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

Rating:
Summary: Required to understand the holocaust
Review: 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.


Rating:
Summary: Highly pouted
Review: The book ostensibly centers on the David-Goliath story of an apparently valiant little band of religious dissidents who had the cheek to take on [...] and the Nazis. The story in itself is fascinating, but the author clearly has another aim, namely, to vilify the leadership of the Jehovah Witness faith. I have little sympathy for organised religion, having left the Reformed church some years ago. But this attack seems patently ill-placed.

Weaving in tantalising bits of history, the author alternately pouts and shouts, calling down evil on past and present church leaders, along with any academic that appears interested in, sympathetic to or admiring of Witnesses in Nazi Germany. Then he marshals a gaggle of like-minded critics who turn out to be malcontents and defectors with the predictable `atrocity' stories of the disillusioned.

Slogging through their shrill stories tired me. But what made me angry was the unabashed "blame game," in which the writer charges that the persecuted religionists brought trouble on themselves by standing up for their beliefs. Dismissing any contrary opinion with a label of "ridiculous" or "absurd," the author frequently sinks into the same behaviour that he charges his antagonists with-dogmatism, labeling, and manipulation of facts. Despite assertions to the contrary, the archival evidence he presents is woefully thin. That a reputable academic press would publish this book is quite astounding. I am seldom as critical as I am here, but this book and its vitriol left a terribly bad taste.