Atlantis

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  34

  Nazi Conciliation question...

  by AuldSoul in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i have heard reports that there were differences between the 1934 yearbook and the watchtower publshing of the conciliation letter.

  does anyone know the date for the watchtower publication of the adopted declaration?.

  auldsoul

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Atlantis

  Internal Database (Watchtower Observer)-Gebhard What beans did Konrad Franke spill out? Manfred Gebhard
  
  Document of the
  Security Service
  of the Empire Storm Troupers Command
  Sub-department Upper Rhine
  II 113 V. 494/35 (Dated: 22. 9. 1936)
  
  To the Security head quarters RFSS
  Department II 113
  Berlin S. W. 68
  
  Concerning: International Bible Students Association
  Action: There FS Nr. 29068 v. 29. 8. 36
  " Paper. I/112 21-6 v. 3. 9. 36
  
  In pursuing the from there ordered winding up of the International Bible
  Students Association, an intermediate report with the following data is to
  be transmitted to there.
  
  1. The district leader Franke, Konrad, who was named by the Protocol
  Winkler district leader Mainz, has been arrested. He was found to have a
  gramophone with disks of the Bible Students. After denying at first Franke
  admitted to have worked illegally for the Bible Students Association. Closer
  details about his activities are revealed in appendix 1 enclosed
  interrogation protocol.
  
  2. Because of the admissions of Franke the travelling salesperson Steinbach
  was arrested, according to the verbal admissions of Franke, he was active as
  leading servant for Frankfurt a. M. Steinbach denies knowing Winkler and
  since the ban
  he has not been active. Further investigations into these matters are still
  being carried out.
  
  3. Under the urgent suspicion of being in touch with Franke, the followingarrests were made:
  
  a. Kubalski, Hermann, Adolf, born 22. 10. 1892.residing in Viesen Kr. Altenkirchen. Kubalski admits receiving printed
  articles from a person (probably Franke) in the spring of 1936. (refer
  attachment 2).
  
  b. Neitzert, Frieda, single, born. 28. 2. 1916 in Hohensayn, residing in
  Hohensayn, Circuit Altenkirchen. During internment a recorded disk of the
  International Bible Students Association was found on her. To date she has
  not given us any further information. (refer Attachment 3).
  
  c. Michaelis, Lisbeth, married, born 16. 9. 1912 in Berlin, resident in
  Neuwied a/Rhn. Found on M. was the "Yearbook 1936 of the Jehovah's
  Witnesses" The origins of this book is unknown at this time. (refer
  Attachment 4).
  
  d. Michaelis, Fritz Robert, born 1. 2.1900 in Breslau, resident in Neuwied a
  /Rhn. The named is the husband of c named. He too did not make any
  statements (refer Attachment 5).
  
  e. Kreier, Friedrich, born 5. 2. 1899 to Neuwied, living there now. Kreier
  admits to being active after the ban. He also has distributed magazines and
  books. He also admits to being present at discussions, but refuses to
  elaborate further on the circumstances. (Attachment 6)
  
  f. Brandt, nee Giloy, Widow born 11. 7.1896 in Hochstetten Circuit
  Kreuznach, still resident there. Illegal material was also found on Brand.
  Brandt
  refused to elaborate further on the matter at this time. During further
  interrogation it was possible to get the named to make a statement. She
  revealed that she was visited by a brother of the Association named Wagner
  from Mainz-Weisenau from time to time, most recently in July 1936. Wagner
  delivered the material to her. Out of the interrogation it can be concluded
  that Wagner acted as courier between the district-servant-leader and lower
  entities. An interrogation of Wagner is not yet on the agenda.
  
  It can be assumed with certainty that the named from a-f were in touch with
  Franke either directly or indirectly and illegally worked for the I.B.S.A.
  2. Further, the best known bible students in Frankfurt/Main were taken in,
  even if in no case illegal material could be found, and no evidence of this
  sort of illegal activity was uncovered. Even so it was found that:
  
  a. Bäckermeister Bertram, Frankfurt/Main,
  b. a Frl. Gresler, Frankfurt/Main, traveled to Switzerland for a conference
  of the International Bible Students Association. Frl. Gresler received the
  money for this trip from the former I.B.S.A. leader, Frankfurt. Leader
  denies knowing that Gresler traveled to the conference in Luzern. Further
  information is still up in the air at this time. Bertram and Gresler will
  be interrogated after their return from Switzerland.
  
  In appendix 8 a "Resolution", which was sent from Switzerland to several
  local authorities, was passed over. It will be found weather Bertram or
  Gresler received the mail.
  
  
  The Leader of the SD-Command Rhine
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  -------------------------------------------------------
  
  Secret State Police Office
  Darmstadt
  
  "Darmstadt, the 9th. 9. 1936
  
  Presented from protective custody, Franke states the following under oath:
  Konrad
  
  I accept that there is no point in further denials. I am prepared to tell
  the whole truth. Particularly after Reich-leader Winkler (at this time in
  custody) sent me a letter in which he encourages me to tell the truth as the
  police officials know all about my activities.
  
  I have been a Jehovah's Witness for some time now, which has been recorded
  at my interrogation on the 31. 8. and 1. 9. 1936 infront of the State Police
  Cell Mainz. Because of this interrogation I also take my attitude towards the
  state.
  
  On the 7th of October 1934 the famous letter was directed from all local
  groups of the I.B.S.A. to the Reich-government, it stated that Jehovah's
  Witnesses could not recognize the ban on the I.B.S.A. and would obey God
  rather than man, and would congregate again in the future. At that time I
  received this letter from the district leader (B.D.L.) Dr. Merk for my
  group. I had a group of approximately 9 to10 Jehovah's Witnesses to look
  after. On the 7th of October 1934 9am I congregated my group as I had been
  ordered. I read out the letter to the group, and forwarded it with the header
  "local group Mainz" to the Reich-government.
  
  Since that time I have not worked officially with my group, but visited
  individual Jehovah's Witnesses as the opportunity presented itself, and
  spoke about the truth in the bible. I did not have any further function
  within the illegal organization at that time.
  
  Towards the end of May 1935 the District Leader Dr. Merk was arrested. I was
  handed the position as his replacement by the Reich-leader Winkler. The
  position involved the leadership of the District of Palatia-Baden and the
  District of Main. I didn't know Winkler personally until that time. I had
  only seen him as congregation leader in Berlin and other places. I was
  recommended to Winkler by Dr. Merk as District-servant-leader, I would assume.
  I was introduced to him personally by the District-servant-leader of the
  Rhine-land and Saar-district, Albert Wandres.
  
  
  
  
  
  I knew him personally due to my former activities as Servant-leader of Mainz
  and Wiesbaden. I met Winkler on a journey through Mainz at the railway
  station Mainz and traveled with him to a scheduled meeting in Stuttgart.
  District servant leader Lehmann and Stichel and also Baur also had come
  there. A discussion was held by us in Stuttgart on how we were to continue
  our work there.
  
  Since that time, about the beginning of June 1935 I practice the function of
  a District servant leader for the following area:
  
  Baden
  Palatia and
  the near area around Frankfurt/Main, Wiesbaden, Darmstadt.
  
  I would like to remark that Winkler did not expressly describe himself as a
  District servant leader.
  
  The meetings with the Reich-leader were always arranged for each individual
  case. Winkler came by train from the direction Colonia to Mainz, where I met
  him at the railway station, sometimes I traveled with him for a bit,
  depending how much we had to discuss, as the train's sojourn was too short in
  Mainz. Many times I traveled with him up to Stuttgart. The meetings occurred
  about every weeks.
  
  I have not gotten very far with the organization of my district, because I
  was an unknown amongst the sisters outside of Mainz and Wiesbaden, and had
  initially to be introduced by another. Until now I have been in touch with
  the following servant leaders:
  
  1.) Frankfurt/Main. Steinbach, Valentin, Schwarzburgstr. 26.
  2.) Mannheim. Karl Haas, Luisenring 54.
  3.) Karlsruhe. Mühlhäuser, first name?, Lindenplatz 12.
  4.) Offenburg. Albert Kern, Lindenplatz 12
  5.) Singen. Erich Arnold, Hauptstr. 12
  6.) Speyer. Sand (first name and address unknown). I only met with this
  person in Mannheim.
  7.) Mainz. I worked this district personally.
  I visited these servant leaders about once a month. I accounted the travel
  expenses with the incoming finances.
  
  The copying facilities for the producing copies of the Watchtower was
  already installed when I arrived in the district. The original WT were sent
  to the servant leader Mühlhäuser. The sender was, according to my knowledge,
  the Bible-house Bern/Switzerland. The production was arranged by Mühlhäuser.
  I don't know where the copy-equipment was located, nor who wrote the
  stencils nor how.
  
  
  
  
  
  I never bothered much about these things, as Mühlhäuser organized these
  things in an orderly fashion.
  
  After the arrest of Mühlhäuser, I caused the Reich-leader Winkler to send the
  original W.T. to D.L. Haas in Mannheim. From there he manufactured the
  copies without informing me about the intimate details about the methods.
  
  The distribution of the W.T. copies was also handled by Mühlhäuser, but
  after the internment this was taken over by Haas. In my estimation of the
  numbers of W.T. about 300 copies were made.
  
  These were distributed as follows:
  
  1.) Steinbach, Frankfurt/Main 35 pieces
  2.) Mühlhäuser, Karlsruhe " 45 pieces
  3.) Kern, Offenburg " 70 "
  4.) Sand, Speyer " 40 "
  5.) I myself, Mainz " 40 "
  6.) Haas, Mannheim " ? "
  
  Arnold, Singen, received very few copies. This district was provided with
  originals from Switzerland. I am not informed about closer details.
  
  In the beginning every Jehovah's Witness received a copy of the W.T. but
  later, in some districts several had to share reading an article.
  
  25 Reich-pennies had to be paid for each copy. I did not receive this money
  but it was used by the distributors for the payment of expenses.
  
  After the I.B.S.A. ban, nearly all book warehouses were confiscated in my
  district. Since that time, books have only been spread around at individual
  sisters in faith. This is the case up until today. In my district
  Mainz-Wiesbaden were only a few Books were available, as here the stock
  almost totally confiscated were. I don't know where the rest of the books
  were. The individual Servant Leaders should be able to give more detail.
  
  From these old stocks 25 Rpf was charged per book, and 2 Rpf per booklet.
  The proceeds came to me via the servant leader and was passed on by me to
  him, during the meetings with Winkler.
  
  In my district very few new books were distributed. I personally only
  received a newer book or booklet every now and then during the meetings in
  Stuttgart from the other District servant leaders.
  
