician who treated Reinhard Heydrich, who died from the injuries that were sustained in an attack on him. Gebhardt had refused to use sulfanamide on Heydrich's injuries and, later, conducted brutal experiments on prisoners to attempt to prove that he was right in not treating Heydrich's wounds with sulfa. Also, he was not well liked by Speers, who almost died from being treated by him. (Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer) Gebhardt was hung in 1948.

Albert Speer, Hitler's architect, used a crew of BS/Jws (not sure how many) for construction and craftsman work at the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA) that housed the Gestapo and the SS in Berlin-Lichterfelde.

Speer also used a crew of BS/Jws from Dachau to do the finishing work on the Munich Reich Chancellery that Speers had built for Hitler in 1939/40. The chancellery contained Hitler's living quarters.

In the spring of 1944, 15 BS/Jw women were assigned to the Research-Hedin Institute for Inner-Asia at Mittersill Fortress Pinzgau. The castle was used as an outpost for Mauthausen Camp - which was used mainly for female BS/Jws.
This research institute was funded by Himmler's Circle of Friends - Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft.- (a club for big business sycophants) and was concerned with investigating the genealogical heritage of the Aryan race.
The Mittersill Castle had been owned in the 30s by an American - Baron Hubert von Pantz.

Many of the BibleStudent/Jw 'prisoners' were assigned to agricultural estates during the war. These estates were owned by people with special connections or by SS officers and, usually these assignments had favorable conditions which included enough to eat - the estates were agriculturally based.

Hartzwalde Estate
- owned by Dr. Felix Kersten - Himmler's 'doctor' and private masseur
- employed 10 female Bible Students
*note - Kersten claims that he was responsible for Himmler's improved attitude to the BS/Jws. Kersten also provided information to the CIA during the war.

Comthurey Estate
- owned by Oswald Pohl - chief of the SS and WVHA - the Economic and Administrative Main Office of the Nazi SS
- used up to 50 BS/Jws from Ravensbruck
-it is here that the story of Jws being allowed to go unguarded into the forest to pick berries originates. The story is that the Jws were so trustworthy and that is why they didn't need guarding. At the time that these berry picking incidents were happening, conditions in Germany were not good - many of the general population was starving. Would you bother running away if you had a warm place to sleep and lots to eat at an estate??

Heydrich Estate
-owned by Reinhard Heydrich's widow
-she requested a crew of 15 Bs/Jws to help her on her estate after Reinhard died in 1942
- it was Lina Heydrich that petitioned Himmler to release the BS/Jws that were working on her estate. She argued that they should be released without signing the declaration usually required. Himmler agreed to this and several of the BS/Jws from this point on were released solely on a handshake.

*the form letter that BS/Jws were usually required to sign to be released was a pledge to give up the doctrines of the Watchtower and to not engage in the proselytizing work. Contrary to what most Jws today will tell you, these letters were signed by the BS/Jws in Germany that were arrested - about 50 percent of those sent to prison signed the letters before they were released and only about 10 percent signed them once they reached the camps. As John-Stucke points out in her essay, it was not advantageous to the BS/Jw prisoners to sign the letters once they reached the camps because it was in effect, potentially signing their own death warrants. The men who signed would be sent to the front to fight and rarely returned. Staying in the camps was the safest and best way for the Bible Students and JWs to survive the war. Especially when they got assignments that placed them in places of privilege that fed and clothed and sheltered them - they ate while many in the rest of Europe and Britain starved.
The myth that the BS/Jws didn't sign the papers because of God-loyalty is rather misguided - the lack of signing was not always a resistance/martyr move - it was a 'save my ass' move. Yes...many got badly treated because of not signing the papers...but many also took advantage of not serving at the front.

*Himmler's proposal to release Bs/Jws on a handshake:
"In all these cases where prisoners are partially free and have been assigned to such work we want to avoid written records and make such agreements with just a handshake."
****that is strange - a man who is known for his meticulous record keeping and he wants to avoid written records????
**** "partially free" ....once a BS/Jw got a work assignment outside of their camp - they were considered partially free and the handshake only a formality

The estates that follow were under the management of Deutsche Versuchsanstalt fur Ernahrung und Verpflegung (established by the SS in 1939).

BS/Jws were assigned to work crews on the following farms/estates (some also used female BS/Jws for cooks for the farm workers):

- Ravensbruck Estate
- Werderhof Estate (near Stutthof Concentration Camp)
- Raisko Estate (department of plant cultivation at the Kaiser Wilhem Institute)
- Harmense Poultry Farm
- Fish farming facilities at Unterfahlheim near Munich
- Rumbler Estate
- Fechter Estate
- Preller Estate
- St. Lambrecht Estate
- a farm in Fridolfing Upper Bavaria

The female BS/Jws were much prized as domestics by the SS officers; the assignment of one or more female BS/Jws was considered to be part of the SS officers' benefit packages and they were assigned in strict hierarchical order to those officers who qualified for them.

