Jehovah's Witnesses and the Third Reich: Sectarian Politics Under Persecution

by M. James Penton

Book Overview

Since the end of World War II, leaders of the Jehovah's Witness movement in both Germany and elsewhere have steadfastly argued that Witnesses were united in their opposition to Nazism and did not collude with the Third Reich. Documents have been uncovered, however, that prove otherwise. Using materials from Witness archives, the U.S. State Department, Nazi files, and other sources, M. James Penton demonstrates that while many ordinary German Witnesses...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802086780
• ISBN13: 9780802086785
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Length: 420 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.1" x 9.0"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Not worth the time

This is a poorly written piece of fiction disguised as fact. Disappointing. No REAL supporting evidence that I was expecting based on the synopsis of the book. If a writer is going to make such claims, he should have unshakable supporting evidence and facts rather than what comes across as simply bitter rantings.

Hitler - Jehovah's Witnesses' Lover?

The book shows how the cult manipulates history by pointing to Nazi repression when it suits the organization. There was certainly no justification for the persecution of any people under Nazi rule. The Watchtower distorts history when discussing WWII. While the Nazi death machine has long since halted, the Watchtower death machine continues still today! This book is good for those who want more information about the cult.

another authoritative work on Jehovah's Witnesses' history

Penton has produced another characteristically fair work of objective and well-documented scholarship. While he does not tolerate the distortions of history perpetrated by Jehovah's Witnesses and their historian apologists, Penton emphasizes the courage of average Witnesses during the Holocaust and the dubious nature, from a scientific perspective, of contemporary attempts to identify Witnesses and others as being part of "cults" whose members are "brainwashed." In this work, Penton is able to give a closer look at one particular time period in the history of Jehovah's Witnesses than he was able to do in his broader history of the whole movement (Apocalypse Delayed). The Forward by Carl Thornton provides a brief overview of Bible Student-Jehovah's Witnesses' history. The Preface and Introduction combine to make Penton's motives and methodology clear to his reader. As a former Canadian Witness, he experienced persecution for his faith, and, as a former Witness, he knows what it is like to live in a totalitarian organization. He openly admits to being a critic of the Watch Tower Society, but he also makes the point, particularly later in the book when responding to certain pro-Witness academics (pp. 232-234), that so-called "apostates" are just as capable of being objective and honest as are those who are still committed to a given ideology. In the subsequent chapters, he refutes the arguments of those who claim that Jehovah's Witnesses were politically neutral, not anti-Semitic, "forgotten victims" (They were not ignored, but the Society itself did not encourage people to focus attention on the Holocaust until recently. Penton explains why.), and subject to persecution instigated by the churches of Christendom. The Jehovah's Witnesses' leadership does not fare well under Penton's scrutiny. Rutherford and his cronies demonstrated a willingness to give up preaching, compromise their political "neutrality," attempt to make scapegoats of the Jews and "apostate" Jehovah's Witnesses (i.e. the Bible Students who did not place themselves under Rutherford's totalitarian Theocracy), embrace a form of religious anti-Semitism that persists to this day (though it is far more rare than it was) against the (if I may paraphrase the attitude) "materialistic killers of Christ and rejecters of Jehovah's sovereignty," and order the faithful Witnesses to distribute needlessly provocative statements without apparent concern for their welfare. One of the most commendable features of his work is that throughout the main text of the book and particularly in his appendices Penton provides his readers with accesss to primary documents--often in the original languages such as German and French with English translations--from Witness publications, the U.S. State Department, the Nazis, and private individuals.

Provoking a Reaction

It is amazing how two people can read the same book and one will conclude that "its vitriol left a terribly bad taste," but the other person will say that, "This book is required reading to fully understand the holocaust and why it occurred." (...) writer charges that the persecuted religionists brought trouble on themselves by standing up for their beliefs." One instance of this "blame" shows up on page 236. First, Penton acknowledges... "There can be no doubt that...most German Jehovah's Witnesses stood firm against Nazism during the years 1933 to 1945. That they suffered terribly and with great bravery is beyond question," But then he adds that they "themselves were in part responsible for their sufferings." He explains why... "No movement can constantly heap insults on all other religions, the business community, and national governments in the way that the Witnesses did from 1918 onward without provoking a reaction - a reaction that had already begun under the democratic Weimar Republic. Long before Hitler came to power, [President] Rutherford had made them hated by the vast majority of Germans through his ...venom-filled diatribes. As Dietrich Hellmund points out...[their] persecution might have been delayed and been less severe had it not been for the Witnesses' incredible public militancy." Penton provides many examples of their "public militancy." I wonder what German Witnesses (or former Witnesses) who went through that period would say today. Might they agree with Penton that some of the things that President Rutherford told them to do really were not necessary to do as far as God was concerned, and that therefore at least some of the persecution they received may have in fact been brought on by those unnecessary activities.

Required to understand the holocaust

I came across this book in my research on the influence of Darwinism on the holocaust (considerable) and on Hitler (also considerable). This is by far the most complete and authoritative work on the Jehovah's Witnesses and the holocaust in English. It is not only well documented (the author has worked on this book for well over a decade) but balanced. It points out both the Witnesses' remarkable record during this time as well as their human flaws. Penton includes photocopies of many important documents plus an English translation. Although 412 pages, this book is easy reading and the type one does not want to put down. An important conclusion is, the vast majority of Christians (and even the religious sects such as the Mormons) willingly and often enthusiastically submitted to the demands of the Third Reich (page 360). Only the Witnesses resisted and, as a result, along with the Jews and Gypsies, the Witnesses were ruthlessly persecuted by the Nazis. This book is required reading to fully understand the holocaust and why it occurred.