  
  - 4 -
  
  In my district, to my knowledge, in general, only a few copies of the
  booklet "Government" were distributed among the sisters. Of these newer
  writings, a book was priced at RM 1.50, a booklet with colored print RM -,20
  and in black print RM -,15.
  I am not aware of the origins of the other books, which I did not receive
  personally. It is possible that the faith sisters have procured them from
  Switzerland. I did not receive any books from Sister Bertha Maur in Konstanz.
  Although I did look her up a few times, as she was known to me as a sister
  of the faith. But I did not take any books with me from her. But I only
  spoke to her about congregational issues.
  
  At the meetings with Winkler I gave regular reports of the work in my
  district. This was about the distributed bibles, books and booklets as also
  the numbers of hours and the witnessing. According to my memory the report
  of 1st. August 1936 to Winkler approximately as follows:
  30 Bibles
  350 Books
  500 Booklets
  120 hours
  500 witnesses
  
  Approximately at the beginning of 1936 I was told by Reich-leader Winkler,
  that gramophone units were to be delivered on which gramophones with talks by
  Judge Rutherford were to be played. On this information I ordered two suitcase type units
  from Winkler, they were to be delivered to Julius Streit, in Freiburg,
  Sedanstreet,12. Streit is a brother in the faith. I had contacted him previously
  on the issue of delivery of the units, and had passed on the address of
  Winkler. Against this order Streit was provided not only 2 but 4 units in total.
  of these I received one unit which has been confiscated in the mean time.
  D.L. Haas, Mannheim and Mühlhäuser, Karlsruhe and Kern Offenburg received one each.
  
  In the mean time I had ordered a further 3 units, they were to be delivered to
  Otto Arnemann, Mainz, and Baltasamlerstr 1.
  These units have not yet arrived at this time. I would like to stress that
  Arnemann is not a brother in the faith and has absolutely no connections
  with the I.B.S.A. I only knew him as a soap deliverer,
  and had asked him on this basis if he could do something for me.
  
  - 5 -
  
  As he had agreed, I had passed his address to Winkler.
  As these units had not arrived, I ordered a further 10 of the units. They
  were to be delivered to Streit, in Freiburg, however these units also
  failed to arrive.
  
  I have received from Winkler personally twice two disks,
  I passed them on to sisters in the faith. I cannot recall who these sisters are.
  Other than these I have only received the package of disks that was confiscated at my arrest.
  I also received this package from Winkler.
  
  22:50 Reich Marks were to be paid for each of the gramophone units, and
  RM 1,75 for each of the disks. I forwarded the funds paid for the 4 suitcase units and disks to
  Winkler.
  
  I was not in written correspondence with either Winkler nor my service leader
  There was only an informal personal agreement between us. Admittedly I gave Winkler,
  as I remember at his suggestion a postal address of:
  Peter Schroth, Mainz-Kastell, Petersweg 50.
  
  I did not contact Schroth regarding this matter, I acted on my own initiative
  I never received mail for me from Schroth. Obviously Schroth never found out
  about this postal address arrangement.
  
  At the last meeting with Winkler on the 1. 8. 1936 I found out that a convention was to be held in Luzeren
  during the time from the 4 till the 7. 9. 36. Special reports on the
  imprisonment and persecution and so on of Jehovah's Witnesses, were to be given at this convention. Cases such as these were to be collected
  in the individual districts. Reports about this were to be given to Rubau
  (bad spelling), in Gedansk. He wanted to visit the individual District-
  Servant Leaders one week after Winkler.
  
  As per our arrangement Rubau came to Mainz on his way through, where I passed
  on to him several documents with reports of several different sisters about
  them being stopped for the election. I had gotten to know Rubau at a meeting
  of District Servant Leaders in Berlin. He is approximately 1.65 meters tall,
  slim build, narrow face, shaven, and to the best of my knowledge wears
  spectacles. I would guess he is about 35 years old.
  
  Rubau used this opportunity to bring a package of the letters of credit to
  RM 10,- and RM 5, they were to be used by the sisters for the trip to Luzern.
  
  
  
  
  
  I had already collected travel money from the sisters who wanted to
  travel to Luzern before the first of August.
  
  I had been given RM 200 in total from Haas, Mannheim
  Korn, Offenburg, out of their districts. I passed these funds on to
  Winkler on the 1st of August. After Rubau had given me the red and green letters
  of credit, I had passed these on to the various servant leaders at that time without
  payment. The servant leader would then pass on to me the money collected,
  which I would pass on to Winkler.
  I have also collected travel-money after the 1st of August, but gave them back
  because of the new traffic agreement with Switzerland in which the individual
  sisters could take the money themselves. I don't know which of the sisters wanted
  to travel to Luzon or did travel. I passed a total of RM 600 to Winkller on the 1st of August.
  
  Of this RM 200, was the mentioned travel money, about RM 100,-- for Books
  and Booklets, and RM 300,-- G. H. (account good hope)
  
  At earlier meetings I had passed on RM 3 - 400, for Books and G. H.
  to Winkler. I did not receive a 1935 yearbook for my district. I only received
  a few abstracts out of it with the day-leaf in the form of a calendar.
  It would have been 15 copies in all. These were placed at RM -,50 each.
  I have told the whole truth and am also prepared to elaborate further on request
  
  I have read the above personally,
  affidavit signed:
  
  Konrad Franke
  
  Reg. Assessor Gestapo Berlin
  gez. Lischka
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  -------------------------------------------------------
  Due to the above it was possible for the SD-upper-section Rhine to announce a
  success to its masters in Berlin in two letters dated 22. 9. and 29. 10. 36
  In the writing of the 22. 9. it is stated that Franke confessed after earlier
  denials. "Because of the statements of Franke, the traveling salesman Steinbachwas arrested in Frankfurt/M, he was said to be active as servant leader for
  Frankfurt/Main by Franke. Steinbach denies knowing Winkler and claims to
  be inactive since the ban. Further investigations into this matter are still
  in progress. In connection with (Adam) Sand, also named by Franke, the prosecution
  witness is Franke.
  
  The SD-Document of the 29. 10. 1936:
  
  Security Service
  Of the
  Reich-leader-SS
  SD Uppersection Rhein
  II 113 V 494/35
  
  To the
  Security-head-quarters RFSS
  Section II 113
  Berlin S. W. 68
  
  Concerning: Action against the illegal International Ernest
  Bible Students
  Our reference: II 113 V. 494/35 v. 22. 9 36
  
  The violent action taken against the illegal I.B.S.A. in the whole upper-section-district on the 31. 8. 36,
  has now reached a certain closure, the following will report concisely on the results of the action.
  
  1.) Since the station here had no evidence against the I.B.S.A. , with the exception of the headquarter originating admissions (Franke, Mainz), we co-operated with the State-police-stations of Darmstadt, Frankfurt and Koblenz, all known bible-students were searched and thorough interrogations conducted.
  2.) The results were surprising . It can be said that the illegal organization I.B.S.A. is totally dashed to pieces in Hessen-Nassau.
  
  According to the knowledge to hand, the following picture emerges:
  a. With out a doubt Konrad Franke Mainz was District-servant-leader. A gramophone with disks was found at his residence. Franke denies receiving material from Winkler, but admits distributing written material. He designates the traveler Valentin Steinbach, Frankfurt a. M. as servant-leader for the district of Frankfurt. Steinbach has been arrested, but at the moment denies any involvement. Later though he admitted receiving certain written matter from unknown sources. It can be accepted as certain that Steinbach was Servant-leader for Frankfurt a. M.
  
  b. It was found independently of the above, that the Accountant Gust Fenstermacher was Servant-leader for the district of Koblenz. The appendix 1-3 contains a copy of the interrogation protocol.
  
  c. The following Couriers were active:
  1. Heinrich Knie from Maxain/Unterwesterwald,
  2. Jacob Wagner, from Mainz-Weisenau.
  
  d. Warehousing for Records and writings were found at:
  1. Heinrich Pirzental, Richelhardt/Kr. Altenkirchen (see apendix 5-6)
  2. Heinrich Neitzert, Hoyensayn/Kr. Altenkirch
  
  e. Albert Wandres was found to be one of the chief activists, at the moment in flight. It seems he was working under the direct instruction of Franke.
  
  In the course of the action the following more or less guilty bible students have been arrested:
  1. Mathias Ebers, b. on the 29. 9. 1874 in Dieblich, Kr. Koblenz/Land,
  resident in Metternich. He admits, receiving literature from an unknown courier between May-July 1936.
  
  2. Peter Schroth, Mainz. According to the State-police Karlsruhe he gave a false address for Franke. He admits
  receiving literature from Switzerland. He only admits meeting Franke because of the sale of a parrot.
  
  3. Müller, Mrs, Mainz, She met frequently with Franke. However meetings were said to be harmless.
  4. The married couple Nickel, Zwingeberg,
  5. The barber and Gardener (Enterence M. G. One notes lastly the contribution in the Hesse-Book S. 177f.)
  The named 4-5 are in custody for some time now but do not comment in any way.
  6. The married couple Scheuren, Wiesbaden, due to suspicion of illegal activities (note appendix 8/9)
  7. The master-dry-cleaner Emil Petzold, Wiesbaden. P. denies having any connection with the I.B.S.A. (note appendix 10).
  8. The mechanical-knitter Karl Klees, Wiesbaden, who advertised the I.B.S.A. His membership of the illegal organization is not proven. (note appendix 11).
  9. The blacksmith Karl Buch, Neuwied. He claims to be inactive since the ban of the I.B.S.A. (Appendix12)
  
  10. Further to the above the Master-Backer Bertram was arrested. (note the report II 113 v. 22. 9. 36) After lengthy denials, he admitted attending the meeting of the I.B.S.A. in Switzerland. Other than this he denies any comments.
  
  It is expected that after the planned further investigations, some more people will be arrested. However this does not involve functionaries. As soon as the investigations are concluded and the prosecution documents are tabled, further reports will be made.
  The Leader of SD Upper-section Rhine.
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  -------------------------------------------------------
  
  A part of this is a citation of the document of the Stuttgart Gestapo dated 12.
  11. 1936, that they sent to the Berliner Security Headquarters at the same time.
  
  After it was discovered that the intended actions could not be fulfilled due to lack of staff, the following interim report was made:
  
  The actions in individual sub-section-areas against the illegal organization of the Bible Students to date, led to the following results:
  
  
  Baden:
  District-servant-leader, representative for Baden and Kassenstelle:
  BDL Konrad Franke, Mainz (Interrogation-notes in Appendix)
  Postal address: Peter Schroth, Mainz-Kastel, Petersweg 5c.
  Literature collection-point: Karl Haas, Mannheim, Luisenring 54.
  WT.-Production: Adolf Mühlhäuser, Karlsruhe, Grenzstrasse 4.
  Book-ware-house: Mannheim, D 7, 12.
  Gramophone distribution: Julius Streit, Freiburg i. Br. Sedanstrasse 12.
  Disk distribution: BDL Konrad Franke, Mainz
  Courier: BDL Konrad Franke, Mainz. (Franke didn’t name a particular courier, he drove to his Servant Leader once a month and brought the necessary instructions and collected (money)
  
  Servant Leader for Mannheim: Karl Haas, Mannheim, Luisenring 54 (note literature collection point)
  Servant Leader for Karlsruhe: Adolf Mühlhäuser, Karlsruhe, Grenzstr. 4 (note WT production).
  
