Though Jehovah’s Witnesses only numbered about 25,000 in Germany in the 1930s, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi state, the Third Reich, outlawed the Society of International Bible Students, the name by which the Jehovah’s Witnesses religion was known in Germany. The Nazi party persecuted Jehovah’s Witnesses because of their religious beliefs.
Nazi Party Denounced Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Religious Convictions
Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist Party (also known as the Nazi Party) singled out Jehovah’s Witnesses for persecution because the Nazi regime demanded absolute allegiance. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, due to their religious beliefs, would not comply. According to the article “Jehovah's Witnesses: Courageous in the Face of Nazi Peril” on WatchTower.org, Jehovah’s Witnesses believed — as stated in Acts 5:29 and Matthew 24:9 — that they "must obey God as ruler rather than men."
Though not anti-Nazi, Jehovah’s Witnesses maintained an apolitical stance. They would not serve in the German military, take part in elections, nor would they participate in Nazi organizations or political events, including rallies and parades. Jehovah’s Witnesses also prohibited their children from participating in political activities, like the Hitler Youth, performing the “Heil Hitler” salute or singing patriotic songs at school.
The Nazi Party also distrusted Jehovah’s Witnesses because of their proselytizing efforts. They viewed missionary activities and the act of handing out of religious literature — including the Jehovah’s Witnesses' booklets The Watchtower and The Golden Age — as politically subversive acts.
The Nazis also thought Jehovah’s Witnesses had ties to Jews and they believed that the religious group was accepting money from the Jews. The Nazi suspicion of Jehovah’s Witnesses was fueled by the religion’s use of the Old Testament as scripture.
German State Persecuted and Sent Jehovah’s Witnesses to Concentration Camps
In 1935, the Nazis banned Jehovah’s Witnesses by law and called for the closure of the Watch Tower Society in Magdeburg, Germany. Though Jehovah’s Witnesses had previously faced discrimination, they were subjected to total persecution by the German state when Hitler was in power.
If they did not renounce their faith, Jehovah’s Witnesses faced losing their jobs, and they risked imprisonment in concentration camps or prisons. According to the Holocaust Encyclopedia article “Jehovah’s Witnesses” (available on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website, Ushmm.org), some 2,000 to 2,500 Witnesses were sent to concentration camps; about 1,500 were murdered.
Nazis Targeted Jehovah’s Witnesses for Discrimination
Adolf Hitler and the Nazis envisioned a Third Reich that would dominate the world. To realize this goal, the German state sought to eliminate all opposition.
Citing religious grounds, Jehovah’s Witnesses refused to swear loyalty to the Nazi police state. In the “Declaration of Fact” document at their 1933 convention in Berlin that "our organization is not political in any sense. We only insist on teaching the Word of Jehovah God to the people."
Unlike the other groups — including Jews and Gypsies (Romani) — that were targeted for racial reasons, the Nazis persecuted and killed Jehovah’s Witnesses because of their religious convictions.
Sources:
Holocaust Encyclopedia: Jehovah's Witnesses, Ushmm.org
Jehovah's Witnesses: Courageous in the Face of Nazi Peril, WatchTower.org
Aimee Larsen Stoddard - Aimee is a professional writer/editor. She has a BA in English and is currently completing an MS in Theology.
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