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Year Book 1934 - Page 127

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                      GERMANY



  For more than a quarter of a century the Society

has carried forward its work in the land of Germany.

During the World War little or no activity was pos-

sible, to be sure; and after the war the Society had

Year Book 1934 - Page 128

practically nothing in Germany. Shortly after the

World War there was a large amount of money sent

by American citizens though the home office in Brook-

lyn to Germany for the purpose of investing in real

estate and in machinery to carry on the work of

preaching the 'gospel of God's kingdom' in that land.

Thereafter and until the year 1933 there was a con-

stant increase in the progress of the work. Thousands

of people gave testimony to having received much joy

and consolation.

  In the spring of 1933, political conditions underwent

a great change in Germany. The opinion is here ven-

tured that the harshness of the Treaty of Versailles drove

many good, honest people of Germany to desperation

and they were ready and willing to grasp almost any

kind of movement to free themselves from the burdens

that the treaty placed upon them. There was a com-

plete change in the administration in 1933, and Sa-

tan with his earthly agents, particularly from Rome,

took adventage of the opportunity to do injury to the

Lord's cause. We know, of course, that Jehovah could

have prevented this, but manifestly he had not inter-

fered, permitting those who are opposing him and his

kingdom to fully and completely identify themselves

on the side of Satan before Armageddon takes place.

Bavaria is a Catholic country in particular. The per-

secution of Jehovah's witnesses began rigorously in

Bavaria and within a few hours thereafter Catholic

newspapers in the United States published statements

gloating over the fact that the "Bible students" in

Bavaria were being stopped. This is a circumstance

showing that the order came from Rome and that the

Papal hierarchy is really behind of the persecution of

God's people in Germany. It has been easy for Gog,

Satan's chief officer, to pull together his religious

Year Book 1934 - Page 129

agents and endeavor the induce the political wing of

the government to work against the proclamation of

Jehovah's kingdom.

  Early in April 1933, the police of Germany, under

order, occupied the Society's property at Magdeburg

and forbade the operation of the plant, closed it up

and scaled the machines, and a search began of all of

its books, literature and correspondence. Every room

in the premises was thoroughly searched, with the an-

nounced purpose of finding some evidence that the

Society is against the state. A whole staff of officials

was called in to do this work, and after a thorough

and complete examination of everything on the prem-

ises absolutely nothing was found, and the property

and its activities were released on the 28th day of

April, 1933. Enemies have charged that the Society

was engaged in communists activities and working in

league with the communists and socialists to overthrow

the government; but not one word of testimony was

found in support of that. The government official

making examination, after it was completed, remarked

that nothing political nor any criminal evidence has

been found by the searchers against the Society.

  On June 28, 1933, again the Society's property was

seized and occupied and its printing plant closed by

order of the government. This was done upon an or-

der which states that it is in "a decree of the govern-

ment for the protection of the people and the state, is-

sued for the defense against violent actions tha endanger the

state". Not one word of testimony in truth and fact

has been found to support this claim.

  The Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, incorpo-

rated under the laws of the United States, was legally

admitted to Germany by proper legal authority in the

Year Book 1934 - Page 130

year 1921. After being thus legally admitted as a

corporation a large sum of money was spent in creat-

ing buildings, machinery, etc. The Society has always

respected the laws of the German government and has

never done anything that might be interpreted as

being contrary to the same. The Society has never

had any affiliation directly or indirectly with commu-

nists or any other political body. All of its literature

shows positively that it is against such. The Society's

work is devoted exclusively to teaching the Scriptures,

and not at any time to anything political.

  A treaty exists between the United States and Ger-

man governments, which treaty guarantees to Ameri-

can citizens the right to have and maintain property

in Germany and to carry forward their work in har-

mony with German laws. The action of the German

government has been directly in violation of this

treaty. The State Department has acted together with 

the Society to have these violations removed. From

June, 1933, to the first part of October the Society's

property at Magdeburg was in possession of the state

police and the machine were scaled and most of the

180 workers there were compelled to leave the prem-

ises. During that time the government police seized

and carried away and burned over $25,000 worth of

literature, books, booklets, paintings, Bibles and other

material of the Society. The government has forbid-

den any meetings of the various companies of Jeho-

vah's witnesses throughout Germany, seized and con-

fiscated all the literature and completely stopped the

distribution of the same.

