August 22

Page Two

The Holocaust​—Who Spoke Out? 50th Anniversary of Liberating the Camps 3-15

Fifty years ago those who liberated the Nazi concentration camps were horrified by what they saw. One voice had been declaring the Nazi atrocities for years. But who failed to speak out? Why were they silent? These articles include information presented at a seminar held at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.

Discipline Has Been My Salvation 19

Learn how a woman’s early life of discipline helped her overcome difficult problems.

Japan’s Sudden Disaster​—How People Coped 22

More than 5,000 died in Kobe’s tragic earthquake. How did Jehovah’s Witnesses there cope? Should we be surprised by devastating earthquakes?

One Voice in the Midst of Silence

FIFTY years ago a monster was slain. When the world finally drew aside the curtain to look on the fallen Third Reich, the ghastly sight was too much of a nightmare to comprehend. Soldiers and civilians alike could only stare in silent horror at the gruesome remains of a monstrous killing machine.

Earlier this year thousands celebrated the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps by quietly tramping through their desolate grounds. They struggled to fathom the enormity of the crime. Why, some 1,500,000 people had been killed in the death camp at Auschwitz alone! It was a time for silence, a time to reflect on man’s inhumanity to man. Haunting questions echoed in the cold ovens, in the empty barracks, across the undisturbed mountains of plundered shoes.

Today there is horror; there is outrage. The Holocaust, during which several million were systematically murdered, reveals what a monstrous evil Nazism was. But what about then? Who spoke out? Who did not?

For many, their first knowledge of the mass slayings came only at the close of World War II. The book Fifty Years Ago​—Revolt Amid the Darkness explains: “The still photographs and newsreel films of the killing centers and camps liberated by the Allies in 1944 and 1945 first brought the shocking reality to the broad public, especially in the west.”

Yet, even before the death camps were set up, a voice was proclaiming the dangers of Nazism, through Awake!, the magazine you hold in your hands. It was first known as The Golden Age and was renamed Consolation in 1937. Beginning in 1929, these magazines, published by Jehovah’s Witnesses, boldly warned of the perils of Nazism, living up to the proclamation on the cover, “A Journal of Fact, Hope and Courage.”

“How can one remain silent,” asked Consolation in 1939, “about the horrors of a land where, as in Germany, 40,000 innocent persons are arrested at one time; where 70 of them were executed in a single night in one prison; . . . where all homes, institutes and hospitals for the aged, the poor, and the helpless, and all orphanages for the children, are destroyed?”

How, indeed, could one remain silent? While the world in general was unaware or skeptical of the horrific reports trickling out of Germany and occupied lands, Jehovah’s Witnesses could not keep quiet. They knew firsthand the cruelties of the Nazi regime, and they were not afraid to speak out.

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U.S. National Archives photo

Why Unafraid to Speak Out

IN RETROSPECT, it could be said that the clash between Jehovah’s Witnesses and Nazism, or National Socialism, was all but inevitable. Why? Because of the Nazis’ unyielding demands that conflicted with three of the Witnesses’ fundamental Bible-​based beliefs. These are: (1) Jehovah God is the Supreme Sovereign. (2) True Christians are politically neutral. (3) God will resurrect those who have proved faithful to him until death.

These Bible-​based beliefs determined the steadfast stand of Jehovah’s Witnesses against the Nazis’ ungodly demands. Thus, they courageously spoke out and exposed Nazism as the evil that it was.

Jehovah’s Witnesses refused to heil Hitler. They refused because they attribute their salvation to God and have dedicated their lives to him alone. The Bible says of Jehovah: “You alone are the Most High over all the earth.”​—Psalm 83:18.

Actually, “Heil Hitler” implied that salvation was by Hitler. So the Witnesses could not be faithful to God and at the same time heil any human. Their lives as well as their loyalty and allegiance belonged to God.

Jehovah’s Witnesses had clear precedents for refusing to obey Hitler’s wrongful demands. For example, when Jesus’ first-​century apostles were ordered to cease declaring the good news about Christ, they refused. They said: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.” The Bible says that for their determined stand, the authorities “flogged them, and ordered them to stop speaking upon the basis of Jesus’ name.” Yet, the apostles refused to obey that God-​defying order. “They continued without letup teaching and declaring the good news.”​—Acts 5:29, 40-42.

Many early Christians died because they obeyed God rather than men. Scores perished in Roman arenas because they refused, in effect, to heil Caesar by rendering an act of worship to him. But to such persons it was an honor and a victory to prove faithful to God even to death, similar to a valiant soldier’s being willing to die in behalf of his country.