15 women were assigned out of the Auschwitz camp and included the following positions:
- one position with Dr. Edward Wirths, the Auschwitz medical doctor
- one position with Josef Kramer, the commanding officer of Auschwitz ll (Birkenau)
- 9 positions assigned each to nine unnamed SS officers
- two positions with Rudolf Hess, commanding officer
- two positions with SS Obersturmbannfuhrer Dr. Joachim Caesar, leader of the agricultural estates of the Auschwitz camp

In 1943, several BS/Jw women were selected from Ravensbruck camp to be nursemaids and cleaning ladies for families of SS leaders.
It is unknown how many were chosen for these domestic positions but they included the following families:
- Oswald Pohl, chief of WVHA (he also had a BS/Jw farm crew - already mentioned)
- SS Obergruppenfuhrer Dr. Hans Kammler, leader of Department C - building department of the WVHA
- SS Sturmbannfuhrer Karl Mummenthey, Storm Battalion Leader and Leader of Department W1 at the WVHA (building materials)

At the Buchenwald Camp, BS/Jws were assigned to work in the photo lab and in the sculptor workshop.

Also, Buchenwald was in charge of special living quarters outside of the camp that were used for special political prisoners.
The JW inmates were assigned as personal servants to these special prisoners.

The Italian King Victor Emmanuel lll was under arrest inside of Buchenwald and his daughter, Princess Mafalda of Hessen, was housed at the Fichtenhain Settlement. A female JW was transferred over from Ravensbruck to be her personal servant. The living quarters were also staffed with JWs who worked as caretakers and other servants.

The Falkenhof Settlement housed two "special prisoners" - the former French prime minister, Leon Blum and the former minister of the interior, Georg Mandel.
Joachim Escher, a JW who had also been at Wewelsburg, was assigned to be their personal servant. He cleaned house, served meals and did dishes for these two political prisoners.

Garbe also, in his book, makes reference to additional "positions of trust" and "priviledged positions" that many of the JWs were given during the war but it is unclear as to where they were assigned. He says that they were specialized craftsmen, clerks for SS officers, barbers, caretakers and cooks. Garbe also says that the JWs, during the final years of the war, held positions of "prisoners' self-administration" including foremen and supervisor positions but, only in a few cases were they 'block leaders'.
They were also selected to work under Oswald Pohl in positions of trust handling money and financial accounts for the SS.

It is interesting to note that towards the end of the war, Himmler had proposed the following concessions for the JW prisoners:
- no punishment
- no work in armament production
- work assignments to privileged positions
- concentration camp releases without the requirement to sign statement renouncing their faith

43

Account of Jehovah's Witness Women Prisoners in Auschwitz (very creepy)

by objectivetruth in

a book titled written by a long ti me ss member .rudolf franz ferdinand hoess.

here is a quote from this book : .

"a pleasant contrast to this type were the female jehovah's witnesses, called "bible bees" or "bible worms.

OrphanCrow

Apognophos, you may be thinking of the JWs Berlin convention in 1933. There are accounts that claim that the Nazi flag was displayed on the stage.

http://www.bible.ca/jw-penton-3rdreich.htm

"In a tape-recorded account of the history of Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany, former Watch Tower Society "branch servant" or "overseer" Konrad Franke tells that when he and another Jehovah's Witness arrived at the Berlin Sporthalle Wilmersdorf where the 1933 Witness convention was being held, they were shocked. The building was bedecked with Swastika flags - evidently to please the Nazis. Then during the convention itself, the Witness faithful were called on to sing a hymn that they had not sung in Germany for years. While they had no objection to the words, the music was the same as that of the German national anthem, "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles.""

The German national anthem had been adopted in 1922 and incidentally, was Hitler's favorite front line song during WW1.

Blood Conservation Program Coordinator

by OrphanCrow in

edward blakeney is one of many jehovah's witnesses working in the field of bloodless medicine.. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/edward-blakeney/50/b11/453?trk=pub-pbmap.

according to edward blakeney's professional profile, he states that in his capacity as a blood conservation coordinator for tenet healthcare, he " facilitated contract with jehovah's witnesses headquarters".. .

does anybody know what kind of 'contract' would be required from the society for the administration of bloodless medicine?.

OrphanCrow

Edward Blakeney is one of many Jehovah's Witnesses working in the field of bloodless medicine.

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/edward-blakeney/50/b11/453?trk=pub-pbmap

According to Edward Blakeney's professional profile, he states that in his capacity as a Blood Conservation Coordinator for Tenet Healthcare, he " Facilitated contract with Jehovah's Witnesses Headquarters".

