[Jehovah's Witnesses]MareMagnum
FASCISM OR FREEDOM?
1st edition. Original illustrated paper wrappers, 12mo, 64 pages. 4.75x7 inches. Cover shows a miserable prisoner flanked by ball & chains of swastika and hammer & sickle, behind whom hover Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and front and center The Pope. "Jehovah's Witnesses were subjected to intense persecution under the Nazi regime. The Nazis targeted Jehovah's Witnesses because they were unwilling to accept the authority of the state, because of their international connections, and because they were strongly opposed to both war on behalf of a temporal authority and organized government in matters of conscience. Within months of the Nazi takeover, regional governments, primarily those of Bavaria and Prussia, initiated aggressive steps against Jehovah's Witnesses, breaking up their meetings, ransacking and then occupying their local offices. By April 1, 1935, the Reich and Prussian Minister of the Interior ordered the responsible local officials to dissolve the Watchtower Society. Many actions of Jehovah's Witnesses antagonized Nazi authorities. While Witnesses contended that they were apolitical and that their actions were not anti-Nazi, their unwillingness to give the Nazi salute, to join party organizations or to let their children join the Hitler Youth, their refusal to participate in the so-called elections or plebiscites, and their unwillingness to adorn their homes with Nazi flags made them suspect. A special unit of the Gestapo compiled a registry of all persons believed to be Jehovah's Witnesses. Gestapo agents infiltrated Bible study meetings" (USHMM 2016) No copies listed in OCLC. Evenly- toned newsprint, Very Good Condition. Holocaust-related Jehovah's Witnesses material is rare, this imprint especially so. (HOLO2-134-61) xx
Dan Wyman Books LLC · Brooklyn, NY 11211, US325,00 €