Because Jehovah’s Witnesses advocate only one government, God’s Kingdom, some have viewed them as subversive. But nothing could be further from the truth. In imitation of Jesus’ apostles, “they are no part of the world.” (John 17:16) They are politically neutral. Because of their loyalty to God, they obey the laws of their respective human governments. Indeed, they are exemplary in their “subjection to the superior authorities.” (Romans 13:1) Never have they advocated rebellion against any human government!

There is, however, a line that cannot be crossed under any circumstances. It is the line between the duty of Jehovah’s Witnesses to man and their duty to God. They render to Caesar, or governmental authorities, what belongs to Caesar but to God what belongs to Him. (Matthew 22:21) If anyone tries to exact from them what belongs to God, that attempt will fail.

What if a Witness is threatened with death? Well, Jehovah’s Witnesses have unshakable confidence in God’s ability to restore them to life. (Acts 24:15) So Witnesses have the same attitude as did three young Hebrews in ancient Babylon. When threatened with death in a fiery furnace, they told King Nebuchadnezzar: “If it is to be, our God whom we are serving is able to rescue us. . . . Let it become known to you, O king, that your gods are not the ones we are serving, and the image of gold that you have set up we will not worship.”​—Daniel 3:17, 18.

Thus, as noted earlier, when Hitler began to climb onto his pedestal as a self-​appointed god, an ideological battle was inevitable. The Third Reich, sword drawn, found itself face-​to-​face with a tiny band of Jehovah’s Witnesses who had sworn loyalty to the true God, the Almighty God, Jehovah. Even before the battle began, however, the outcome was decided.

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Faithful to Death

WOLFGANG KUSSEROW was one of those put to death because he maintained faithfulness to God and refused to support Nazism. Shortly before he was beheaded on March 28, 1942, he wrote his parents and siblings: “Now, as your third son and brother, I must leave you tomorrow morning. Do not be sad, for the time will come when we will be together again. . . . How great our joy will then be, when we are reunited! . . . Now we have been torn apart, and each of us must stand the test; then we will be rewarded.”

Shortly before his execution on January 8, 1941, Johannes Harms wrote in a final letter to his father: “My death sentence has already been announced and I am chained both day and night​—the marks (on the paper) are from the handcuffs . . . My dear father, in spirit I call to you, remain faithful, as I have attempted to remain faithful, and then we will see each other again. I will be thinking of you up until the very last.”

The Evils of Nazism Exposed

IN THE 1920’s, as Germany struggled to recover from its defeat in World War I, Jehovah’s Witnesses were busy distributing tremendous amounts of Bible literature. Not only did this offer comfort and hope to the German people but it alerted them to the rising power of militarism. Between 1919 and 1933, the Witnesses delivered an average of eight books, booklets, or magazines to each of the approximately 15 million families in Germany.

The Golden Age and Consolation magazines often drew attention to the militaristic stirrings in Germany. In 1929, more than three years before Hitler came to power, the German edition of The Golden Age boldly stated: “National Socialism is . . . a movement that is acting . . . directly in the service of man’s enemy, the Devil.”

On the eve of Hitler’s taking power, The Golden Age of January 4, 1933, said: “There looms forth the menacing promontory of the National Socialist movement. It seems incredulous that a political party so insignificant in its origin, so heterodox in its policies, can, in the space of a few years, develop into proportions that overshadow the structure of a national government. Yet Adolf Hitler and his national socialist party (the Nazis) have accomplished this rare feat.”

An Appeal for Understanding

Hitler became prime minister of Germany on January 30, 1933, and a couple of months later, on April 4, 1933, the Magdeburg branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses was seized. However, the order was rescinded on April 28, 1933, and the property was returned. What would happen next?

In spite of the evident hostility of the Hitler regime, Jehovah’s Witnesses organized a convention in Berlin, Germany, on June 25, 1933. Some 7,000 persons assembled. The Witnesses publicly made their intentions clear: “Our organization is not political in any sense. We only insist on teaching the Word of Jehovah God to the people, and that without hindrance.”

Thus Jehovah’s Witnesses made a good-​faith effort to state their case. What were the consequences?

The Attack Begins

The immovable neutral position of the Witnesses, along with their loyalty to God’s Kingdom, was unacceptable to the Hitler government. The Nazis did not intend to tolerate any refusal to support their ideology.

Immediately after the Berlin convention concluded, the Nazis again seized the branch office at Magdeburg, on June 28, 1933. They broke up Witness meetings and made arrests. Soon Witnesses began to be dismissed from their jobs. They suffered raids on their homes, beatings, and arrests. By early 1934 the Nazis had seized from the Witnesses 65 tons of Bible literature and had burned it outside Magdeburg.

