Around 270 members of Jehovah's Witnesses refused military service in the Third Reich. In the concentration camp they had a "purple spot" on her prison uniform to wear. Photo: John Hoffman / Public Domain
Those who refused military service in Nazi Germany, were shot. Only a few hundred people in the Third Reich found the courage to refuse "honorable service" with a weapon. Most of those who died for it, belonged to a single denomination.
At Sachsenhausen concentration camp (near Berlin), there was a Camp commander Hermann Baranowski who wanted to make an example two weeks after the German invasion of Poland. The resistance of Jehovah's Witnesses were against the armed service, the reasons for this was their faith, should be broken. At that time, about 380 Jehovah's Witnesses were detained, carried the "purple triangle" on their clothing. They also refused the Nazi salute.
After the evening roll around 8,500 prisoners had to remain standing. The Bible Students, as Jehovah, the witnesses called up to 1931 and were also called in the Nazi terminology were conducted immediately before the plywood wall. Seven SS as firing squad marched in, commanded by Rudolf Hoess, who was should still take them to the infamous commandant of the Auschwitz extermination camp, where he was the commander.
For the members of the Jehovah's Witnesses in the German Reich, the situation worsened in 1935 with the introduction of conscription. In an indictment of the Gestapo in Darmstadt states: "Because the Bible says: 'Thou shalt not kill', the Jehovah's Witnesses reject any military service, make the call for screening no consequence and try to encourage other conscripts to refuse military service. " more on this ...
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