Resisting in Religious Movements

The Religious Movements

Members of small religious movements also opposed the National Socialists' claim to authority over belief and ideology. They invoked their fundamental religious convictions, refused to swear the oath of loyalty to Hitler, refused to join the National Socialist Party (NSDAP) or its associate organizations, and rejected military service. Some of them gave help to the victims of National Socialist persecution. They reacted particularly strongly to the fate of persecuted people and those deprived of their rights. Members of religious movements generally faced the regime without the support that the Catholic and Protestant Church were able to give their persecuted members on occasions. This meant that in many cases they were not immune from making political concessions to National Socialism and allowing themselves to be used by the National Socialists for their own ends.

Bound by Conscience

Many religious movements were marked by a long tradition of nonconformity. This often gave them a reserved attitude toward the state and its institutions, however much they may have endeavored to satisfy the demands of the "authorities" on their "subjects". For members of these movements, the restriction on freedom of conscience and belief represented a clear limit to claims by the state. But their internal dissociation from the National Socialist state and its policies rarely developed into open opposition. Resisting on the basis of religious conviction was therefore frequently expressed by determined spiritual self-assertion. Many religious movements only followed the command of their own conscience and belief. They professed the principle of non-violence and refused to acknowledge the symbols and organizations of the National Socialist state because they saw themselves as bound only by their understanding of the word of God, their own inner voice and the commandment of humanitarianism.

The Jehovah's Witnesses

The "Earnest Bible Students" came in sharp conflict with the National Socialists because they were expecting the eternal Kingdom of God and saw the present merely as the last days of the world. They lived in anticipation of a new rule of God which would create paradise on earth. They were consequently not prepared to support political goals. They did not vote in elections, deliberately avoided the Hitler salute and refused to do any kind of military or wartime service. They also rejected any form of collaboration with political opponents of the National Socialist state - even in prison. The Jehovah's Witnesses steadfastly denied National Socialism's claim to ideological authority. They protested against their persecution and stood up openly against the National Socialist dictatorship. Hundreds of them were put on trial in the 1930s, and eventually thousands were committed to concentration camps. They bore every humiliation without protest, but were able to stand firm spiritually against their persecutors. Almost all of them remained faithful to their religious conviction, even in the face of death. After the German invasion of Poland, many Jehovah's Witnesses were sentenced to death as conscientious objectors. In all, over 2,000 Jehovah's Witnesses were murdered by the National Socialist dictatorship.

The Quakers

The Religious Society of Friends professed tolerance, non-violence, peace and helpfulness. Although the Quakers invariably rejected open resistance, in individual cases they endeavored to work quietly to support people persecuted on political and racial grounds. The Berlin Quakers' Office gave aid particularly to non-religious Jews, and succeeded in helping over a thousand people to flee or emigrate up to 1939. The German Quakers maintained links with their foreign Friends and uncompromisingly rejected the National Socialist claim to authority. They professed a "religion without dogma," which inevitably brought them in conflict with the National Socialist dictatorship. After the boycott of Jewish shops and businesses in April 1933, the Quakers recognized that the time of "private devotion" was over, and decided to stand up consciously and effectively for their fellow men and women and for the spirit of tolerance.