Witnesses’ Resolute Stand

Despite these initial attacks, Jehovah’s Witnesses stood their ground and publicly denounced the oppression and injustice. The November 1, 1933, issue of The Watchtower featured the article “Fear Them Not.” It was prepared especially for the German Witnesses, exhorting them to take courage in the face of mounting pressure.

On February 9, 1934, J. F. Rutherford, the president of the Watch Tower Society, sent a letter of protest to Hitler stating: “You may successfully resist any and all men, but you cannot successfully resist Jehovah God. . . . In the name of Jehovah God and His anointed King, Christ Jesus, I demand that you give order to all officials and servants of your government that Jehovah’s witnesses in Germany be permitted to peaceably assemble and without hindrance worship God.”

Rutherford set March 24, 1934, as the deadline. He said that if by that time relief did not come to the German Witnesses, the facts about the persecution would be published throughout Germany and the rest of the world. The Nazis answered Rutherford’s demand with stepped-​up abuses, sending many of Jehovah’s Witnesses to the concentration camps that had recently been set up. Thus, they were among the first inmates of these camps.

Witnesses Expose Nazi Atrocities

As Jehovah’s Witnesses had promised, they began exposing the atrocities occurring in Germany. Witnesses around the globe repeatedly registered protests with the Hitler government.

On October 7, 1934, all congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany assembled to hear a letter read that was being sent to the officials of the Hitler government. It said: “There is a direct conflict between your law and God’s law . . . Therefore this is to advise you that at any cost we will obey God’s commandments, will meet together for the study of His Word, and will worship and serve Him as He has commanded.”

On the same day, Jehovah’s Witnesses in 49 other countries met in special assembly and sent the following telegram to Hitler: “Your ill-​treatment of Jehovah’s witnesses shocks all good people of earth and dishonors God’s name. Refrain from further persecuting Jehovah’s witnesses; otherwise God will destroy you and your national party.”

The Nazis responded almost immediately by stepping up their persecution. Hitler himself screamed: “This brood will be exterminated in Germany!” But as opposition intensified, the determination of the Witnesses stiffened correspondingly.

In 1935, The Golden Age exposed the Inquisitionlike torture methods of the Nazi regime and its spy system. It also revealed that it was the aim of the Hitler Youth organization to purge Germany’s youths of their belief in God. The following year a nationwide Gestapo campaign resulted in the arrests of thousands of Witnesses. Soon after, on December 12, 1936, the Witnesses answered with their own campaign, blanketing Germany with tens of thousands of copies of a resolution protesting the persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

On June 20, 1937, the Witnesses who were still free distributed another message that was unsparing in its detail about the persecution. It named officials and cited dates and places. The Gestapo were appalled at this exposure and the ability of the Witnesses to carry it off.

Love of neighbor is what compelled the Witnesses to warn the people of Germany not to be fooled by the grandiose vision of a glorious thousand-​year rule by the Third Reich. “We must tell the truth and give the warning,” said the booklet Face the Facts, published in 1938. “We recognize the totalitarian government . . . as the product of Satan brought forth as the substitute for God’s kingdom.” Jehovah’s Witnesses were among the first targets of Nazi abuse, but they also loudly decried atrocities against Jews, Poles, the handicapped, and others.

The resolution “Warning!,” adopted at a 1938 convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A., said: “The Fascists and Nazis, radical political organizations, have wrongfully seized control of many countries of Europe . . . All the people will be regimented, all their liberties taken away, and all will be compelled to yield to the rule of an arbitrary dictator and then the ancient Inquisition will be fully revived.”

Rutherford regularly took to the airwaves, delivering powerful lectures on the satanic nature of Nazism. The lectures were rebroadcast globally and were printed for distribution by the millions. On October 2, 1938, he delivered the address “Fascism or Freedom,” in which he denounced Hitler in no uncertain terms.

“In Germany the common people are peace-​loving,” Rutherford proclaimed. “The Devil has put his representative Hitler in control, a man who is of unsound mind, cruel, malicious and ruthless . . . He cruelly persecutes the Jews because they were once Jehovah’s covenant people and bore the name of Jehovah, and because Christ Jesus was a Jew.”

As the Nazi rage against Jehovah’s Witnesses reached new heights, the Witnesses’ denunciations became ever more scathing. The May 15, 1940, issue of Consolation stated: “Hitler is such a perfect child of the Devil that these speeches and decisions flow through him like water through a well-​built sewer.”