Does anybody know what kind of 'contract' would be required from the Society for the administration of bloodless medicine?

35

Be Honest About This Doctrinal Matter

by lambsbottom in

wife says she always thought the wt said that anyone alive at armageddon that did not get a chance to hear kingdom message may survive?

true?

references?.

OrphanCrow

"the message was supposed to be preached in all lands, then the end would come."

And that is why they have invested so much money and time in claiming that their message is available in over 300 languages.

Never mind that many of those languages that they brag about translating their literature into aren't even used anymore. Never mind that the Watchtowers printed in some of those languages can't even be read by the ethnic groups that they are targeting.

"... if it is Jehovah’s will to have this message personally carried to the millions on earth who seemingly have not yet heard it, that will be accomplished. If he chooses, he could see to it that this message is spread in ways that we cannot yet imagine."

That must be why they have embraced the internet. Now they can claim that their message is reaching "all the lands". I guess they don't have to personally deliver the message after all.

43

Account of Jehovah's Witness Women Prisoners in Auschwitz (very creepy)

by objectivetruth in

a book titled written by a long ti me ss member .rudolf franz ferdinand hoess.

here is a quote from this book : .

"a pleasant contrast to this type were the female jehovah's witnesses, called "bible bees" or "bible worms.

OrphanCrow

"Welcome to the board, OrphanCrow ! Very interesting post. I hadn't considered that the Society was claiming the Bible Students as their own during WWII. Were there Students in the camps alongside JWs?"

Thank you, Agnopophos.

I would think it would be likely that the JWs and Bible Students were lumped together in the camps. Even though Rutherford and Knorr knew of the divisions within the Society, it is highly unlikely that the Nazis knew of the internal strife happening with the Society. The terms Bible Student and Jehovhah's witnesses were interchangable - they both wore the purple triangle. In fact, all religious prisoners and all pacifists wore the purple triangle, including Dawn Bible Students, Free Bible Students, Seventh Day Adventists and Baptists. The JWs claim to be the largest group out of the purple triangles.

The internal problems with the Society are evident when one examines the historical record and compares it to the Society's revised history. There were problems galore within the structure of the German Watchtower at the time the war was beginning - leftovers from Rutherford's about face and revival of his failing Society that was being led up to in the late 20s and received some resolution with his makeover of the religion in the early 30s.

There is a good thread on this forum somewhere that exposes the colloboration that occured between Erich Frost, a Society hero, and the Gestapo. Frost betrayed several of the Bible Students and later in the war, sat it out on a little island somewhere. He emerged from the war as a hero but the Society has kept hidden his collaborative efforts that resulted in the imprisonment of many Bible Students during the war. His is not the only account that speaks of betrayal by the Rutherford loyalists.

I had said in my earlier post that the religion of the Society's was clearly fractured, however, those fractures at the rank and file level would probably still be in the murky stage and would explain the often reported squabbles that broke out in some of the camps with the Bible Students/JWs. There are many reports of the disunity that erupted within the purple triangle group - right alongside reports of how the JWs were cohesive. So cohesive, in fact, that it is the reason some researchers have speculated as to why the JWs emerged from the camps with an over 80% survival rate.

Other researchers, though, have questioned the collaborative behavior of the JWs who worked for the SS and survived the war in positions of privledge. Of course, the Society spins it that the JWs were honest and loyal to Jehovah and that is the reason they had these positions. I guess they are right on that point to a degree - many were loyal. To the SS. In fact, their loyalty impressed Himmler so much that his plans for a future Germany included using groups of JWs as a vanguard for the Third Reich in their expanded territories. He planned on using the religion as a model for future Germany.

Something that annoys me to no end is the Society's insistence that they are politically neutral when the history books show us something entirely different. They use the camoflague of not wearing a uniform or engaging in military activities when, in reality, they are hugely political. Their literature is ALL about politics. The post Blondie made reveals that the about face that Rutherford did in the late 20s and early 30s was nothing less than a huge political move. Rutherford, in 1926, came out publicly in support of a Zionist State in Palestine, but, in the years to follow, he appropriated the designation of State of Israel - calling his religion the new Spiritual Israel - and then relocated Palestine to his mansion in California. And he did his doctrinal/political change at a time that he started rubbing shoulders with not only Wm. Heath Sr, but also with Heath's son-in-law who just happened to go on to be the first president of the World Bank. And, something that may be critical to understanding Rutherford's doctrinal shift is that Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and was widely distributed to world leaders and anyone of importance in world politics or who had interest in world politics. The chances that Rutherford had read Hitlers book is pretty high - if he didn't, then he certainly was on the same vibratory wavelength as the little short man with a mustache.

43

Account of Jehovah's Witness Women Prisoners in Auschwitz (very creepy)

by objectivetruth in

a book titled written by a long ti me ss member .rudolf franz ferdinand hoess.

here is a quote from this book : .

