"Hitler -- Tyrant of Terror", was recorded on my TiVo and I finally watched it tonight. Horrible oppression, of course.
What struck me, as this documentary related the progression of his dictatorship, was the similarity of the WT Governing Body’s progression over the years in their demand for loyalty and submission. I refer to the second of two questions a baptismal candidate must acknowledge with a positive answer in their loyalty to the earthly organization. I also understand that loyalty is a theme of the current District Assemblies.
The following are online quotations of two different oaths of various German military people during Hitler’s reign.
1. Wehrmacht oath written by the military command grateful for the elimination of the Brownshirt militia via the "Night of the Long Knives", "I swear by God this holy oath to the Fuhrer of the German Reich and the German people, Adolf Hitler."
2. SS oath: "I pledge to you Adolf Hitler my obedience unto death, so help me God."
Referring to that first oath, two old-timers implied that it was a requirement for military personnel. One said, "The oath was a very clever means ... old tradition". The other, "The oath was an obstacle they could not overcome [did he mean sidestep?]"
As an aside to all this I found it interesting when the topic turned to euthanasia (which Hitler encouraged) that it was protests from the Catholic Church which stopped it from going forward. Since this was during Rutherford’s and Knorr’s era, I wonder if they’re on record in protest of same?
Fats