  Managers for Karlsruhe:
  Otto Schwarz, Karlsruhe, Echenstrasse 23
  Josef Seitz, Karlsruhe, Kriegsstrasse 171
  Karl Matthes, Karlsruhe, Yorkstrasse 40
  Fritz Kollmann, Karlsruhe, Kaiserstr. 24
  Johann Schäfer, Karlsruhe, Maxaustrasse 42
  Karl Hetz, Karlsruhe, Körnerstrasse 173
  Wilhelm Soulier, Karlsruhe, Kriegstrasse 173.
  
  DL for Offenburg: Albert Kern, Offenburg, Lindenplatz 12
  DL for Freiburg: Julius Streit, Freiburg, Sedanstr. 12 (note gramophone distribution)
  DL for Singen: Erich Arnold, Singen a. H.
  
  During the course of action the following people have now been arrested in Baden:
  1.) Franke, Konrad, BDL for Saar-Pfalz, Maindistrict and Baden, Representative for Baden, Kassenstelle, Disk distribution and courier (Arrested by the Gestapo Darmstadt)
  2.) Haas, Karl, b. on the 28. 10. 1902 in Mannheim, resident in Mannheim,
  Luisenring 54, DL for Mannheim and Literature Collection point for Baden.
  3.) Mühlhäuser, Adolf, b. on the 3. 9. 1892 in Birkach, residing in
  Karlsruhe, Grenzstr. 4, WT-Production and DL for Karlsruhe (already arrested on the 20. 7. 36)
  4.) Schwarz, Otto, b. on the 19. 10. 1890 in Strassburg, resident in
  Karlsruhe, Echenerstr. 23, manager for Karlsruhe.
  5.) Seitz, Josef, b. on 10. 9. 1893 in Ottenhöfen, resident in Karlsruhe
  , Kriegsstr. 171, Manager for Karlsruhe.
  6.) Matthes, Karl, b. on the 3. 11. 1892 in Derdingen, resident in
  Karlsruhe, Yorkstr. 40, Manager for Karlsruhe.
  7.) Kollmann, Fritz, b. on the 7. 5. 1896 in Weissenhorn, resident in
  Karlsruhe, Kaiserstr. 243. Manager for Karlsruhe.
  8.) Schäfer, Johann, b. on the 31. 7. 1877 in Hochheim, resident in
  Karlsruhe, Maxaustr. 42, manager for Karlsruhe.
  9.) Hetz, Karl, b. on the 1. 3. 1895 in Freistett, resident in Karlsruhe,
  Körnerstr. 173, manager for Karlsruhe.
  10.) Soulier, Wilhelm, b. on the 10. 5. 1875 in Klein-Villare, resident in Karlsruhe, Kriegsstr. 173, manager for Karlsruhe.
  11.) Streit, Julius, b. on the 5. 1. 1879 in Freiburg, Resident in Freiburg,
  Sedanstr. 12, gramophone distribution and DL for Freiburg
  12. Kern, Albert, b. on the 2. 4. 1887 in Meissenheim, resident in Offenburg, Lindenplatz 12, DL for Offenburg.
  13.) Arnold, Erich, b. on the 8. 2. 1898 in Triefeld, resident in a. H. DL for Singen.
  
  The following people were arrested for attending the main meeting of the I.B.S.A. in Luzern between the 4. To the 7. 9. 36:
  
  14.) Reuotto, Erna Johanna, nee Körner, b. on the 24. 4. 1899 in Singen, resident in Sulzuflen, Westfl.
  15.) Vieser, Emma, b. on the 1. 3. 1882 in Metz, resident in Karslsruhe,
  Bismarckstr. 29
  16.) Janzer, Karla Thekla nee Hilberer, b. on the 14. 12. 1892 in
  Bermersbach, resident in Heureut...
  
  The interrogation of the named Servant-leaders for Baden will be presented hereafter in shortened form:
  
  Julius Streit, DL for Freiburg i. Br. Admits after several denials receiving two gramophone records. He still denies that he was Servant-leader for the district of Fraiburg. He claims to have only looked after 10 brothers in the faith, which he declines to name. The money received by him for booklets and magazines was always forwarded to Franke (BDL). Franke visited him every 4-5 Weeks. Streit denies knowing DL Haas, Mannheim, this is contradicted by DL Mühlhäuser, Karlsruhe and Kern, Offenburg.
  
  Adolf Mühlhäuser, DL for Karlsruhe, claims to have only given talks to his family after the ban, and not to have any contact with any others. During later interrogation he admits having been Servant-leader for Karlsruhe. He also provided copying services to the Watchtower and Bible Society for the state of Baden and beyond. On average he manufactured 300 copies every 4 weeks, each was of 5-7 pages. Of these he delivered to:
  
  Haas, Mannheim ca. 80 copies (DL)
  Franke, Mainz ca. 40 " (BDL)
  Kern, Offenburg ca. 35 " (DL)
  Streit, Freiburg ca. 35 " (DL)
  Mühlhäuser, K'ruhe ca. 45" (DL)
  For Speyer (Pfalz) 25 "
  
  The collected money, 90 - 100, RM. Every time was delivered to Franke (BDL) after taking his expenses. The copying equipment was kept in his apartment’s cellar. He will not reveal where it is now located, but will immediately provide it after his release. Mühlhäuser admits further to acquiring a gramophone and 7 disks.
  
  Albert Kern, DL for Offenburg Denies all charges against him, in particular being Servant Leader for Offenburg, being visited monthly by Franke (BDL), that he received Bible-student literature for distribution and sale, and knowing DL Mühlhäuser or Streit.
  
  The interrogation of DL Haas, Mannheim and Arnold, Singen are not yet tabled.
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  -------------------------------------------------------
  The presentation to date is based on the insight gained from the documents housed at
  Freienwalderstr.( ZBI - 1465; ZBI -1421) respective to the record-clerk (XX/4 1415)
  The publicized study on this issue by Hubert Roser released in 1999 is hereby confirmed and improved
  Roser relies on the state-archive Darmstadt, which he has evaluated. Roser is here cited with further improvements from the internet.
  
  Regarding Franke Roser informs us that he was arrested on the 31. 8. 1936:
  After early strong and persistent denials, he felt forced by pressure and torture from the Gestapo, on the 9. September 1936 to admit for the first time the details of his “service district”.
  So he named with others his inferior servant-leaders, however they were already known to the Gestapo at that point in time, or were already in custody like Karlsruhe’s Servant-leader Adolf Mühlhäuser.
  
  Winkler allowed a message titled “Dear Konrad” dated the 8. 9. 1936 to be delivered to Franke from Berlin. He immediately introduced the message that he had already been in custody for some weeks.
  He further states that according to his opinion, the Gestapo was “already knew all the details of our organization” and “ that it was not possible, and pointless to hide any issue, as the officials of the police were informed about every detail of our organization”
  
  After Roser Franke also believed, after receiving this message that he could no longer remain silent.
  He dictated a similar written message with the heading “dear Brother” In the issue he confirms the contained statement of Winkler, that also after his opinion the Secret-state-police already knew all relevant information. “It is also informed exactly about all our activities”
  His similar letter to that of Winkler he summarizes it with the words “With friendly greeting Konrad Franke". It is not clear from the Internet-publication who the receiver of this message was, despite this limitation the content, there is enough evidence that Franke also dictated a written message in the style of Winkler.
  
  Due to the statements of Franke, it was possible for the Gestapo to deliver the Servant-leaders
  In the bigger cities of Baden, Palatia and South-hessen to their superiors: Adolf
  Mühlhäuser and Otto Schwarz in Karlsruhe, Albert Kern (* 1887) in
  Offenburg, Heinrich Wesch (* 1898) in Heidelberg, Karl Haas (1902-
  1998), Otto Schmitt (1885-1938) and Wilhelm Zimmer (1897-1981) in
  Mannheim, Franz Anton Streit (1879-1962) in Freiburg, Ehrig Max Arnoldt
  (* 1898) in Singen and German Likert (* 1874) in Weinheim. In addition to these were the brothers in the faith in Speyer, Ludwigshafen, Lorsch,
  Darmstadt, Offenbach, Frankfurt a. M. and Wiesbaden, they all were supplied with “Watchtowers since 1935 by Franke, at that time printed in Karlsruhe and then in Mannheim.
  
  Because of the Mainzer 'sisters', who had been serviced by Franke himself and were therefore known by him, the Gestapo forced him towards the end of 1936 to name the names of the subscribers over and above the heretofore. Even so the Gestapo never knew the channels and people involved in the traffic of printed matter between Switzerland and Konstanz. Either Franke, who should have been informed in his position as District-servant-leader and also managed a fake address in Mainz, could keep these facts well secret or he did not know about the closer details. " Hubert Roser (Hrsg.) "Resistance as article of Faith” Konstanz 1999 S. 66-68.
  
  Jehovah’s Witnesses love to downplay the betrayals documented in the Gestapo-files.
  As it is written, nobody would have betrayed more than what the Gestapo already knew from previous betrayals by other inmates. The apologetic tendency of this theory cannot be overlooked.
  One cannot in this case finely balance what the Gestapo already knew against the low worth of the news
  Provided by those arrested later. Solely the fact that leading functionaries of the J.W.’s of the time, confirmed the knowledge base of the Gestapo through their betrayals, has value on it’s own.
  In summery one can give serious doubt to the named apologetic theory.
  
  Other religious organizations must admit, that their behavior during the National Socialist time was no thorough fame. Such a miaculpa is still to be expected from Jehovah’s Witnesses. But due to the evidence presented is strongly demanded. In life light and shade intermingle, also and not last in this emotion-laden sector!
  
  The Watchtower issue of 1. 6. 1963 publicized a censored report of Franke, under the heading “Jehovah is my Shepherd, I shall not want”. He reports that he was arrested a total of five times, and lastly was incarcerated for nine years before he regained his freedom. That is all correct.
  It is in no way disputed , that Franke and other Jehovah’s Witnesses were first line sacrifices of the N.S. regime. But one has to accuse them, that they exclude from their self-image deliberately every aspect
  Which reduces self-heroism to a human measure. The real super-heroes did not survive the N.S. regime, or only as crippled souls. Such cases existed too. As an example from the area of Berlin, I personally know of a Herbert Bretschneider, he was turned into a literal cripple by the NS-Regime, even thought he was not predisposed to this in any way by his stature (a strapping man). Franke by contrast survived the NS-Regime.
  
