The Manipulation of Information - Jehovah's Witnesses Official Web Site
"By clever and persevering use of propaganda even heaven can be represented as hell to the people, and conversely the most wretched life as paradise." —ADOLF HITLER, MEIN KAMPF.
Mary posted some interesting propaganda pictures of Jehovah's Witnesses (Feel free to post some more):
“OUR STARTING POINT IS NOT THE INDIVIDUAL, AND WE DO NOT SUBSCRIBE TO THE VIEW THAT ONE SHOULD FEED THE HUNGRY, GIVE DRINK TO THE THIRSTY, OR CLOTHE THE NAKED . . . . OUR OBJECTIVES ARE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT: WE MUST HAVE A HEALTHY PEOPLE IN ORDER TO PREVAIL IN THE WORLD.”
JOSEPH GOEBBELS, MINISTER OF PROPAGANDA, 1938 —
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany's government led by Adolf Hitler promoted a nationalism that combined territorial expansion with claims of biological superiority—an "Aryan master race"—and virulent antisemitism. Driven by a racist ideology legitimized by German scientists, the Nazis attempted to eliminate all of Europe's Jews, ultimately killing six million in the Holocaust. Many others also became victims of persecution and murder in the Nazis' campaign to cleanse German society of individuals viewed as threats to the "health" of the nation.
In this discussion the focus is religious not racist.
Holocaust Encyclopedia - Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses were subjected to intense persecution under the Nazi regime. The Nazis targeted Jehovah's Witnesses because they were unwilling to accept the authority of the state, because of their international connections, and because they were strongly opposed to both war on behalf of a temporal authority and organized government in matters of conscience.
Within months of the Nazi takeover, regional governments, primarily those of Bavaria and Prussia, initiated aggressive steps against Jehovah's Witnesses, breaking up their meetings, ransacking and then occupying their local offices. By April 1, 1935, the Reich and Prussian Minister of the Interior ordered the responsible local officials to dissolve the Watchtower Society.
You can examine the antipathies of Christendom for religious hatred. The same hatred expressed here. It's nothing new.
Christian Persecution of Jews Over the Centuries
When the Nazis came on the scene in Germany they were able to draw upon the legacy of Christian anti-Judaism even though biologically-based antisemitism went well beyond classical Christian anti-Judaism by arguing for the annihilation of the Jews rather than only for their misery and marginality. Christian antisemitism provided an indispensable seedbed for the success of Nazism on the popular level. It led some Christians to embrace the Nazi ideology and many others to stand on the sidelines as masses of Jews were exterminated.
1648-1649 Christians under the leadership of Bohdan Khelmnytsky rampaged through the towns and villages of Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland, Galicia, and White Russia, murdering and torturing an estimated 90,000-100,000 Jews, and destroying at least 100 Jewish communities. Dozens of synagogues are burned down. Jews are hanged from trees alongside pigs and dogs.
In 1710-1795 , the churches continue to preach that the Jews are guilty of decide and are still being punished by God by not having their own homeland, and by being deprived of citizenship in the countries where they live. Churches continue to present public Passion plays, in which Jews are portrayed as the bloodthirsty killers of Jesus.
The bogus saints Simon of Trent and Little Hugh of Norwich, bogus victims of cruel Jews, are still venerated. The filthy image of the Judensau still decorates churches and cathedrals. Pamphlets, broadsheets, and books continue to demonize Jews. Even though Jews have been mingling with non-Jews since ancient times, cartoons show them with stereotyped racial features, and as cruel and bloodthirsty. Obvious connections are that people here paint Jehovah's Witnesses as a cruel agency and the Watchtower Society should be dissolved.
Because Jews were less susceptible to the Black Plague than their neighbors (likely the result of Jewish ritual regarding personal hygiene), Jews were accused of poisoning Christian wells, were thought to be the source of the plague. As this image illustrates, Jews were expelled, tortured and murdered for the "crime."
A 15th century German woodcut showing an alleged host desecration.
1: the hosts are stolen
2: the hosts bleed when pierced by a Jew
3: the Jews are arrested
4: they are burned alive.
1889 Paris, France elections poster for self-described "candidat antisémite" Adolphe Willette: "The Jews are a different race, hostile to our own... Judaism, there is the enemy!"
