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Letter from J. L. Published in The Golden Age

Jehovah's Witnesses belong to a Christian religious movement founded in the United States in the late 19th century. The group's beliefs differ from those of earlier Christian denominations,1 and it is independent of other Christian traditions. Unlike many branches of Christianity, Jehovah's Witnesses maintain distance from secular culture and politics. They aim to remain politically neutral. Although they teach respect for governmental authority, they do not lobby, vote, hold political office, or claim allegiance to political symbols or figures. The group also rejects war and refuses military service.

Beginning in 1933, the Nazi regime in Germany banned the Watchtower Society, Jehovah's Witnesses' nonprofit corporation. The Third Reich also persecuted members of the group throughout the Nazi period.2 Thousands were arrested for not complying with mandatory military service (introduced in 1935) or for refusing to pledge allegiance to the state by giving the Hitler salute, flying the Nazi flag, or joining Nazi Party organizations. By 1939, the Nazi regime had detained roughly 6,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in prisons or camps.

Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States closely observed the persecution of Witnesses in Germany. The group's publications—The Watchtower, The Golden Age, and others—regularly reported on developments in Germany and reprinted firsthand accounts from German members of the group. The letter presented here is one such account.3 Although the identity of the author was unknown, the document demonstrates how such publications helped expose the plight of Witnesses living under Nazi persecution.4 Letters like J. L.'s  carried detailed descriptions of arrest, imprisonment, and abuse at the hands of guards.5 In this text, J. L. notes some of the specific ways that German authorities used Witnesses' religious beliefs and practices to humiliate them and attempt to weaken their conviction.

The most significant theological distinction is Jehovah's Witnesses' rejection of the doctrine of the Trinity.

For other examples of Nazi persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses, see the related Experiencing History items, Decision in the Case of Franz Josef Seitz and Oral History with Robert Wagemann.

 

 

 

The featured pages from The Golden Age were retrieved from a combined volume of reprinted periodicals, titled Watchtower Reprints of Holocaust (Brooklyn, New York: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York), 680–681.

A brief introduction appears above the English translation of J. L's letter,  offering interpretation and background from a certain "Judge J. F. Rutherford." For more on the treatment of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Third Reich, see Detlef Garbe, "The Purple Triangle: The 'Bibelforscher' (Jehovah's Witnesses) in the Concentration Camps," in Dachau and the Nazi Terror 1933–1945, Volume II: Studies and Reports, ed. Wolfgang Benz and Barbara Distel (Dachau: Verlag Dachauer Hefte, 2002), 87–114; and Detlef Garbe, Between Resistance and Martyrdom: Jehovah's Witnesses in the Third Reich (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2008).

Although J. L. signed only his initials, research in postwar archives has revealed his identity. Johannes Ernst Löscher was born on January 25, 1892 in Kirchberg, Saxony. His history of persecution is also known in detail. In December 1933, his house was searched, he was interrogated, taken into custody, and placed in Colditz concentration camp for weeks. He was then held in Sachsenburg and Hohnstein for several weeks before being released (which was common for Jehovah's Witnesses at that time). This explains how he was able to compose this letter and pass it to a fellow Witness to smuggle out of Germany. Information was provided by the Jehovas Zeugen Deutschland Archiv. Records of the International Tracing Service provide further evidence of Löscher's time in Sachsenburg. A package receipt list shows that Löscher received a package while in custody. Package receipt list, 1934, 1.1.3.7/4073203/ITS Digital Archive, USHMM.

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Archival Information for This Item

Source (Credit)
The Golden Age
Date Created
August 1, 1934
Author / Creator
J. L. (anonymous)
Judge J. F. Rutherford
Language(s)
English
Location
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Sachsenburg, Germany
Document Type Letter
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