  To conclude the “case of Franke”, a citation from the self-image of Franke. In about the year 1977 he gave a three hour talk, The following passages are cited out of this talk’s tape-recording:
  
  "Yes and now came this great action, as the Gestapo called it, from the 28.8. 1936.
  One had watched us for two years, had gathered material to charge us, and three days prior to the next assembly in Luzern, which Brother Rutherford attended, the attack came.
  We were surprised by what they knew. Here you will find a sketch a map as we found it later. This is how they had represented the illegal organization diagrammatically, and it was exactly true.
  You can see on the top right where the squares are in the last complete square my name and territory I worked at the time. The other squares were all the other District-overseers who were arrested on the same day with the exception of two or three.
  With that one believed to have hit the bulls eye. Only very few could still go over and inform Brother Rutherford about the real conditions in Germany. Again a resolution was made and sent to Hitler and the Pope, as we can se here. Now we came before the court.
  This for an example was the summons for me. In it many things were claimed. I am still happy today about this document, as in the content, I was given a certificate in that they said:
  Franke believes, that no court’s sentence will stop him being active as a Jehovah’s Witness.
  And so also the latter, this court, that as we just heard handed out acquittals, was the first court that sentenced me to five years jail, which I sat, as you can see on the 13th January 1937. Everything you can see hear was published on all German press. All is very accurate with the exception of my family name, it is Franke not Funke. At the same time Brother Fritz Winkler was sentenced to four years jail,
  And a 22 000 Mark fine. He was Reich-fuhrer at the time as one used to say."
  
  The Original Page in German by Manfred Gebhard
• 
  34

  Nazi Conciliation question...

  by AuldSoul in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i have heard reports that there were differences between the 1934 yearbook and the watchtower publshing of the conciliation letter.

  does anyone know the date for the watchtower publication of the adopted declaration?.

  auldsoul

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Atlantis

  Internal Database (Watchtower Observer)-Norm

  Traitors and heroes. The whitewashed history of the Watchtower Society in Nazi Germany. The man who became leader of the German branch of the Watchtower Society after the war is without exception portrayed as a beacon of virtue and faith, standing fearless against the Nazis:Norman Hovland
  
  

  *** w89 5/1 12 Jehovah Has Sustained Me as a Friend ***
  Many of the loyal ones, among them Erich Frost and Konrad Franke, who suffered much for the Lord’s sake and later became branch overseers in Germany, returned alive from the fiery furnace of persecution.

  Unfortunately nothing could be further from the truth. Erich Frost and many of the other Watchtower leaders during the Nazi era in Germany were in reality traitors of the worst kind.
  It is quite interesting to see how the Watchtower literature itself confirms the information Mr. Frost gave to the Gestapo. In 1979 the Watchtower magazine published the story of llse Unterdörfer and Elfride Löhr. Erich Frost’s life story was published already in 1961. Their story is extremely interesting because they confirm a lot of what is written in Frost’s interrogation protocol.

  It is highly likely that Frost was recruited as an informer for the Gestapo already in 1934, when he was arrested and released after 10days:

  *** w61 4/15 245 Deliverance from Totalitarian Inquisition Through Faith in God *** In the spring of 1934 I was introduced to the inside of a prison for ten days, then released.

  In 1935 he was again brought in by the Gestapo because they needed the names of all the Watchtower leaders in Germany. Here is Frost’s version of what happened.

  *** w61 4/15 245 Deliverance from Totalitarian Inquisition Through Faith in God ***
  Upon returning to Germany in May, 1935, I took part in the underground work. On the night of June 13 I was arrested at my hotel and taken to Berlin’s "Columbia House," where I spent the worst five months of my life. Clubbed and stepped on, always in solitary confinement, vexed and humbled daily, I learned then that humans could become beasts. A Gestapo agent’s senseless questions failed to convict me of being a revolutionist. Unexpectedly I was released and soon faded back into the underground to serve Jehovah further.

  Frost could now inform the Gestapo about the upcoming convention in Switzerland and the Gestapo saw how they could place their own informer in a central position in the German branch of the Watchtower organization. Having received the necessary information from Frost they were able to arrest them all, as the Watchtower confirm

  *** w79 11/1 9 We Did Not Give Up! *** In August 1936, the German gestapo (secret police) began a concerted campaign against our underground organization. Fritz Winkler, who had oversight of our work, and most of the regional directors were arrested and imprisoned.

  *** w61 4/15 245 Deliverance from Totalitarian Inquisition Through Faith in God ***
  Preparations got under way for a convention in Lucerne, Switzerland. Meanwhile, the Nazis began a new drive against us. Already most of the brothers holding responsible positions had been arrested. My efforts were to pick up the loose ends and get things going again. Numberless back doors and windows provided narrow escapes from the Gestapo, but my mother and brother were arrested.

  The Gestapo had thus moved Frost into the perfect position and they really had great success because during the Luzern convention Frost was indeed appointed the new leader of the underground work in Germany by J.F. Rutherford. Ilse Unterdörfer was also assigned to this work. Frost stated in the Watchtower:

  *** w61 4/15 245 Deliverance from Totalitarian Inquisition Through Faith in God ***
  Attending the Lucerne convention in September, 1936, was the Society’s president, Brother Rutherford, and 2,500 of us from Germany. I was assigned to reorganize the severely disrupted underground work, and began immediately.

  The Gestapo was of course interested in getting the names of the new WT underground leadership but gave them some time to set up the organization before they went to work.

  Frost describe his arrest in the Watchtower:

  *** w61 4/15 246 Deliverance from Totalitarian Inquisition Through Faith in God ***
  The annual Memorial celebration of Christ’s death was due March 27, 1937. I had arranged to meet with ten brothers at that time to discuss the underground activity. At two o’clock in the morning came heavy blows and kicking against the apartment door! In seconds I hid a small roll of paper containing vital information in the mattress of my couch. In came ten secret police: "All right, get up and get dressed, Frost. The jig is up!" I prayed to Jehovah and proceeded to dress while they turned the room into shambles. The small roll was never found.

  Frost doesn’t give any date for his arrest but according to Ilse Unterdörfer this must have happened on March 21, 1937 the date she gives for the arrest of her and Frost. Frost brags about hiding "a small roll of paper containing vital information in the mattress of my couch" but this was of course a lie. The Gestapo interrogation protocols show that he had betrayed the entire group of Watchtower officials already on April 2, 1937, 11 days after his arrest, so the Gestapo never needed the "small roll":

  *** w79 11/1 10 We Did Not Give Up! ***Then, on March 21, 1937, less than two weeks after I first met Elfriede, Brother Frost and I were arrested. About the same time, certain regional service directors also fell into the hands of the Gestapo. Brother Heinrich Dietschi, a regional service director who was still free, assumed oversight of the work in Brother Frost’s absence.

  Heinrich Dietschi was appointed by Rutherford to take over in case Frost was arrested:

  *** yb74 154 Germany (Part One) ***So it was that, for the time being, Brother Frost was appointed to take over the responsibility. Then Brother Rutherford asked: ‘What happens if you are arrested?’ In the case of Brother Frost’s arrest, Brother Dietschi was recommended by the brothers to take over.

  Thanks to Erich Frost’s treason the Gestapo had the identity of all the newly appointed members of the Watchtower "underground" at this early date, including the above mentioned Heinrich Dietschi. All was listed by name and assigned districts by Frost in the Gestapo documents:

  „Georg R a b e. Bezirksdiener für
  1. Ostpreußen
  2. Westpreussen
  3. Pommern
  4. Mecklenburg.

  Artur N a w r o t h. Bezirksdiener für
  1. Ostschlesien
  2. Grensmark.

  August F e h s t. Bezirksdiener für
  1. Westschlesien
  2. Sachsen (östlich der Elbe), nach der Festnähme den Bezirksdienern Wilhelm E n g e l, festgenommen in Dezember 36 oder Januar 37.

  Otto D a u t h. Bezirksdiener für
  1. Berlin
  2. Mark Brandenburg.

  Fred M e i e r. Bezirksdiener für
  1. Westsachsen bis einschließlichAnhalt.

  Walther F r i e s e. Bezirksdiener für
  1. Thüringen
  2. Harsgebiet
  3. (? handwritten)

  Heinrich D i t s c h i. Bezirksdiener für
  1. Schleswig-Holstein
  2. Oldenburg
  3. Ruhrgebiet, Westfalen.

  Albert W a n d r e s. Bezirksdiener für
  1. Rheinland
  2. Baden
  3. Württemberg

  Kurt S i e n b e n e i c h l e r. Bezirksdiener für
  1 Bayern."

  In a document dated April 26, 1937. Frost made the following statements to the Gestapo:

  "On March 6, 1937, on the last day of the big meeting in Berlin, Sienbeneichler was not present and we were worried. I therefore sent Ilse Unterdörfer immediately to Munich to find out about Sienbeneichler. I gave Unterdörfer a Munich phone number mentioned to me by Sienbeneichler. Calling this number Unterdörfer got in touch with a sister unknown to me, which went under the name „Gertrud". As far as I can recall, this Gertrud is identical to Elfriede Löhr, from Munich. I at least assume that this is the case, at the moment I can’t be anymore specific."

  This information which Frost gave to the Gestapo was very accurate as can be seen from the Watchtower:

  *** w79 11/1 9 We Did Not Give Up! ***It was an assignment from Brother Frost that sent me to Munich to locate Elfriede Löhr. The only thing I knew about her was that her father was a dentist. I found their address in the telephone directory and, as a precaution, phoned first. When we met, I told Elfriede that she had been invited to work full time with us.

  The Watchtower tell us about Elfriede’s confusion when Ilse and Erich doesn’t show up for the appointed meeting:

  *** w79 11/1 10 We Did Not Give Up! ***She wondered: "Who is Brother Frost’s successor, and how can I meet him?" After praying to Jehovah, it came to her mind to seek contact in the town of Leutkirch, about 150 km (90 mi.) from Munich. In Leutkirch, on that very day she met the brother whom Brother Dietschi had sent to locate her. Surely this seemed to be by angelic direction!

  How sweet! Pity the angels didn’t concern themselves with Frost who was busy like a beaver supplying the Gestapo with the necessary information that would later see Elfriede behind bars. Ilse Unterdörfer confirm that the Gestapo did indeed arrest Elfriede:

  *** w79 11/1 10-11 We Did Not Give Up! ***MEETING EACH OTHER AGAINThus, while Elfriede was free, I found myself in the grip of the gestapo. At first I was sentenced only to a year and nine months. But immediately after serving the sentence, I was arrested again and sent to the Lichtenburg concentration camp, early in 1939. To my great surprise, Elfriede was there when I arrived.

