Hi all!
I surfed the web and came across this website : Jehovah's Witnesses United.
Under the header "General Materials" I found an article relating to the JW's during WW2 and it contained the following statement:
About 10,000 Witnesses were imprisoned in concentration camps during the Nazi period. An estimated 2,500 to 5,000 died.
Now, we know that this is incorrect. There were about 2000 witnesses in the camps of which 800 died.
So I decided to mail the webmaster of the site. The responses were very interesting...check for youself!
From: Greven. [email protected]
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 16:01:22 +0100
To: [email protected]
Subject: error on your site! Hi there! I was just passing by your site when I noticed the following: "About 10,000 Witnesses were imprisoned in concentration camps during the Nazi period. An estimated 2,500 to 5,000 died." This is plain wrong! The societies own publication, namely the 1976 yearbook states that about 800 or so witnesses died. The author of the quote above aperently drew his figures from earlier publications by the society in which these numbers were excegerated. check this for yourself! Greven From: "[email protected]" Reply-To: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: RE: error on your site! Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 11:05:14 -0500 Thank you very much for your email. Unfortunately, the story that was
posted was not written by a Jehovah's Witness. We merely posted the story
as it originally appeared (we are not permiited by copyright law to edit
these stories). I recommend you complain to the source of the story.
Sincerely,
James Long http://jehovah.to
From: Greven . [email protected]
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 12:45:33 +0100
To: [email protected]
Subject:RE: error on your site! Hi James, Your reply had me puzzled a bit. I can understand that you have to present the article as written. However you are under obligation to present accurate information and therefore you should check your articles before you present them as facts. You know the correct figures! You could add an errata or write an article yourself stating the correct figures without copyright violation. To help you I will give you some of the societies figures: *** w50 12/15 500 Jehovah's Witnesses Again Endure Totalitarian Hate ***
Already during the Hitler regime about 1,000 Jehovah’s witnesses were executed as traitors, because they not only refused to serve in the war but openly opposed Hitler’s authority. Another 1,000 of Jehovah’s witnesses died in prisons and concentration camps, (2000 died, 1000 of which in the camps) *** w51 2/15 105-6 An Open Answer to "The Vindicator" ***
That is why during the Nazi regime in Germany from 1933 to 1945 Jehovah’s witnesses in that land refused to heil Hitler! as their Fuehrer or Leader, and went to concentration camps and prisons, where 2,000 died cruel deaths, and of the 8,000 that came out alive, 2,000 were invalided for the rest of their lives. (2000 out of 10.000 (!!) died in the camps) *** w64 1/1 13 They Listened to an Angel ***
19 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. (4000 out of 10.000 (!!) died in the camps) *** yb74 212 Germany (Part One) ***
But despite the hard conditions, how those who worshiped Jehovah rejoiced! They had been privileged to prove their integrity to the Sovereign Ruler of the universe. During Hitler’s rule 1,687 of them had lost their jobs, 284 their businesses, 735 their homes and 457 were not allowed to carry on their trade. In 129 cases their property had been confiscated, 826 pensioners had been refused their pensions and 329 others had suffered other personal loss. There were 860 children who had been taken away from their parents. In 30 cases marriages had been dissolved due to pressure by political officials, and in 108 cases divorces had been granted when requested by mates opposed to the truth. 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! (635+203= 838 out of 2000 died in the camps. these seem to be the correct figures)*** w89 1/1 21 "To Jehovah Belongs the Battle" ***
(2000 again!) Hope this helps, Greven From: "[email protected]" Reply-To: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: RE: error on your site! Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2003 11:31:26 -0500 Hello Greven, Again, I recommend that you complain to that source if you are unsatisfied with the story. Further, we have no obligation to check the sources of someone else's story. We are bound with an agreement with the authors of the articles and therefore cannot alter the content of these articles. You have to take your complaints to them. Sincerely,
13 An outstanding modern example of bullying by Goliathlike political rulerships took place in Hitler’s Germany. The mainline religions, both Catholic and Protestant, compromised woefully in paying homage to Nazism, idolizing the führer, saluting his swastika flag, and blessing his troops as they sallied forth to slaughter their fellow believers in neighboring nations. So-called Christians of all faiths—but not Jehovah’s Witnesses—were caught up in the patriotic fervor. The book Mothers in the Fatherland reported: “[Jehovah’s Witnesses] were sent to concentration camps, a thousand of them were executed, and another thousand died between 1933 and 1945. . . . Catholics and Protestants heard their clergy urge them to cooperate with Hitler. If they resisted, they did so against orders from both church and state.” How bloodguilty both Church
and State became!—Jeremiah 2:34.
James Long
http://jehovah.to
From: Greven . [email protected]
You said: >Again, I recommend that you complain to that source if you are unsatisfied with the story. Further, we >have no obligation to check the sources of someone else's story. Then YOUR credibility goes out of the window as you present this data as facts ! You know the true figures...why no errata? you do not have to touch the original message! Did you even bother to check the societies quotes I gave you? Greven
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2003 15:45:46 +0100
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: error on your site!
Hi, James,
From: "[email protected]"Reply-To: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: RE: error on your site! Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2003 14:18:46 -0500 Hello Greven,
You obviously have a lot of time on your hands. Unfortunately, I do not
and cannot waste any more time discussing this subject. If you are
dissatisfied with the stories that appear on the JWU site, I suggest that
you don't visit it. Sincerely,
James Long Interesting don't you think? Apperently JW's feel they are under no obligation to check their data! Greven