  In June, the president of the Society visited Ger-

many to take some action to get the Society's property

restored to our possession and to carry on to work,

further. Knowing that the enemy has misrepresented

Year Book 1934 - Page 131

the facts to the government, a Declaration of Facts

was prepared, and on the 25th day of June, 1933,

more than 7,000 of Jehovah's witnesses assembled at

Berlin and unanimously adopted the resolution, mil-

lions of which were printed and distributed through-

out Germany. That resolution is as follows, to with:



              Declaration of Facts



  "This company of German people, who are peace-

able and law-abiding citizens representing many others

from every part of Germany, all of whom are earnest-

ly laboring for the highest welfare of the people of

this land, being now duly assembled at Berlin this

25th day of June, A.D. 1933, do joyfully declare our

complete devotion to Jehovah, the Almighty God, and

to his kingdom under Christ Jesus, whose shed blood

bought the human race. We declare that the holy

Scriptures set forth in the Bible constitute the Word

of Jehovah God given to men for their guidance in

righteousness, and that the Word of God is the truth,

and that it is of greatest importance that man have a

knowledge of his relationship to God. We ask to be

judged by the standard of the Word of God.

  "Christ Jesus is Jehovah God's great Witness to

the truth, and as his faithful and devoted followers we

are, by His grace, witnesses to the truth. The purpose

of this Declaration is that we may present a true and

faithful witness before the rulers and the people as

to the name and purpose of Jehovah God and our

relation thereto.

  "We are wrongfully charged before the ruling

powers of this government and before the people of

this nation; and in order that the name of Jehovah

God may be exalted in the minds of the people, and

that his benevolent purposes be better understood and

Year Book 1934 - Page 132

our position fairly placed before the government, we

do respectfully ask the rulers of the nation and the

people to give a fair and impartial consideration to

the statement of facts here made.

  "The Scriptures plainly state that the chief opposer

of Jehovah God and the greatest enemy of mankind is

Satan the Devil, whose name is also that of Serpent

and Dragon. It is written in the Scriptures that Sa-

tan, who has long been the invisible ruler of this

world, deceives and blinds the people to the truth in

order that the light of and concerning Jehovah God

and Christ Jesus may not shine into the minds of men.

(2 Corinthians 4:3,4) Frequently by fraud, subtili-

ty and deception Satan has induced honest persons

to war with each other, in order that he might turn

them all away from God and destroy them. Above all

things, the people need to know Jehovah God and his

gracious provision for their general welfare.



                     Jews



  "By the term 'clergy', as used in our literature,

reference is made to that class of professed religious

teachers, priests and Jesuits who employ improper

political means to accomplish their ends and join

forces even with those who deny God and the Lord

Jesus Christ. That is the same class to whom Jesus

referred as his persecutors. We have no criticism of

any honest religious teacher.

  "When Jesus went to the Jews to tell them of the

truth, it was the Jewish clergy, that is to say, the

Pharisees and priests, that violently opposed him and

persecuted him and caused him to be charged with all

manner of crimes and offenses. They refused to hear

the truth, and addressing them Jesus said: 'Why do

ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot

Year Book 1934 - Page 133

hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and

the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murder-

er from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, be-

cause there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a

lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the

father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye be-

lieve me not.' (John 8:43-45)  Although the Phari-

sees and priests then claimed to represent Jehovah

God Jesus told them that they were in fact the rep-

resentatives of Satan the Devil.

  "We have no fight with any persons or religious

teachers, but we must call attention to the fact that

it is generally those who claim to represent God and

Christ Jesus who are in fact our persecutors and who

misrepresent us before the governments and nations.

As true followers of Christ Jesus we are to expect

such opposition, and we mention it here in explana-

tion of why we have been misrepresented before the

rulers of this nation. To his faithful followers Jesus

said: 'Remember the word that I said unto you, The

servant is not greater than his lord. If they [the

false religious teachers] have persecuted me, they will

also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they

will keep yours also.' (John 15:20) Furthermore,

Jesus said that this same class of men would cause his

true followers to be wrongfully charged before the

ruling powers, his language being: 'But take heed

to yourselves: for they [false religious teachers] shall

deliver you up to councils [police power]; and in the

synagogues ye shall be beaten; and ye shall be brought

before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony

against them.' (Mark 13:9) This explains why Je-

hovah God now permits his faithful witnesses to be

misrepresented and persecuted, namely, that those of

a wrong spirit may identify themselves as opponents

Year Book 1934 - Page 134

of God and thus bear witness against themselves. The

same materialistic spirit that caused the persecution

of Jesus Christ now exists and is back of the persecu-

tion of us as his faithful followers.

     "It is falsely charged by our enemies that we have

received financial support for our work from the Jews.