  Yes, the traitor and later leader of the German branch office did a good job for the Gestapo and he became very popular among the Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany after the war. He was very kind to Ilse and Elfriede and sent them to Brooklyn to attend the Gilead school. Another interesting bit of information can be found in this quote form the Watchower:

  *** yb74 160 Germany (Part One) ***Extensive preparations were also made for a transportable radio transmitter to be built in the Netherlands and put into operation sometime in the fall of 1937. The Gestapo had already got wind of this and were furious with Brother Dietschi, whose name they knew but who proved to be just as elusive as Brother Wandres.

  The Gestapo documents show that the source of Dietschi’s connections to Netherlands came from Frost. After this coup by the Gestapo, Frost wasn’t of very much use for them anymore, the entire Watchtower underground network was destroyed apart from some few scattered individuals who wasn’t able to do much. Some of them was arrested as late as 1944, brought to a "correction house" in the Brandenburg district. One of them, Wilhelm Schumann was starting up the German Watchtower branch after the war. Both Schumann and Frost was after the war hailed as "faithful" and "steadfast" brothers. As documented above Frost was far from "faithful" to anyone but himself and the Gestapo.

  After Schumann’s arrest in January/February of 1944 he was confined to Correction house Brandenburg (Havel) Görden. Schumann is mentioned in the 1974 yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses as working on the Photo Drama:

  "*** yb74 96 Germany (Part One) *** There was no color photography at the time, but Wilhelm Schumann of the Magdeburg Bethel was untiring in his efforts to touch up the black-and-white photographs with color."

  In 1944 the happy days of touching up the black and white pictures for the "Photo Drama" must have seemed ages ago, when the grim reality of death stared Herr Schumann in the face.

  What did he do? He wrote the following letter:

  "The third Senate of the Peoples Court in Berlin

  Correction house
  Brandenburg (Havel) Görden 22 October 1944

  Great Senate!

  With this I humbly allow myself to ask you to recommend that my plea of pardon from the death penalty get priority…

  If possible I would give my support to the thousands of Germans, friends of our people, members of farming and agriculture, the war industry, the defense forces and the leaders of the party, the commerce which has supplied us and defended us at the front…

  It has been far from me to carry out any political activity to destroy the defense moral, as I am accused of…

  I have to admit that I through the writings of the IBV (International Biblestudents Association), was mislead to believe that the will of the Fürer, to save the German nation from ruin by Bolshevism, was a deception, that it was really about supporting the Catholic hierarchy’s pursuit for world domination. Today, however, when the fight for our people, our nation’s very existence stands at our very borders, I see that I, although too late must realize that all the political predictions of the Biblestudents is merely fantasies and false teachings which simply bring harm, this I have been considering.

  Since the middle of this year I have through instructive conversations with my Gestapo official in charge, Herr Rabold come to realize that I instead of being of benefit to our people, have by this insane undertaking only caused harm and in addition plunged my family into nameless misery. My wish is that God some day will give me the opportunity to take part in the fight for our people and thus for my family, be this as it may, but I request the opportunity to do my duty as a German. This is my prayer.

  Wilhelm Schumann"

  There is of course no reason to criticize Schumann for trying to save his life by publicly distancing himself from the "Biblestudents" (Jehovah's Witnesses) and calling the Watchtower writings "fantasies" and "false teachings". He probably also had good reason to be proud of his contributions to the Nazi war machine. But the behavior of Schumann, Frost and many of the other Watchtower leaders in Germany during the war is very, very far from the picture the Watchtower literature has been trying to portray ever since. As in every other instance where the Watchtower Society is trying to write their own history, not much of it stands the test of a thorough investigation. In 1989 the Watchtower wrote the following:

  *** w89 5/1 12 Jehovah Has Sustained Me as a Friend ***
  These traitors each came to a bad end. As the Nazis said, they loved the betrayal but not the betrayer. All three were sent to the eastern front and never came back. How different it turned out for those who never gave up friendship with God and his people! Many of the loyal ones, among them Erich Frost and Konrad Franke, who suffered much for the Lord’s sake and later became branch overseers in Germany, returned alive from the fiery furnace of persecution.

  Well, as we have documented, the Watchtower Society really did love their traitors, so much so that some of them even became leaders of the Watchtower in Germany after the war. Probably the worst traitor of them all, Erich Frost, was a well-respected leader for many, many years.
• 
  34

  Nazi Conciliation question...

  by AuldSoul in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i have heard reports that there were differences between the 1934 yearbook and the watchtower publshing of the conciliation letter.

  does anyone know the date for the watchtower publication of the adopted declaration?.

  auldsoul

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Atlantis

  Link is listed in post above.
• 
  34

  Nazi Conciliation question...

  by AuldSoul in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i have heard reports that there were differences between the 1934 yearbook and the watchtower publshing of the conciliation letter.

  does anyone know the date for the watchtower publication of the adopted declaration?.

  auldsoul

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Atlantis

  Internal Database (Watchtower Observer)-Lobo

  JW HOLOCAUST MUSEUM Lobo
  
  

  Posted by Lobo [Lobo] on January 06, 2000 at on H2O

  In Reply to: JW Holocaust Museum posted by Kent on January 06, 2000 at 12:21:36:

  Kent,

  Is it not http://www.standhaft.org/an official site of the Watchtower Society? If my memory serves me well, a few weeks back, someone here posted a link to a discussion on witnesses.net about this site and similar ones. Several active JWs called Brooklyn, and they were told that these sites were run by the Watchtower Society. By these sites I mean standfirm.org in different languages.

  I’m baffled why on official site of the Watchtower will post a link to information contradiction the “present truth” about the number of JWs who died during the holocaust. It says very clear:

  1.200 starben oder wurden ermordet not 10, 000.

  Kent, I think you caught the Watchtower in another big whopper, and its “supporters” are just contradicting the official count of JWs dead in concentration camps. The Watchtower is off by a factor 10. When do you think we will see the number revised down?

  Lobo
• 
  34

  Nazi Conciliation question...

  by AuldSoul in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i have heard reports that there were differences between the 1934 yearbook and the watchtower publshing of the conciliation letter.

  does anyone know the date for the watchtower publication of the adopted declaration?.

  auldsoul

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Atlantis

  Internal Database (Watchtower Observer)-Kent

  How we love the traitor Erich Frost! On the website Music Of The Holocaust you can find the music of Erich Frost, the Watchtower leader and traitor, who did send houndreds of his fellow JWs to consentration camps! This is something who can make you really sick - if you know the true story! Stand Fast - (Fest steht)Sachsenhausen concentration camp, 1942 Lyricist and composer: Erich Frost Language: German Men's Choir directed by Erich Frost Erich Frost (1900-1987), a musician and devout Jehovah's Witness, was active in the religious resistance to Hitler's authority. Caught smuggling pamphlets from Switzerland to Germany, he was imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin where he composed this song in 1942. Later deported to a labor camp at Alderney, Channel Islands, Frost survived the war and returned to Germany to serve the Watchtower Society. Fest steht, reworked in English as Forward, You Witnesses, is among the most popular of Jehovah's Witness hymns. This performance, evoking some of the song's original spirit, took place under Frost's direction at an event held in Wiesbaden, Germany, during the 1960s. Simone Arnold Liebster, who sings the English version of the song, was born in 1930 in Mulhouse, French Alsace. After the incorporation of Alsace into the German Reich during World War II, Liebster's family suffered increasing harrassment from the Nazis for following the Jehovah's Witness faith. Eventually both her father (Adolphe Arnold) and mother were arrested and sent to concentration and detention camps while she was placed in a correctional institution for "nonconformist" youth. Liebster has published an autobiography, Facing the Lion: Memoirs of a Young Girl in Nazi Europe.
• 
  34

  Nazi Conciliation question...

  by AuldSoul in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i have heard reports that there were differences between the 1934 yearbook and the watchtower publshing of the conciliation letter.

  does anyone know the date for the watchtower publication of the adopted declaration?.

  auldsoul

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Atlantis

  CETJAD http://www.facingthelion.com/aboutauthor.htm

  Simone Liebster, née Arnold, was born on August 17, 1930, in Alsace, where she spent her childhood years. After surviving the period of Nazi terror described in her book, Simone followed in the footsteps of her father, Adolphe, specializing in fabric design at Mulhouse art school.
  
  In 1952 she graduated from the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead in New York and has since served as a full-time Bible educator in France. She married Max Liebster, a former concentration camp prisoner, in 1956.

  In 1989 Simone Liebster became a founding member of the European Association for Jehovah's Witness Former Concentration Camp Inmates (Cercle Européen des Témoins de Jéhovah Anciens Deportés et Internés or CETJAD) and now lectures widely on the Witnesses’ experience during the Nazi regime.

  She has spoken about human rights issues before the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the Council of Europe in Brussels. She has lectured about her experiences in over 50 cities in Belgium, Canada, England, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States.
• 
  34

  Nazi Conciliation question...

  by AuldSoul in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i have heard reports that there were differences between the 1934 yearbook and the watchtower publshing of the conciliation letter.

  does anyone know the date for the watchtower publication of the adopted declaration?.

  auldsoul

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Atlantis

  Internal Database (Watchtower Observer)-Norm

  The Holocaust and the liars There seem to be no end to the lies and deceit of the Watchtower leaders. They seem to be obsessed with the idea that what happened to Jehovah's Witnesses during the Nazi era in Germany is the sole ticket to being “accepted” as a mainstream normal Church, in Europe and the rest of the world. In their incessant work to present their past history in Germany they spare no effort in panting the glossiest picture of their member’s steadfastness against the Nazi’s.
  
  Norman Hovland
  
  One of the most obvious ways of doing this is the constant inflating of the number of Jehovah's Witnesses dying during the Hitler years. Knowing full well the correct number of casualties they keep on lying:
  
  

  quote:

  ---

  *** g01 5/8 pp. 12-13 Could the Holocaust Happen Again? ***
  Could the Holocaust Happen Again?
  The Holocaust and Jehovah’s Witnesses
  In 1933, there were about 25,000 of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany. Thousands of them were among the first people to be thrown into Nazi camps and prisons. They declared their neutrality as Christians toward all kinds of political and military activity. They did not heil Hitler. They refused to accept the Nazi racist ideology and to share in Hitler’s war machine. About 2,000 died, more than 250 of them by execution.

  ---

  Here are the real numbers:
  
  

  quote:

  ---

  *** yb74 212 Germany (Part One) ***
  “A total of 6,019 had been arrested, several two, three or even more times, so that, all together, 8,917 arrests were registered. All together they had been sentenced to serve 13,924 years and two months in prison, two and a quarter times as long as the period since Adam’s creation. A total of 2,000 brothers and sisters had been put into concentration camps, where they had spent 8,078 years and six months, an average of four years. A total of 635 had died in prison, 253 had been sentenced to death and 203 of these had actually been executed. What a record of integrity!”