Horrors of Camps Exposed

Although the public was largely unaware of the existence of the concentration camps until 1945, detailed descriptions of them appeared often in Watch Tower publications in the 1930’s. In 1937, for example, Consolation told of experiments with poison gas at Dachau. By 1940, Witness publications had named 20 different camps and had reported on their unspeakable conditions.

Why were Jehovah’s Witnesses so well acquainted with the concentration camps? When World War II started in 1939, there were already 6,000 Witnesses confined in camps and prisons. German historian Detlef Garbe estimates that the Witnesses constituted at that time between 5 and 10 percent of the total camp population!

At a seminar on the Witnesses and the Holocaust, Garbe stated: “Of the 25,000 persons who admitted to being Jehovah’s Witnesses at the beginning of the Third Reich, about 10,000 were imprisoned for any length of time. Of these, over 2,000 were admitted to concentration camps. This means that the Jehovah’s Witnesses were, with the exception of the Jews, the worst persecuted by the SS of all the religious based groups.”

In June 1940, Consolation said: “There were 3,500,000 Jews in Poland when Germany began its Blitzkrieg . . . , and if reports which reach the Western world are correct their destruction seems well under way.” In 1943, Consolation noted: “Whole nations like the Greeks, Poles and Serbs are being exterminated systematically.” By 1946, The Golden Age and Consolation had identified 60 different prison and concentration camps.

Nazis Frustrated by Witnesses

Although the Nazis tried to stem the flow of Watch Tower literature, a Berlin official admitted: “It is hard to find the secret places in Germany where the Bible Students’ literature is still being printed; no one carries names or addresses and no one betrays another.”

Despite their frantic efforts, the Gestapo were never able to capture more than half the total number of Witnesses in Germany at any given time. Imagine the frustration of the elaborate Nazi spy system​—it could not round up and silence this tiny army or stop the flow of literature. The literature found its way to the streets and even penetrated the barbed-​wire fences of the concentration camps!

Triumph Over Barbarism

The Nazis, who were considered masters at breaking the human will, tried desperately to get Jehovah’s Witnesses to violate their Christian neutrality, but they failed miserably. The book The Theory and Practice of Hell said: “One cannot escape the impression that, psychologically speaking, the SS was never quite equal to the challenge offered them by Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

Indeed, the Witnesses, backed up by God’s spirit, won the battle. Historian Christine King, chancellor of Staffordshire University in England, described the opponents in the conflict: “One [the Nazis] enormous, powerful, seemingly invincible. One [the Witnesses] very, very tiny . . . with only their faith, no other weapon . . . Jehovah’s Witnesses brought morally to their knees the might of that Gestapo power.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses were a small, peaceable enclave within the Nazi realm. Yet, they waged and won a battle in their own way​—a battle for the right to worship their God, a battle to love their neighbor, and a battle to tell the truth.

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Witnesses Exposed Existence of Camps

ALTHOUGH Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, and Sachsenhausen were names unknown to most people until after World War II, they were well known to readers of The Golden Age and Consolation. The reports of Jehovah’s Witnesses, smuggled out of the camps at great risk and publicized in Watch Tower literature, exposed the murderous intent of the Third Reich.

In 1933, The Golden Age carried the first of many reports of the existence of concentration camps in Germany. In 1938, Jehovah’s Witnesses published the book Crusade Against Christianity, in French, German, and Polish. It carefully documented the vicious Nazi attacks on the Witnesses and included diagrams of the Sachsenhausen and Esterwegen concentration camps.

Nobel prize winner Dr. Thomas Mann wrote: “I have read your book and its terrible documentation with deepest emotion. I cannot describe the mixed feeling of abhorrence and loathing which has filled my heart while perusing these records of human degradation and abominable cruelty. . . . To keep quiet would serve only the moral indifference of the world . . . You have done your duty in publishing this book and bringing these facts to light.”​—Italics ours.

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Witnesses Among First in the Camps

MADAME Geneviève de Gaulle, niece of former president of France Charles de Gaulle, was a member of the French Resistance. Upon her capture and her later imprisonment in the Ravensbrück concentration camp in 1944, she met Jehovah’s Witnesses. After World War II, Madame de Gaulle lectured throughout Switzerland and spoke often of the Witnesses’ integrity and courage. In an interview on May 20, 1994, she said of them:

“They were among the first deportees in the camp. Many had already died . . . We recognized them by their distinctive badge. . . . It was absolutely forbidden for them to talk about their beliefs or to have any religious books, and especially the Bible, which was considered the supreme book of sedition. . . . I know of [one of Jehovah’s Witnesses], and there were others I was told, who was executed for having a few pages of Bible texts. . . .

