Christians (Jehovah's Witnesses) and the Holocaust in WWII Germany?

Question

I was visiting the Shoah Foundation website, which is a website that was built by Steven Spielberg and USC about the testimonies of surviving victims from the Holocaust.

Besides testimonies from the Jews, There is testimonies from Jehovah's Witnesses as well.

Why didn't other Christian groups suffer like the Jehovah's Witnesses? They where kill with the Jews.

Billy S, Sorry Billy. No testimonies from Catholics on the website. Maybe they all just kind of accepted Hitlers way of doing things rather than stand up and speak up against it. I also think Catholic preists where mixed up with political affairs and even blessed Hitlers army just like they blessed UK's Army, USA's Armny, etc...

Meg M, Did you read the links you posted?

This is from one of them:

"The insidious mythology of Christians, especially Catholic, complicity in the Holocaust is so persuasive that even many Catholics, including the clergy, subscribe to it. Little wonder there is a conspicuous paucity of commemorations in Catholic and Protestant churches of Hitler’s other victims during Holocaust Remembrance Week."

Answer 1

Though a handful of priests and nuns protested Hitler’s atrocities—and suffered for it—the Vatican as well as the Catholic Church and its army of clergy gave either active or tacit support to the Nazi tyranny, which they regarded as a bulwark against the advance of world communism. Sitting pretty in the Vatican, Pope Pius XII let the Holocaust on the Jews and the cruel persecutions of Jehovah’s Witnesses and others proceed uncriticized. It is ironical that Pope John Paul II, on visiting Germany in May 1987, should glorify the anti-Nazi stand of one sincere priest. What were the other thousands of the German clergy doing during Hitler’s reign of terror? A pastoral letter issued by the German Catholic bishops in September 1939 at the outbreak of World War II provides enlightenment on this point. It reads in part: “In this decisive hour we admonish our Catholic soldiers to do their duty in obedience to the Fuehrer and to be ready to sacrifice their whole individuality. We appeal to the Faithful to join in ardent prayers that Divine Providence may lead this war to blessed success.”

Such Catholic diplomacy illustrates the kind of harlotry that religion has engaged in over the past 4,000 years in wooing the political State in order to gain power and advantage. Such religio-political relationships have fostered warfare, persecutions, and human misery on a vast scale.

Answer 2

Well, I imagine some others were persecuted based on beliefs. The reason we were tortured, arrested, killed, etc. is because we refused to support Hitler. We did not fight against him, outside of offering up Bible teachings, we simply did not go with him. We are well known for this, there more than likely were other Christians who felt this way, I think the difference is we, as a whole are known for this, while others appearantly would be not supporting him as individuals, IE, some did, some didn't, we as a Whole did not.

As for his mistreatment of Jews, this was simply a matter of the genetics roulette wheel that is life.

Answer 3

>>Why didn't other Christian groups suffer like the Jehovah's Witnesses?<<

Died in the Holocaust:

Jehovah's Witnesses: about 2,000
Catholics: about 3,000,000

>>Meg M, Did you read the links you posted?

This is from one of them:

"The insidious mythology of Christians, especially Catholic, complicity in the Holocaust is so persuasive that even many Catholics, including the clergy, subscribe to it. Little wonder there is a conspicuous paucity of commemorations in Catholic and Protestant churches of Hitler’s other victims during Holocaust Remembrance Week."<<

Yes, I read them. What is your issue with the quote? YES, the MYTHOLOGY of Catholic complicity IS so pervasive that YOU asked "Why didn't other Christian groups suffer...?" Your response to Billy S attests that you have bought into the MYTH of Catholic complicity.

Answer 4

Hitler was an atheist, so was Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot, Stalin, and many other mad men of the century. WW2 was not fought over religious foundation. Just plain ole madness and insanity. Christians are suffering all over the world at the hands of non believers. Look at the hatred spewed on just this forum alone.

God bless

Answer 5

Another notable group that suffered from cult of Hitler that mesmerized and controlled the people of Germany were the Romani.