  ---

  As we can see it wasn’t 2000 dead, it was 635, and 203 was actually executed not 250.
  
  How about the supposed number of Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany in 1933, 25,000?
  It is no doubt a padded number. Look at the following quotes:
  
  

  quote:

  ---

  *** w71 1/1 16 Have You Entered the Great Contest of Faith? ***
  35 In 1932 when the last report was received from Germany and before the ban was placed on Jehovah’s witnesses, there were 14,453 sharing in the Kingdom declaration.
  g75 2/22 22 — Yet among the 19,000 German Jehovah’s witnesses in 1933, “a higher proportion (97 per cent) suffered some form of persecution than any of the other churches.”

  ---

  Notice the number given for 1932, 14,453, an exact number. Then in the next quote it is suddenly a nice round figure of 19,000, a sudden increase of some 4547 people in a year when the Witnesses were banned? But 19,000 weren’t enough, so how do you “cook the books” to inflate the number even more? The Watchtower Society used the old trick, feed some “historian” on the outside of the Watchtower Society some wrong numbers and when they print them just quote the wrong numbers. Then voila, they are not “our numbers” but they are elevated to the work of an “historian” which has done “research”. This is exactly what happened with the number of Witnesses on Germany in 1933, just look at this:
  
  

  quote:

  ---

  *** g95 8/22 10 The Evils of Nazism Exposed ***
  Why were Jehovah’s Witnesses so well acquainted with the concentration camps? When World War II started in 1939, there were already 6,000 Witnesses confined in camps and prisons. German historian Detlef Garbe estimates that the Witnesses constituted at that time between 5 and 10 percent of the total camp population! At a seminar on the Witnesses and the Holocaust, Garbe stated: “Of the 25,000 persons who admitted to being Jehovah’s Witnesses at the beginning of the Third Reich, about 10,000 were imprisoned for any length of time. Of these, over 2,000 were admitted to concentration camps. This means that the Jehovah’s Witnesses were, with the exception of the Jews, the worst persecuted by the SS of all the religious based groups.”

  ---

  No one in the Jehovah's Witnesses camp ever bothered to tell Garbe the simple fact that the number of people present at the “celebration of the Lord’s Evening Meal” is far from being Jehovah's Witnesses all of them. The total number of Witnesses being imprisoned was as the above quoted yearbook tells us:
  
  

  quote:

  ---

  ***yb74 212 Germany (Part One) ***
  “A total of 6,019 had been arrested, several two, three or even more times, so that, all together, 8,917 arrests were registered.”

  ---

  
  
  But with the help of this “historian” which they in turn had provided with false numbers the Watchtower Society were able to inflate numbers again and that seem to be of overall importance to them regarding the Nazi years.
  Now, did you notice the title of the article quoted above, “Could the Holocaust Happen Again? I wonder why they ask such a question in the year 2001. I mean do the people that write these articles published in the Watchtower literature ever read their own magazines?
  
  Of course the Holocaust will happen again, not only will it happen again, but every Jehovah's Witnesses live for the day it will happen, they pray for it to happen, the next Holocaust can simply not come too soon for them!
  
  

  quote:

  ---

  *** w59 6/15 p. 375 Witnesses Persevere Behind the Iron Curtain ***
  Oh, this will be a terrible day for mankind! In the holocaust of Armageddon will perish not only Satan but all those who are in league with him—in the first place, of course, the unbelievers, which means you and me, reader! But it will not stop at us. The majority of believers, since their faith is not the true one, are also doomed to mass destruction. The only ones who will be saved, and who will live in felicity on earth forever, will be the members of the religious sect of Jehovah, also known as ‘Witnesses of the Lord Jehovah,’ also known as ‘Students of the Holy Scripture.’ So that is what Armageddon means. Prepare yourselves, and tremble!
  
  *** g71 11/22 p. 4 Awake from Sleep!—Why? How? ***
  In these perilous last days of this wicked system of things it is imperative for you to stay awake if you would not be one of the victims trapped in the fire of the coming “great tribulation,” a holocaust far more consuming than that at Saint-Laurent-du-Pont. To help you to do so is one reason why this journal is being published and why it is called Awake!
  
  *** w85 7/1 p. 19 Jehovah’s Goodness in “the Final Part of the Days” ***
  3 Yes, world leaders are talking about Armageddon. But do they realize what that Bible word means? Apparently not, for Armageddon is no man-made holocaust. It is God’s universal war by which he and his associate King, Jesus Christ, execute judgment upon wicked nations and wicked men.

  ---

  
  
  If we are to take the Watchtower Society literature serious, this God made holocaust will make Hitler’s Nazi holocaust look like a picnic. So why print such obviously hypocritical articles at all?
• 
  34

  Nazi Conciliation question...

  by AuldSoul in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i have heard reports that there were differences between the 1934 yearbook and the watchtower publshing of the conciliation letter.

  does anyone know the date for the watchtower publication of the adopted declaration?.

  auldsoul

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Atlantis

  Internal Database (Watchtower Observer)-Kent

  The Watchtower's Propaganda Machinery Working Hard!

  The text of this web page was originally published by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as a pamphlet titled "JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES".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.
  
  Founded in the United States in the 1870s, the Jehovah's Witnesses organization sent missionaries to Germany to seek converts in the 1890s. By the early 1930s, only 20,000 (of a total population of 65 million) Germans were Jehovah's Witnesses, usually known at the time as "International Bible Students."
  
  Even before 1933, despite their small numbers, door-to-door preaching and the identification of Jehovah's Witnesses as heretics by the mainstream Protestant and Catholic churches made them few friends. Individual German states and local authorities periodically sought to limit the group's proselytizing activities with charges of illegal peddling. There were also outright bans on Jehovah's Witnesses' religious literature, which included the booklets The Watch Tower and The Golden Age. The courts, by contrast, often ruled in favor of the religious minority. Meanwhile, in the early 1930s, Nazi brownshirted storm troopers, acting outside the law, broke up Bible study meetings and beat up, individual Witnesses.
  
  After the Nazis came to power, persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses intensified . Small as the movement was, it offered, in scholar Christine King's words, a "rival ideology" and "rival center of loyalty" to the Nazi movement. Although honest and as law-abiding as their religious beliefs allowed, Jehovah's Witnesses saw themselves as citizens of Jehovah's Kingdom; they refused to swear allegiance to any worldly government. They were not pacifists, but as soldiers in Jehovah's army, they would not bear arms for any nation.
  
  Jehovah's Witnesses, in Germany as in the United States, had refused to fight in World War I. This stance contributed to hostility against them in a Germany still wounded by defeat in that war and fervently nationalistic, . attempting to reclaim its previous world stature. In Nazi Germany, Jehovah's Witnesses refused to raise their arms in the "Heil, Hitler!" salute; they did not vote in elections; they would not join the army or the German Labor Front '(a Nazi affiliate, which all salaried employees were required to join after 1934).
  
  Jehovah's Witnesses were denounced for their international and American ties, the apparent revolutionary tone of their millennialism (belief in the peaceful 1,000 year heavenly rule over the earth by Christ, preceded by the battle of Armageddon), and their supposed connections to Judaism, including a reliance on parts of the Bible embodying Jewish scripture (the Christian "Old Testament"). Many of these charges were brought against more than 40 other banned religious groups, but none of these were persecuted to the same degree. The crucial difference was, the intensity Witnesses demonstrated in refusing to give ultimate loyalty or obedience to the state.
  
  In April 1933, four months after Hitler became chancellor, Jehovah's Witnesses were banned in Bavaria and by the summer in most of Germany. Twice during 1933, police occupied the Witnesses' offices and their printing site in Magdeburg and confiscated religious literature. Witnesses defied Nazi prohibitions by continuing to meet and distribute their literature often covertly. Copies were made from booklets smuggled in mainly from Switzerland.
  
  Initially, Jehovah's Witnesses attempted to fend off Nazi attacks by issuing a letter to the government in October 1934, explaining their religious beliefs and political neutrality. This declaration failed to convince the Nazi regime of the group's harmlessness. For defying the ban on their activities, many Witnesses were arrested and sent to prisons and concentration camps. They lost their jobs as civil servants or employees in
  private industry and their unemployment, social welfare, and pension benefits.
  
  From 1935 onward, Jehovah's Witnesses faced a Nazi campaign of nearly total persecution. On April 1, 1935, the group was banned nationally by law. The same year, Germany reintroduced compulsory military service. For refusing to be drafted or perform war-related work, and continuing to meet, Jehovah's Witnesses were arrested and incarcerated in prisons and concentration camps. In 1935 some 400 Jehovah's Witnesses were imprisoned at Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
  
  In 1936 a special unit of the Gestapo (Secret State Police) began compiling a registry of all persons believed to be Jehovah's Witnesses, and agents infiltrated Bible study meetings. By 1939, an estimated 6,000 Witnesses (including those from incorporated Austria and Czechoslovakia) were detained in prisons or camps. Some Witnesses were tortured by police in attempts to make them sign a declaration / renouncing their faith, but few capitulated.
  
  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.
  
  The children of Jehovah's Witnesses also suffered. In classrooms, teachers ridiculed children who refused to give the "Heil, Hitler!" salute or sing patriotic songs. Classmates shunned and beat up young Witnesses. Principals expelled them from schools. Families were broken up as authorities took children away from their parents and sent them to reform schools, orphanages, or private homes, to be brought up as Nazis.
  
  After 1939 most active Jehovah's Witnesses were incarcerated in prisons or concentration camps. Some had fled Germany. In the camps, all prisoners wore markings of various shapes and colors so that guards and camp officers could identify them by category. Witnesses were marked by purple triangular patches. Even in the camps, they continued to meet, pray, and make converts. In Buchenwald concentration camp, they set up an underground printing press and distributed religious tracts.
  
  Conditions in Nazi camps were generally harsh for all inmates, many of whom died from hunger, disease, exhaustion, exposure to the cold, and brutal treatment. But, as psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim and others have noted, Witnesses were uniquely sustained in the camps by the support they gave each other and by their belief that their suffering was part of their work for God. Individual Witnesses astounded their guards with their refusal to conform to military-type routines like roll call or to roll bandages for soldiers at the front. At the same time, Witnesses were considered unusually trustworthy because they refused to escape from camps or physically resist their guards. For this reason, Witnesses were often used as domestic servants by Nazi camp officers and guards.
  
  According to Rudolf Höss, Commandant of Auschwitz, SS Chief Heinrich Himmler often used the "fanatical faith" of Jehovah's Witnesses as an example to his own SS troops. In his view, SS men had to have the same "unshakable faith" in the National Socialist ideal and in Adolf Hitler that the Witnesses had in Jehovah. Only when all SS men believed as fanatically in their own philosophy would Adolf Hitler's state be permanently secure.
  