Nothing is farther from the truth. Up to this hour

there never has been the slightest bit of money con-

tributed to our work by Jews. We are the faithful

followers of Christ Jesus and believe upon Him as the

Savior of the world, whereas the Jews entirely reject

Jesus Christ and emphatically deny that he is the 

Savior of the world sent of God for man's good. This

of itself should be sufficient proof to show that we re-

ceive no support from Jews and that therefore the 

charges against us are maliciously false and could

proceed only from Satan, our great enemy.

    "The greatest and the most oppressive empire on

earth is the Anglo-American empire. By that is meant

the British Empire, of which the United States of

America forms a part. It has been the commercial

Jews of the British-American empire that have built

up and carried on Big Business as a means of exploit-

ing and oppressing the peoples of many nations. This

fact particularly applies to the cities of London and

New York, the stronghold of Big Business. This fact

is so manifest in America that there is a proverb con-

cerning the city of New York which says: 'The Jews

own it, the Irish Catholics rule it, and the Americans

pay the bills.' We have no fight with any of these

persons mentioned, but, as the witnesses for Jehovah

and in obedience to his commandment set forth in the

Scriptures, we are compelled to call attention to the

truth concerning the same in order that the people

may be enlightened concerning God and his purpose.

Year Book 1934 - Page 135

                   Our Literature



  "It is said that our books and like literature, when

circulated amongst the people, constitute a danger to

the peace and safety of the nation. We are certain

that this conclusion is due to the fact that our books

and other literature have not been carefully examined

by the rulers and hence are not properly understood.

We respectfully call attention to the fact that these

books and other literature were written originally in

America and the language therein used has been

adapted to the American style of plainness of speech

and, when translated into German, the same ap-

pears to be harsh. We admit that the same truths

might be stated in a less blunt and more pleasing

phrase, and yet the language of these books follows

closely the language of the Bible.

  "It should be borne in mind that in the British

Empire and in America the common people have suf-

fered and are now suffering greatly because of the

misrule of Big Business and conscienceless politicians,

which misrule has been and is supported by political

religionists, and hence the writers of our books or

literature have endeavored to employ plain language

to convey to the people the proper thought or under-

standing. The language used, however, is not as strong

or emphatic as that used by Jesus Christ in denounc-

ing the oppressors and false teachers of his time.

  "The present government of Germany has declared

emphatically against Big Business oppressors and in

opposition to the wrongful religious influence in the

political affairs of the nation. Such is exactly our po-

sition; and we further state in our literature the rea-

son for the existence of oppressive Big Business and

the wrongful political religious influence, because the

Holy Scriptures plainly declare that these oppressive

Year Book 1934 - Page 136

instruments proceed from the Devil, and that the

complete relief therefrom is God's kingdom under

Christ. It is therefore impossible for our literature or

our work to in any wise be a danger or a menace to

the peace and safety of the state.

    "Our organization is not political in any sense. We

only insist on teaching the Word of Jehovah God to 

the people, and that without hindrance. We do not

object to or try to hinder anyone's teaching or believ-

ing what he desires, but we only ask the freedom to

believe and teach what we conceive the Bible to teach,

and then let the people decide which they wish to be-

lieve.

    "To know Jehovah God and his gracious provision

for humankind is of most vital importance to all per-

sons, because God has declared in His Word that

where there is no vision or understanding of his Word

the people perish. (Proverbs 29:18) We have de-

voted our lives and our material substance to the work

of enabling the people to gain a vision or understand-

ing of God's Word, and therefore it is impossible for

our literature and our work to be a menace to the

peace and safety of the nation. Instead of being

against the principles advocated by the government

of Germany, we stand squarely for such principles,

and point out that Jehovah God through Christ Jesus

will bring about the full realization of these principles

and will give to the people peace and prosperity and

the greatest desire of every honest heart.

    "Our organization seeks neither money nor mem-

bers, but we are a company or organized body of

Christian people engaged solely in the benevolent

work of teaching the Word of God to the people at

the least possible cost to them. Our organization was

originally incorporated in the United States of Amer-

Year Book 1934 - Page 137

ica in 1884 under the name of the WATCH TOWER

BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY, and in 1914 incorpo-

rated under the laws of Great Britain by the name of

the INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS AS-

SOCIATION. These are merely the corporate names

of our organization for legally carrying forward its

work. The Scriptural name by which we are known

is 'Jehovah's witnesses'. We are engaged solely in a

benevolent work. The purpose of our organization is

to aid the people to understand the Bible, which dis-

closes the only possible way for the complete relief

and blessing for mankind. Our organization has ex-

tended its work throughout the earth. The education,

culture and upbuilding of the people must and will

come through the agency of God's kingdom concerning

which we teach as set forth in the Bible. The salva-

tion of the people depends upon the true knowledge

of and obedience to Jehovah God and his righteous

ways.