"a pleasant contrast to this type were the female jehovah's witnesses, called "bible bees" or "bible worms.

OrphanCrow

I think the quote that the op made from Hess' book concerning the Jehovah's Witness women needs context. There is much about the happenings within the Society, their shifts in doctrine and power struggles that need to be understood to be able to better understand the position that the women took.

Firstly, one of the things that is badly misrepresented by the Society is that they were 'one religion' during WW2 when they were not. There were two distinct divisions within Germany of their religion of the time. When you read of accounts of 'the Jehovah's witnesses' and accounts of Bible Students, we have learned to lump them both together and use the terms interchangedly, quite simply because the Watchtower Society does - they claim 'ownership' of the Bible Student statistics during the Second World War when they are not entitled to them. The Bible Students weren't part of the Watchtower Society at the outbreak of WW2. And, the differing accounts that have been recorded historically reflect the internal politics of the Watchtower Society and how they were struggling for power within a political maelstorm. WW2 actually served to 'divide the flock' for them - right inside of Nazi Germany.

To back up a bit, the tumultous years following Charles Russell's death in 1916 saw many things happen within the power base of the Society, and with those changes came doctrinal changes that aligned them with political ideology as well. The Society was notorious for sticking their nose into world politics.

This began with Russell's very public stand in support of a Zionist State of Israel - he even published a Yiddish newsletter at one time in addition to many travels abroad to promote his notion of a Zionist State. Russell's involvement in the promotion of Zionist Israel had much support within the Society after his death and the shift in the doctrine concerning that position was consistent with who stayed with the Society and who stayed with the Bible Students. This is critical to understand when contemplating the history of the Watchtower involvement in WW2.

Those who backed Rutherford and his ruthless struggle for the power to control the coffers of the Watchtower Society were those who also held his political views - the same views as the people who financed Rutherford's Beth Sarim project in California.

Those who didn't - the ones who still held to the views of Russell and who he was connected to politcally, like Hudgings, for example, were the Bible Students.

The Watchtower religion within Germany (and elsewhere) was fractured - those who followed Rutherford's new theology/politics and those who didn't. Two very distinct groups.

To back up again for a bit - back to WW1, there is something that the Society has swept uder the rug. And that is the matter of what happened in Germany with the Bible Students.

The Bible Students in Germany, during WW1, joined the ranks of the German Army. They fought, and died, as soldiers on the front lines for Germany. Charles Russell, in the Watchtower magazine, gave his support for those Bible Students and even encouraged the women Bible Students to keep the men on the front line well fed with encouraging letters and, of course, Watchtower material.

Now. Hitler. He also served at the front for Germany in WW1. Hitler was first and foremost and always a soldier. It was one of his reasons for his contempt of the intellectual class - he saw them as pansies and parasites of society because they didn't fight during the war. Hitler was patriotic to the extreme and was contemptuous of anyone who he saw as impeding Germany or contributing to Germany's defeat in WW1. And, one thing that really annoyed him was the evangelists that had served at the front lines in that first war. He saw the evangelist material as demoralizing the troops and that those men had harmed Germany's position rather than helped. And that is why he had such extreme hatred for the Bible Students, along with the Seventh Day Adventists and Baptists.

But, those Bible Students who still supported Hudgings and that faction were no longer Rutherford's political allies and that was what Rutherford and Knorr tried so hard to correct.

And you do see a difference during WW2 in how the 'JWs' were treated - some accounts are horrific and yet, on the other hand, many accounts reveal the 'better' treatment of JW concientious objectors. Wewelsburg Castle priviledges, along with positions of trust within Himmler's financial arm of the SS, and other placements of service to the SS, reveal another side to what really happened during WW2 concerning the Jehovah's Witnesses.

The Watchtower Society, in their attempts at revisionist history, have shamelessly exploited their falsehoods concerning what was really happening in Germany.

43

Account of Jehovah's Witness Women Prisoners in Auschwitz (very creepy)

by objectivetruth in

a book titled written by a long ti me ss member .rudolf franz ferdinand hoess.

here is a quote from this book : .

"a pleasant contrast to this type were the female jehovah's witnesses, called "bible bees" or "bible worms.

OrphanCrow

"...it was pure racial hatred"

Actually, it wasn't pure racial hatred. The hatred was politically motivated.

The hatred was directed towards the Bolsheviks - a political organization that was founded and controlled by the Jews.

Hitler had an intense hatred towards the communist organization that had taken control of Russia after the Russian Revolution of 1917. He feared that the political situation in Germany at the time was threatened by the same Bolsheviks that had established themelves across Germany's borders. Jews were synoymous with Bolsheviks.

He opposed communism - his default position was fascism.