  In the Nazi years, about 10,000 Witnesses were imprisoned in concentration camps, most of them of German nationality. After 1939, small numbers of Witnesses from Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, Norway, and Poland (some of them refugees from Germany) were arrested and deported to Dachau, Bergqn-Belsen, Buchenwald, Sachsen-hausen, Ravensbrück, Auschwitz, Mauthausen, and other concentration camps. An estimated 2,500 to 5,000 Witnesses died in the camps or prisons. More than 200 men were tried by the German War Court and executed for refusing military service.
  
  During the liberation of the camps, Jehovah's Witnesses continued their work, moving among the survivors, making converts.
  
  
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  
  FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
  
  VISIT THE PERMANENT EXHIBITION
  Enemies of the State (4th floor)
  
  Prisoners of the Camps (3rd floor): purple triangular patches; Bible belonging to a Jehovah's Witness who 'died in Sachsenhausen concentration camp
  
  The Victims (2nd and 4th floors): concentration camp uniforms bearing inverted purple triangular patches
  
  In the Camps (3rd floor): wooden box given to a Jehovah's Witness prisoner in Buchenwald concentration camp by a Polish political prisoner
  
  VISIT THE WEXNER LEARNING CENTER (2nd floor)
  
  From the MENU choose TOPIC LIST. From the alphabetical list of topics choose "MOSAIC OF VICTIMS: Victims of Nazi persecution." Touch "Jehovah's Witnesses" to learn more about the persecution of Jehovah's Witnessses during the Holocaust:
  
  From the MENU choose ID CARD. Type in the following numbers to read about the experiences of Jehovah's Witnesses who were persecuted during the Holocaust: 5056; 5222; 3095; 4704; 5474;
  5454;'5466; 2775; 2765; 4874; 5213; 4424; 5234; 4123; 3243; 4101; 5374; 1434; 5422; 2454.
  
  
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  RESEARCH INSTITUTE HOLDINGS
  
  
  LIBRARY
  
  Ask at the reference desk for a complete listing of holdings on Jehovah's Witnesses.
  
  ARCHIVES
  
  Several thousand pages of personal documents, relating to the Kusserow and Jahndorf families in particular. The material docu-menting Witnesses' imprisonment in various concentration camps includes censored correspondence, arrest orders, records of trials and sentencing of Witnesses to the camps, and photographs.
  
  ORAL HISTORY ARCHIVES
  
  Nearly 100 oral and videotaped interviews with Jehovah's Witness -
  survivors, the largest collection of its kind.
  
  PHOTO ARCHIVES
  
  Numerous photographs depicting prewar life and imprisonment.
  
  
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  RECOMMENDED READING
  
  Friedman, Ina R. The Other Victims: First-Person Stories of Non-Jews Persecuted by the Nazis (Boston, 990), pp. 47-59.
  
  King, Christine E. "Jehovah's Witnesses under Nazism," in Michael Berenbaum, ed., A Mosaic of Victims: Non-Jews Persecuted and Murdered by the Nazis (New York, 1990), pp. 188-193.
  
  King, Christine E. The Nazi State and the New Religions: Five Case
  Studies in Non-Conformity (New York, 1982).
  
  Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York. Jehovah's Witnesses: Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (Pennsylvania, 1993).
  
  Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York. 1974 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses (Pennsylvania, 1973).
  
  On Video: Purple Triangles, the story of the Kusserow family. A Starlock Pictures Production for TVS, 1991. English version distri-buted by Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., 25 Columbia Heights. Brooklyn, NY 11201.
  
  Source
• 
  34

  Nazi Conciliation question...

  by AuldSoul in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i have heard reports that there were differences between the 1934 yearbook and the watchtower publshing of the conciliation letter.

  does anyone know the date for the watchtower publication of the adopted declaration?.

  auldsoul

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Atlantis

  Internal Database (Watchtower Observer)-Sebastian

  Not political they say? Neutral from governments and the activities of the world they say? How many times do you see words with "political references" in the documents listed below? Not to mention, that these "Memorial Day" and "Living History Projects" and celebrations would be considered as being "part of the world" in literature published by the Watchtower Society themselves! Oh! and by the way, ANCA stands for: Armenian National Committee of America, which is one of the [largest] grass-root [political] organizations in the world! Does the Watchtower's Public Affairs Office see any problem with listing their name with this political organization as a Holocaust Organizer? Not at all! http://www.anca.org/action_alerts/actionalerts.php?aaid=16

  HELP ENGLAND'S ARMENIAN COMMUNITY STOP THE EXCLUSION OF THE GENOCIDE FROM HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY
  An action alert circulated by the Committee for the Recognition of the Armenian Genocide [email protected] London, England (12/13/2000)
  	Current Status
  England's Armenian community needs your help. January 27th has been set aside by the British government as Britain's first Holocaust Memorial Day. The official purpose of this commemoration is to "promote education and research about the Holocaust and other genocide... to make sure that the lessons of such events are fully learnt." As a matter of policy, however, our Government has chosen to exclude any mention of the 1.5 million men, women and children killed in the Armenian Genocide. The reasons cited by the British Government for not including the Armenian Genocide were that its mention would somehow detract from the "contemporary relevance" of the commemoration and risk diluting its message by including "too much history."

  Last Updated: 1/30/01 What You Can Do

  Contact the Holocaust Memorial Day organizers, members of the Steering Committee, and others involved in the planning of this commemoration.
  
  A sample letter that you can "cut and paste" is provided below, though it would be more appropriate and have more impact if you write your own letter. If you prefer to communicate by telephone, a sample phone script is provided.
  
  (Send a note to [email protected] to tell us what actions you have taken and to inform us of any responses that you
  have received.)
  
  

  ---

  
  List of Organizations to Contact

  ---

  1) The official website for UK's Holocaust Memorial Day is: www.holocaustmemorialday.gov.uk
  
  Please visit this site and send a letter to the organizers of this commemoration.
  
  2) Contact the official government departments involved in this issue:
  
  -- Race Equality Unit
  Home Office,
  50 Queen Anne's Gate
  London SW1H 9AT
  [email protected]
  
  -- Department for Education and Employment
  Sanctuary Buildings
  Great Smith Street
  London SW1P 3BT
  www.dfee.gov.uk
  
  -- Department for Culture, Media and Sport
  2-4 Cockspur St
  London SW1Y 5DH
  www.heritage.gov.uk
  
  -- Foreign and Commonwealth Office
  Post-Holocaust Issues
  King Charles St
  London SW1A 2AH
  
  -- Inner Cities Religious Council (ICRC)
  Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions
  4/K10 Eland House
  Bressenden Place
  London SW1E 5DU
  Tel: (020) 7944 3704
  Fax: (020) 7944 3709
  Email: [email protected]
  www.detr.gov.uk
  
  2) Contact the following non-governmental organizations involved
  in this issue:
  
  -- Aegis Genocide Prevention Initiative
  The Aegis Trust
  PO Box 2002
  Newark, Notts. NG22 9ZG
  Tel: 01623 836978
  Fax: 01623 862950
  Email: [email protected]
  www.aegistrust.org
  
  -- Amnesty International
  99-119 Rosebery Avenue
  London, EC1R 4RE
  Tel: 020 7814 6200
  Fax: 020 7833 1510
  Email: [email protected]
  www.amnesty.org.uk
  
  -- Anne Frank Educational Trust UK
  PO Box 11880, London N6 4LN
  Tel: 020 8340 9077
  Fax: 020 8340 9088
  Email: [email protected]
  www.afet.org.uk
  
  -- Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre
  Laxton, Newark Notts, NG22 0PA
  Tel: 01623 836627
  Fax: 01623 836647
  Email: [email protected]
  www.bethshalom.com
  
  -- Board of Deputies of British Jews - Education Department
  Education Officer
  Commonwealth House
  1-19 New Oxford Street
  London, WC1A 1NU
  Tel: 020 7543 5400
  Fax: 020 7543 0010
  www.bod.org.uk
  
  -- The Commission for Racial Equality
  Elliot House, 10-12 Allington Street
  London, SW1E 5EH
  Tel: 020 7828 7022
  Fax: 020 7630 7605
  Email: [email protected]
  www.cre.gov.uk
  
  -- The Council of Christians and Jews
  5th Floor, 87 Albert Embankment
  London, SE1 7PP
  Tel: 020 7388
  Fax: 020 7388 3305
  Email: [email protected]
  www.jcrelations.net/index.htm
  
  -- The Disability Rights Commission
  DRC Helpline
  Freepost, MID 02164
  Stratford-Upon-Avon, CV37 9BR
  Tel: 08457 622633
  Fax: 08457 622611
  Email: [email protected]
  www.drc-gb.org
  
  -- Equal Opportunities Commission
  Overseas House,
  Quay Street, Manchester
  Tel: 0161 833 9244
  
  -- The Holocaust Educational Trust
  BCM Box 7892, London, WC1N 3XX
  Tel: 020 7222 6822
  Fax: 020 7233 0161
  Email: [email protected]
  www.het.org.uk
  
  -- Human Rights Watch
  33 Islington High Street
  London, N1 9LH
  Tel: 020 7713 1995
  Fax: 020 7713 1800
  www.humanrightswatch.com
  
  -- The Imperial War Museum
  Lambeth Road
  London, SE1 6HZ
  Tel: 020 7416 5313/5444
  Fax: 020 7416 5440
  Email: [email protected]
  www.iwm.org.uk
  
  -- Institute of Contemporary History and Wiener Library
  4 Devonshire Street
  London, W1N 2BH
  Tel: 020 7636 7247
  Fax: 020 7436 6428
  Email: [email protected]
  www.wienerlibrary.co.uk
  
  -- Inter Faith Network
  5-7 Taverstock Place
  London WC1H 9SN
  Tel. (020) 7388 0008
  Fax. (020) 7387 7968
  E-mail: [email protected]
  www.interfaith.org.uk
  
  -- Jehovah's Witnesses
  Public Affairs Office
  Watch Tower House
  The Ridgeway
  London NW7 1RN
  Tel: 020 8906 2211
  Fax: 020 8371 0051
  E-mail: [email protected]
  www.disc.co.uk/standfirm/
  
  -- London Jewish Cultural Centre
  The Old House, c/o Kings College
  Kidderpore Avenue
  London, NW3 7SZ
  Tel: 020 7431 0345
  Fax: 020 7431 0361
  Email: [email protected]
  www.LJCC.org.uk And who started this project? Was it not more "political" figures of the world? During a parliamentary debate in June 1997, the Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson pledged to inform the public about what happened during the second world war, and the attitudes towards and beliefs about humankind that resulted in the Holocaust. This pledge was a response to various outbreaks of violence of a racist character and with overt Nazi connections, which had attracted a great deal of attention, and to a report revealing that far too many school pupils were not convinced that the Holocaust had ever taken place.

