*** yb74 pp. 174-175 Part 2—Germany ***
DIVISIONS ADD TO THE HARDSHIP
Cut off from the brothers outside, those in the camps felt a great craving for spiritual food. New arrivals were questioned by the brothers to find out what had been published in The Watchtower. Sometimes the information was accurately conveyed, and sometimes it was not. There were also brothers who tried to use the Bible to set the date when they would be delivered, and, although the arguments were weak, some hopefully grasped at these “straws.”
During this time a brother who had an exceptional memory was put in Buchenwald. At first his ability to recall and to share with others the things he had learned was a source of encouragement to the brothers. But in time he became an idol, “the wonder of Buchenwald,” and his statements, even his personal opinion, were viewed as final. From December of 1937 until 1940 he delivered a talk every evening, about a thousand in all, and many of these were taken down in shorthand so that they could be mimeographed. Though there were many older brothers in the camp who were capable of giving discourses, this brother was the only one who did so. Any who were not in full agreement with him were referred to as “enemies of the Kingdom” and “Achan’s family,” to be avoided by the “faithful ones.” Almost four hundred brothers more or less willingly went along with this arrangement.
Those thus labeled “enemies” were also brothers who had been willing to risk their lives to promote Kingdom interests to the best of their abilities. They, too, had been put into the camp because of determination to prove their integrity, even to death. Some of them were not fully applying Bible principles, it is true. Yet when they sought to establish contact with the responsible ones so that they too could benefit from what spiritual food became available in Buchenwald, these viewed it as “beneath their dignity” to discuss matters.
Wilhelm Bathen from Dinslaken, who is still serving Jehovah, relates how he personally was affected: “When I realized that I too had been disfellowshiped I was so spiritually shaken and depressed that I asked myself how such a thing was possible. . . . I often got down on my knees and prayed to Jehovah that he should give me a sign. I asked myself if I were to blame for the situation and whether he too had disfellowshiped me. I had a Bible and I would read in it in the dim light and I found a great deal of comfort in the thought that this was coming upon me as a test, otherwise I already would have been destroyed, for this being cut off from the brothers was a tremendous pain.”
Thus human imperfections and an exaggerated view of one’s own importance, led to divisions among God’s people, resulting in severe tests for some.