One of the groups that Hitler sent to concentration camps were Jehovah's Witnesses. They were
forced to endure unspeakable atrocities and many lost their
lives. The individual actions of many Witnesses are
commendable and the
Watchtower holds up this part of their history in great esteem.
What is not discussed is the hypocritical actions of Rutherford in the lead up to these events.
Early in 1933, the Watchtower office in Berlin was closed and
Jehovah's Witnesses were
banned in many German states.
In an attempt to appease Hitler,Rutherford instigated a Declaration of Facts and sent a
Letter to Hitler discussing the Watchtower's support of the Nazi regime.
Current Watchtower references provide a deceptive portrayal of
these documents, through selective quoting. The
Proclaimer's book mentions that Rutherford wrote a letter to Hitler
under the context of "facing Nazi oppression", in which the Watchtower Society is made to
sound as if they were firmly against the Nazi regime.

"Therefore, on June 25, 1933, a declaration regarding their
ministry and its objectives was adopted by Jehovah's Witnesses at an assembly in Berlin. Copies
were sent to all the high
government officials, and millions more were distributed to the
public. Nevertheless, in July 1933 the courts refused to grant a
hearing for relief. Early the following year, a personal letter
regarding the situation was written by J. F. Rutherford to Adolf Hitler and delivered to him
by special messenger. Then the entire worldwide brotherhood
went into action.
On Sunday morning, October 7,1934, at nine o'clock, every group of Witnesses in Germany
assembled. They prayed for Jehovah's guidance and blessing.
Then each group sent a letter to German government officials
declaring their firm
determination to keep on serving Jehovah." - Jehovah's Witnesses -
Proclaimer's Of God's Kingdom p.693

It is quite surprising to find the opposite is true, which can be identified when reading the
content of Rutherford's 1933 letter to Hitler and the Declaration
of Facts.

Yooguys, are/were you a member of the JW

letter to hitler

Russell, founder of the
Watchtower, was a Zionist and sympathetic to Jews as part of
modern day fulfilment of Bible prophecy. Rutherford initially
continued such support, but changed by the 1930's to an anti-Semitic stance.

"Be it known once and for all that those profiteering,
conscienceless, selfish men who call themselves Jews, and who
control the greater portion of the
finances of the world and the business of the world, will never be the rulers in this new earth.
God would not risk such selfish men with such an important position" The Golden Age 1927
Feb 23 p.343

"The Jews were evicted from Palestine and ‘their house left unto them desolate’ because 
they rejected Christ Jesus, the beloved and anointed King of Jehovah. To this day the Jews have not repented of this
wrongful act committed by their forefathers. … In 1917 the Balfour Declaration, sponsored
by the heathen governments of
Satan's organization, came forth,recognized the Jews, and bestowed upon them great favors. ... The Jews have received
more attention at their hands than they really deserved."
Vindication - Book II (1932) pp.257-258

During the time of Rutherford, Witnesses became known as a
religion of hate, due to the Watchtower's tirade of insults against other Churches and
governments. The Catholic Church come under the greatest
condemnation and bought this to the attention of the Nazi
government, petitioning against the Watchtower Society. In 1933,
the Nazi government banned the Watchtower's German operations.

“In June of the so-called “Holy Year” of 1933 Adolf Hitler’s regime seized the Watch Tower Society’s property in Magdeburg
and banned the activities of Jehovah’s people in Germany as regards meetings and literature
distribution, though the property was returned that October.”
Yearbook 1975 p.174

In an effort to overturn the ban, Rutherford sent a Letter and a Declaration to Hitler, in which he
could rightfully praise Hitler for his anti-Anglo/American
campaign and his stance against the Jews.

Following is part of an English translation of the Letter to Hitler.


"Dear Reichskanzler,
…
The Brooklyn headquarter of the Watchtower Society is pro German in an exemplary way and
has been so for many years. For that reason, in 1918, the president of the Society and seven members of the board of
directors were sentenced to 80 years in prison, because the president refused to use two of
the magazines published in America under his direction for war propaganda against
Germany. These two magazines,
"The Watchtower" and "Bible Student" were the only magazines in America which
refused to engage in anti-
German propaganda and for that reason were prohibited and
suppressed in America during the war.
In the very same manner, in course of the recent months the board of directors of our Society
not only refused to engage in propaganda against Germany,
but has even taken a position against it. The enclosed declaration underlines this fact
and emphasizes that the people leading in such propaganda (Jewish businessmen and
Catholics) also are the most rigorous persecutors of the work
of our Society and its board of directors. This and other statements of the declaration are
meant to repudiate the
slanderous accusation, that Bible Researchers are supported by the Jews.
The conference of five thousand delegates also noted - as is expressed in the declaration -
that the Bible Researchers of Germany are fighting for the very same high ethical goals and
ideals which also the national government of the German Reich
proclaimed respecting the
relationship of humans to God, namely: honesty of the created being towards its creator.
The conference came to the conclusion that there are no contradictions when it comes to
the relationship between the Bible Researchers of Germany to the national government of the
German Reich. To the contrary, referring to the purely religious
and unpolitical goals and efforts of the Bible Researchers, it can
be said that these are in full agreement with the identical goals of the national government
of the German Reich.
We are looking forward to your kind approval, which we hope to
receive soon, and want to assure our highest respect to you, honorable Mr. Reichskanzler.
Yours faithfully,
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society Magdeburg"


The Yearbook 1974 briefly refers to this letter, along with the
Declaration of Facts.

"The conventioners returned home tired and many were disappointed. They took 2,100,000 copies of the "declaration" home with them, however, and made fast work of
distributing them and sending them to numerous persons in
positions of responsibility. The copy sent to Hitler was accompanied by a letter that, in part, read:

"The Brooklyn presidency of the Watch Tower Society is and always has been exceedingly
friendly to Germany. In 1918 the president of the Society and seven members of the Board of
Directors in America were
sentenced to 80 years'
imprisonment for the reason that the president refused to let two
magazines in America, which he edited, be used in war propaganda against Germany."

Even though the declaration had
been weakened and many brothers could not
wholeheartedly agree to its adoption, yet the government was enraged and started a wave
of persecution against those who had distributed it."
Yearbook 1974 p.111

In light of the contents of the official letter and Declaration sent
to Hitler, the Watchtower's 2011
comment mocking other
Churches is nothing short of hypocritical.

"Did Hitler receive letters of protest from church officials concerning the outrages perpetrated by the National Socialists, or Nazis? There were
some, but such letters were few and far between. In the Moscow
archives, however, Eberle found a file containing a number of letters sent to Hitler by Jehovah's
Witnesses from different parts of Germany, protesting against the
conduct of the Nazis."
Watchtower 2011 Oct 1 p.14