  On the Prime Minister's initiative 'Living History', an information project on Holocaust related issues, was launched. Its purpose was to focus efforts on enhancing knowledge and awareness of the Holocaust, to stimulate discussion and thereby to strengthen awareness and recognition of human dignity and democracy.

  The information activities forming part of the project mainly fall into four categories: organised public events, information for parents and the general public, school projects, and measures to support university based activities and research.

  Published material includes the book Tell ye your children...

  Living History has also offered pupils at schools throughout the country an opportunity to see films about Nazism and the Resistance. The screenings attracted over 200,000 pupils. A nine film video package was also distributed to every school. Some 40 seminars for teachers on the theme of the Holocaust and the foundations of society's value systems have also been held.

  A Programme for Holocaust Research and Genocide Studies has been set up at Uppsala University. A website concerning the Holocaust, the first of its kind in Swedish, has been designed and installed. Sweden's adult education associations recently carried out a joint project aimed at setting up study circles based on Tell ye your children...

  For more information, please inquire at the Living History desk in Folkets Hus.

  http://www.chgs.umn.edu/Educational_Resources/Curriculum/Stockholm_International_Forum/Living_History/living_history.html

  And are Jehovah's Witnesses involved in this "worldly political" affair also? Oh yes! And they are quite proud of their accomplishments in this venture! http://www.chgs.umn.edu/Educational_Resources/Curriculum/Stockholm_International_Forum/Jehovah_s_Witnesses/jehovah_s_witnesses.html

  Jehovah's Witnesses

  Jehovah's Witnesses were among the first to suffer Nazi persecution. About 10,000 of them where directly punished or put in prisons and camps. Some 2,000 died, 360 by execution.

  Since these facts are not wellknown, the "Living History" project is providing an opportunity to acquaint the public also with these "forgotten" victims of the Holocaust era.

  In line with the basic idea of the "Living History" project, the Witnesses in Sweden share their history with the public by means of video documentaries and a traveling exhibition.

  The video Jehovah's Witnesses Stand Firm Against Nazi Assault is dubbed into Swedish. The Purple Triangles video is subtitled. Both are offered free of charge to schools and educational centers. In Sweden, the Witnesses show these films on request in schools and educational centers and give lectures about this part of Holocaust history.

  The traveling exhibition, entitled "The Forgotten Victims of the Holocaust," including the award winning video film Jehovah's Witnesses Stand Firm Against Nazi Assault, reaches a large audience.

  Activities of Jehovah's Witnesses in line with the "Living History" project

  Jehovah's Witnesses have produced four sets of a traveling exhibition entitled, "The Forgotten Victims of the Holocaust." Made up by 30 panels displaying hundreds of photographs of victims and survivors, as well as other items, it documents the cruel treatment of Witnesses and others in prisons and camps. Included in the exhibit are a model of a Jehovah's Witness prison uniform with the purple triangle mark and a replica of a guillotine used for decapitation of several Jehovah's Witnesses at the Brandenburg prison. The video documentary Jehovah's Witnesses Stand Firm Against Nazi Assault is shown in connection with all the exhibitions.

  The exhibition was premiered at a preview screening and a Press Conference held in the facilities of the Nordic Museum in Stockholm in January 1998. Since then, it has been shown in more than 130 places all over Sweden -- mainly in libraries and educational centers. By January 2000, more than 164,000 guests have seen the exhibition. It is booked until summer 2000.

  About 500 trained volunteer workers, equipped with manuals explaining the items on display, serve as exhibition guides and assistants. To provide a historical summary of the experience of Jehovah's Witnesses, 214,000 copies of the August 22, 1995, issue of Awake! dealing with the Holocaust and the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the camps have been reprinted.

  In order to let the public know about the exhibition, more than three million four-color invitation flyers and thousands of posters have been printed and distributed. Media representatives have attended and covered the subject. Interviews have been conducted with survivors, including some Jehovah's Witnesses now living in Sweden.

  Headmasters and teachers in a great number of schools and educational centers have been contacted, and thus many school classes, students, and teachers have visited the exhibition.

  On request, Jehovah's Witnesses give lectures in schools and universities based on their history in the context of the Holocaust. Discussions focus on ethics, morals, altruism, tolerance, and what can be learned from the horrors of the Nazi era in order to avoid future acts of genocide. Study guides and material for teachers and lecturers have been produced, and a number of such lessons have been presented in classes in many schools.

  The aim of the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses, in line with the "Living History" project, is to present objective historical facts about the experience of the Witnesses as a group, not to inform about their religious beliefs.

  So, it seems that Jehovah's Witnesses are proud to "get in line" with all the rest of the political aristocrats, and participate in worldly memorial day and remembrance day commemorations that are taking place.

  Lets see what the Watchtower literature says about all of this, shall we?

  Watchtower/2002/Feb/1st/page-13 states quote:

  In connection with the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, the Swedish government initiated a nationwide educational campaign about the Holocaust. The project was called Living History. Jehovah’s Witnesses were invited to take part and to share their experiences.

  The Witnesses responded by staging an exhibition entitled The Forgotten Victims of the Holocaust. It opened at the Assembly Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Strängnäs. Witness Holocaust survivors were on hand to share their experiences with the more than 8,400 visitors who came on the first day! By the end of 1999, the exhibition had appeared in over 100 museums and public libraries throughout Sweden, and some 150,000 people had seen it. Visitors included a number of government officials, who commented favorably on what they saw.

  What was the result for Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower Society for taking part in this "political" exhibition?

  Well, the Watchtower article goes on to tell us:

  After the exhibition had been shown in their area, one congregation reported a 30-percent increase in home Bible studies!

  Yes, an increase in converts, which also means an increase in "financial" gains for the Watchtower Society!
• 
  34

  Nazi Conciliation question...

  by AuldSoul in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i have heard reports that there were differences between the 1934 yearbook and the watchtower publshing of the conciliation letter.

  does anyone know the date for the watchtower publication of the adopted declaration?.

  auldsoul

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Atlantis

  Internal Database (Watchtower Observer)-Norm

  Ghost Witnesses in Nazi Concentration Camps? The Watchtower Society loves the god of numbers. Particularly if he can be used to inflate the number of casualties during the Nazi years in Germany. Investigating the Watchtower literature is quite revealing when it comes to documenting the many contradictions about what really happened during those years.
  
  Norman Hovland
  
  "A total of 6,019 had been arrested, several two, three or even more times, so that, all together, 8,917 arrests were registered. All together they had been sentenced to serve 13,924 years and two months in prison, two and a quarter times as long as the period since Adam's creation. A total of 2,000 brothers and sisters had been put into concentration camps, where they had spent 8,078 years and six months, an average of four years. A total of 635 had died in prison, 253 had been sentenced to death and 203 of these had actually been executed. What a record of integrity!" (1974 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, p. 212)
  As we can see here the Watchtower Society know exactly how many Jehovah's Witnesses were arrested in Germany during the Nazi years. It was 6,019 persons. The Nazis were known for their meticulous registering and keeping records of every conceivable thing, so of course they didn't throw anybody in prison or in a concentration camp without arresting him/her first.
  
  Another very interesting piece of information is also found in the above quoted yearbook. We are told the TOTAL number of Witnesses that was put into concentration camps during the Nazi years. The number was 2,000! That means that the majority of those arrested were released. But when we look closer at what various Watchtowers have to say about the number of Witnesses in the camps, we yet again see this attempt to inflate the numbers and this time really out of all proportions.
  
  "Hitler failed to break them in prisons and concentration camps where he tortured 10,000 of them, and the Communists are failing to do it in their frightful prisons and slave-labor camps." (The Watchtower, June 1, 1960, p. 327)
  
  "Hitler, a Roman Catholic, the arm of his church in Germany, forbade Jehovah's witnesses to preach the kingdom of God, and these modern-day Christians had to say to Hitler's Gestapo police: 'Whether it is righteous in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves.' They kept preaching even though 10,000 of them were put in concentration camps and over 4,000 died there. The rest nearly starved to death. The war's end aided their survival." (The Watchtower, January 1, 1964, p. 13)
  
  The question here is, if only 2,000 Witnesses were put into the camps, why print that there were 10,000 of them there? Where did the 8,000 additional persons come from? Did they perhaps come from the same place as the 4,000 Witnesses that is reported to have died in the camps? How can 4,000 people out of a total of 2,000 die? As we can see from the correct numbers of casualties reported by the 74 Yearbook, the real number of deaths is reported to be "a total of 635".
  
  Many of these tragic deaths could probably have been avoided if it wasn't for the totally insane orders from the Watchtower president at the time, J. F. Rutherford, who sent them out distributing Watchtower literature knowing well that this would inflame the Nazis. Isn't the tragedy of 6,019 arrests and the death of 635 Witnesses during the Nazi era quite enough for the Watchtower Society? Why do they have to inflate these numbers all the time?
  
  Knowing full well the real number of Witnesses arrested suffering and dying during the Nazi years the Watchtower Society never seem to be satisfied with it. The attempt to inflate these figures seems to have no end. Take a look at a more recent example of this here:
  
  "Why were Jehovah's Witnesses so well acquainted with the concentration camps? When World War II started in 1939, there were already 6,000 Witnesses confined in camps and prisons. German historian Detlef Garbe estimates that the Witnesses constituted at that time between 5 and 10 percent of the total camp population! At a seminar on the Witnesses and the Holocaust, Garbe stated: "Of the 25,000 persons who admitted to being Jehovah's Witnesses at the beginning of the Third Reich, about 10,000 were imprisoned for any length of time. Of these, over 2,000 were admitted to concentration camps. This means that the Jehovah's Witnesses were, with the exception of the Jews, the worst persecuted by the SS of all the religious based groups."" (Awake!, August 22, 1995, p. 10)
  
  As we can see here, they use the old trick of quoting a historian which have lifted many of his figures out of the inflated figures in their own literature. First they use Garbe's ignorance about the difference between a Witness and a person that attends the memorial. There was about 24,000+ people which attended the memorial in 1932/33. Any Jehovah's Witness knows that people who attend the memorial is far from "admitted to being a Jehovah's Witness". We also understand that with a total of 6,019 Witnesses arrested there couldn't possibly be 10,000 imprisoned at any given time, this is pure hogwash! Just another figure lifted out of their own distorted literature.
  
  As we can see from the previous quotes the alleged 10,000 Witnesses was supposed to have been in prison and camps, then in camps, and then suddenly all the 10,000 were "imprisoned". And for 2,000 of those it was the camps.
  
  One constantly wonder, is there absolutely do decency in Brooklyn? Why do they have to lie about this tragedy all the time? Why isn't 2,000 people suffering in the camps and 635 dead enough for the Watchtower Society?