Jehovah's Witinesses took the name of the God of the Jews which was detested by the Hitler group.
Jews because they were Jews and Romani because they were thought to be "Wandering Jews".

This all has to do with hate and venting anger, frustration, and blaming, and killing the scapegoats. Very tragic.

Answer 6

Most in the concentration camps were there for political reasons.
Their country was at war.
Only Jehovah's Witnesses took a neutral stand and would not take part in the killing of fellow humans.
This together with the Jesus warnings that who ever wants to follow him will be persecuted.
Jesus also told us that his true followers would show love among themselves and would be persecuted.
No other Christian Organization has been persecuted for righteousness sake.
They have been persecuted for their involvement in the politics of the country they are in.

Answer 7

The Jehovah's Witnesses have unbroken loyalty to Jehovah, even to dying. they do no longer provide into worry of guy. This blanketed German JW's who does no longer have been persecuted in besides yet they "decide on" to flow to the concentration camps and die fairly than provide their obeisance to Hitler. that's all approximately "integrity". this is a few thing lacking in this worldwide. Why have been they centred? you notice that for the period of faculties each and every of the time. regularly the bullies will gang up in this "large guy", particularly so if that large student makes the bullies sense undesirable approximately themselves. yet another occasion could be, if that large guy grow to be as quickly as a bully himself, then desperate to grow to be a sturdy guy or woman. This grow to benefit interior the scriptures too. This sums it up: a million Peter 4:4 for the reason which you do no longer proceed working with them in this direction to the comparable low sink of debauchery, they're puzzled and flow on speaking abusively of you. Then, of direction, even the Catholic Church gave into Hitler and to maintain their neck went alongside with a brilliant form of the injustice. Many did no longer upward thrust up for what they knew grow to be top. Later, after the conflict grow to be over, they defined it off as "it grow to be conflict time; I did what I had to so i could desire to stay to tell the story". they did no longer get the area of what "loyalty to God" particularly grow to be. None human beings decide to die yet Jehovah's human beings knew that the main extreme situation interior the worldwide grow to be last dedicated to their writer Jehovah God in spite of if it meant dying. Proverbs 20:6, 7 a large number of adult adult males will proclaim each and every his very own loving-kindness, yet a dedicated guy who can discover? The righteous is strolling in his integrity. once you already know that this existence is amazingly non everlasting and crammed with issues and we are promised consistently in an exquisite Paradise Earth, praising Jehovah and residing in authentic Peace and secure practices, it is so particularly worth our loyalty to the top. playstation . 37:10, 11; 2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:3, 4

Answer 8

Jehovah witness were targeted by nazi's because of their religious belief they would not sware an oath of loyalty to germany's nazi government. Unlike Jews and Gypsies if the would sware alligience they were set free but most did not so they were persecuted.

Answer 9

Adolph Hitler in my opinion must have been Bi Polar (Manic Depressive) and at that way back then time nobody knew it. He didn't have drugs to subdue his mental sickness and acted on compulsion. When a person is being tortured (especially in the mind) Satan just grabs a hold of that person and uses the person as a human weapon to kill, and kill, and kill. He got possessed by the demons. Hitler decided to take it in his own hands to rid of the all the Jews (didn't succeed of course) because of what they did to Jesus. I think he did believe in Jesus at one time but the devil distorted all of that belief (because of his mental sickness). He saw the JW's as being copy cats of the Jews so he threw them with the Jews. I don't think it was based on the True religion; it was based on his hatred for the Jews of killing Jesus. If I remember right they were talking about that in a document made of Hitler. But its my own opinion of him being Manic Depressive.
But I must admit that the Jew's and the JW's stood firm on their faith and love for God Almighty; just like the Apostles. For that kind of faith, it will be rewarded in heaven as Jesus said.
Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (NIV) They followed that Commandment 100% for the Love of Yahweh/Jehovah God.

I added in that about Hitler because you need to get to the main source of the problem to know why he did what he did.

Answer 10

Maybe hitler just thought too kill everyone who didn't believe the same as him, not just jews but JW's aswell.