   "The people are in great distress and in need of

help to understand the reason for their unhappy con-

dition and what is the means of relief. The Scriptures,

when understood, make this matter clear. Instead of

collecting money from the people and using the same

to erect great buildings and to support men in luxury,

we print the gospel message of God's kingdom and

carry it to the homes of the people that they may, at

the least inconvenience to themselves, gain a knowl-

edge of God's purposes concerning them.

    "A careful examination of our books and literature

will disclose the fact that the very high ideals held

and promulgated by the present national government

are set forth in and endorsed and strongly emphasized

in our publications, and show that Jehovah God will

see to it that these high ideals in due time will be at-

Year Book 1934 - Page 138

tained by all persons who love righteousness and who

obey the Most High. Instead, therefore, of our litera-

ture and our work's being a menace to the principles

of the present government we are the strongest sup-

porters of such high ideals. For this reason Satan,

the enemy of all men who desire righteousness, has

sought to misrepresent our work and prevent us from

carrying it on in this land.

    "For many years our organization has put forth

an unselfish and persistent effort to do good to the

people. Our American brethren have greatly assisted

in the work in Germany, and with money freely con-

tributed, and that at a time when all Germany was in

dire distress. Now because it appears that Germany

may soon be free from oppression and that the peo-

ple may be lifted up, Satan, the great enemy, puts

forth his endeavours to destroy that benevolent work

in this land.



               League of Nations



     "The language in our books or literature concern-

ing the League of Nations has been seized upon as a

reason for prohibiting our work and the distribution

of our books. Let us remind the government and the

people of Germany that it was the League of Nations

compact that laid upon the shoulders of the German

people the great unjust and unbearable burdens. That

League of Nations compact was not brought forth by

the friends of Germany. In America at one time the

public press announced that 140,000 clergymen had

set aside a certain period of time in which a concerted

movement was to be made, and which was made, to in-

duce the American people to fully endorse the League

of Nations. It was the Federation of Churches in

America that issued a manifesto stating that the

Year Book 1934 - Page 139

'League of Nations is the political expression of God's

kingdom on earth', and which by them was substituted

in the place and stead of God's kingdom under Christ.

It was in America that our organization under the 

visible leadership of its president pointed out emphat-

ically that the League of Nations is not an institution

of Jehovah God, because it is oppressive and unfair

and nothing that proceeds from Jehovah God could

be oppressive and unfair. It was that condition, exist-

ing at the time, which called forth the language that

appears in our books concerning the League of Na-

tions and also calling attention to the fact that such

League of Nations compact can never bring about the

relief and blessing of the people, because such relief

and blessing can come only by adhering strictly to the

principles laid down in God's Word and in the man-

ner which Jehovah has pointed out.

    "For almost half a century our strictly Christian

organization has carried on its work in various parts

of the earth. Its books are published in more than 50

languages, and upward of 140 million of these books

are in the hands of the people. For more than thirty

years our books and literature have been distributed

throughout Germany, and millions of these are now

in the hands of the German people and are read by

the people, all of whom will bear testimony to the fact

that these books, based strictly on the Bible, are of

great help to them and upbuild them and give them

hope for a realization of the blessings which Jehovah

God long ago promised. In all these years of our

work, and in the wide distribution of our books and

literature, not one instance can be truthfully cited

wherein our work or literature has been a menace to

the government or has in any wise endangered the

peace and safety of the nations.

Year Book 1934 - Page 140 La Suite de la traduction est faite à partir d'un texte disponible sur internet qui se dit être le texte original mais dont la fiabilité reste à vérifier. Toutes les mesures de prudence sont à prendre avant de lui accorder un crédit total.
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"The endeavors of our organization being exclusively

confined to bearing testimony to the name and Word of

Jehovah God, it would be entirely inconsistent for us to

attempt to exert any political influence in the

governments of this world or to do anything that would

endanger the peace and safety of the nation. We have

no desire nor inclination to do anything

except to carry out our divinely given commission

to proclaim the Word of Jehovah God.

"In America, Canada and other parts of the British

Empire the political clergy, priests and Jesuits

have persistently persecuted and continue to

persecute those of our organization, and without

just cause or excuse; and we have every reason to

believe that a like influence has been subtilly

[sic] employed by the great enemy Satan to

misrepresent us and our work in Germany. We remind you

that in the years past the political clergymen have

brought more sorrow upon the German people than probably

any other class of men. We have no desire to fight with

the clergymen, but we do ask that the ruling powers of

the nation judge us not by the misrepresentation of such

men, but that we be judged according to the Word of God

and the work we are doing consistent therewith.

Jehovah God persecutes no one, but permits each

one to choose his own course, holding him responsible

for his acts according to knowledge. Jehovah God has

emphatically expressed his anger against those who do

persecute others who are trying to serve him; and this

proves that those who persecute us do not represent God,

but that they are incited so to do by the enemy of God

and man.-Psalm 72:4



Great Truths



"The Holy Scriptures, viewed in the light of present-

day events which are in fulfilment of divine prophecy,

 disclose that: The time has arrived when

Jehovah will make his name known to all creation and

vindicate his name and clear it from the defamation

 which Satan has placed against that holy name.

(Psalm 83: 18) When Jesus Christ, the Vindicator,

ascended into heaven Jehovah commanded him to wait

until his due time to put the enemy down.

That period of waiting has now come to an end

and God has sent forth his beloved Son to oust the

enemy and rule in righteousness. (Psalm 110: 14;

Hebrews 10: 12,13) The world, or uninterrupted rule,

of Satan has ended,and this began to be evidenced

by the World War in 1914, and since then

until now is the time when the gospel of the

Kingdom must be told to the people. (Matthew 24: 3,14)

Satan has now been cast out of heaven and down

to the earth and now confines his operations to

the earth in an endeavor to blind the people to the

truth and destroy them, and that is the reason for

the present-day sufferings of humanity. The prophetic

words of Jesus now apply: 'Woe to the inhabiters

[the rulers] of the earth, and of the sea

[the people in general]! for the devil is come

down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth

that he hath but a short time.'-Revelation 12:12.

"The people of Germany have suffered great misery

since 1914 and have been the victims of much injustice

practiced upon them by others. The nationalists have

declared themselves against all such unrighteousness and

announced that 'Our relationship to God is high and holy'.

 Since our organization fully endorses these righteous

principles and is engaged solely in carrying forth the

work of enlightening the people concerning the

Word of Jehovah God, Satan by subtilty [sic] endeavors

to set the government against our work and destroy it

because we magnify the importance of knowing and

serving God. Instead of our organization's being

a menace to the peace and safety of the government,

it is the one organization standing for the peace and

safety of this land . We beg to remind all that the

great crisis is upon the world because the transition

period from bad to good is at hand, and the hope of the

world is God's kingdom under Christ, for which Jesus

taught his followers to constantly pray: 'Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth, as it is done in heaven.'

"The power of Jehovah God is supreme and there is no

power that can successfully resist him. His time to

exercise his power in the interest of humanity and to

the vindication of his great name is here. In this

connection we respectfully call attention to the

admonition and warning of Jehovah God, both to the

rulers and to the people, which applies to this

very hour, wherein he says: "Yet have I set my king

upon my holy hill of Zion.... Be wise now, therefor,

O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the

earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the

way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are

all they that put their trust in him.'-Psalm 2: 6,

10-12.

'"The present government having declared adherence to the

aforementioned high ideals, we are persuaded that the

rulers do not desire to knowingly resist the progressive

 witness work to the name of Jehovah God and his

kingdom which we are now carrying forward. If our work is

merely that of men, it will fall of its own weight.

If it is of Jehovah God and being carried forward in

obedience to his commandment, then to resist it means to

fight against God.-Acts 5: 39.

We therefore appeal to the high sense of justice of

the government and nation and respectfully ask that

the order of prohibition against our work

and our literature be set aside, and the opportunity

be given us to have a fair hearing before we are judged.

 We respectfully ask that the government appoint a committee

of impartial men to hold conference with a committee of

our organization and that a fair and impartial examination

of our literature and our work be made, to the end that

all misunderstanding may be removed and that we may

without hindrance obey Jehovah God's commandment

now applying to us, to wit: 'Go through, go through

the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up the

highway; gather out the stones; lift up

a standard for the people.'-Isaiah 62: 10.

"The peoples of Germany are a God-fearing people and

should not be deprived of an opportunity to learn of

Jehovah God and of his gracious provision to

bring lasting peace, prosperity, liberty and everlasting

life on earth to all those who know and obey him.

Let all who love God work together to the honor and

vindication of his name. All who take a contrary course

must take responsibility before God; but as for us we will

serve Jehovah forever.

"RESOLVED, That copies of this Declaration be respectfully

delivered to high officials of the government and that the

same be given wide publication to the people, that the name

of Jehovah may be further known."

Les Bibleforsher (Témoins de Jéhovah) et le NAZISME; Fermeté ou Tentative de séduction?