“What I admired a lot in them was that they could have left at any time just by signing a renunciation of their faith. Ultimately, these women, who appeared to be so weak and worn out, were stronger than the SS, who had power and all the means at their disposal. [Jehovah’s Witnesses] had their strength, and it was their willpower that no one could beat.”

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Conduct of Witnesses in the Camps

OUT OF love of neighbor​—cell mate, barracks mate, camp mate—​the Witnesses shared not only their spiritual food but also whatever physical food they had.

A Jew who survived the Buchenwald concentration camp explained: “There I met the Bibelforscher. They constantly testified to their beliefs. In fact, nothing would stop them speaking about their God. They were very helpful to other prisoners. When the pogrom sent a mass influx of Jews to the camp on November 10, 1938, the ‘Jehovah’s schwein’, as the guards termed them, went round with a bread ration to the aged and famished Jews, going without food themselves for up to four days.”

Similarly, a Jewish woman imprisoned in the Lichtenburg camp said of the Witnesses: “They were a brave people, who bore their fate patiently. Though the gentile prisoners were forbidden to talk to us, these women never observed this regulation. They prayed for us as if we belonged to their family, and begged us to hold out.”

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Efforts to Deny the Holocaust Predicted

IN ITS September 26, 1945, issue, Consolation noted that future attempts might be made to revise history and deny what had happened. The article “Has Nazism Been Destroyed?” said:

“Propagandists think the people have short memories. It is their intention to erase past history, presenting themselves in the modern disguise of benefactors, their incriminating record being covered up.”

The magazine gave this perceptive warning: “Until Jehovah does fight Armageddon, Nazism will continue to raise its ugly head.”

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These diagrams of concentration camps appeared in Witness publications in 1937

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The 150 workers at the Magdeburg branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1931

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Publications of Jehovah’s Witnesses exposed church collaboration with Nazism

Why the Churches Kept Silent

ON DECEMBER 8, 1993, Dr. Franklin Littell of Baylor University spoke at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum about a troublesome “concrete truth.” What was that?

The truth, Littell said, was that “six million Jews were targeted and systematically murdered in the heart of Christendom, by baptized Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Eastern Orthodox who were never rebuked, let alone excommunicated.” One voice, however, did consistently speak out about clergy involvement with Hitler’s regime. And the voice, as we have seen, was that of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Hitler was a baptized Roman Catholic, as were many of the leaders in his government. Why weren’t they excommunicated? Why didn’t the Catholic Church condemn the horrors that these men were committing? Why did Protestant churches also keep silent?

Did the churches really remain silent? Is there proof that they supported Hitler’s war efforts?

Role of Catholic Church

Catholic historian E. I. Watkin wrote: “Painful as the admission must be, we cannot in the interest of a false edification or dishonest loyalty deny or ignore the historical fact that Bishops have consistently supported all wars waged by the government of their country. . . . Where belligerent nationalism is concerned they have spoken as the mouthpiece of Caesar.”

When Watkin said that bishops of the Catholic Church “supported all wars waged by the government of their country,” he included the wars of aggression waged by Hitler. As Roman Catholic professor of history at Vienna University, Friedrich Heer, admitted: “In the cold facts of German history, the Cross and the swastika came ever closer together, until the swastika proclaimed the message of victory from the towers of German cathedrals, swastika flags appeared round altars and Catholic and Protestant theologians, pastors, churchmen and statesmen welcomed the alliance with Hitler.”

Catholic Church leaders gave such unqualified support to Hitler’s wars that the Roman Catholic professor Gordon Zahn wrote: “The German Catholic who looked to his religious superiors for spiritual guidance and direction regarding service in Hitler’s wars received virtually the same answers he would have received from the Nazi ruler himself.”

That Catholics obediently followed the direction of their church leaders was documented by Professor Heer. He noted: “Of about thirty-​two million German Catholics​—fifteen and a half million of whom were men—​only seven [individuals] openly refused military service. Six of these were Austrians.” More recent evidence indicates that a few other Catholics, as well as some Protestants, stood up against the Nazi State because of religious convictions. Some even paid with their lives, while at the same time their spiritual leaders were selling out to the Third Reich.

Who Else Was Silent, Who Was Not

As noted above, Professor Heer included Protestant leaders among those who “welcomed the alliance with Hitler.” Is that true?

Many Protestants have writhed in self-​incrimination for remaining silent during Hitler’s wars of aggression. For example, 11 leading clergymen met in October 1945 to draw up the so-​called Stuttgart admission of guilt. They said: “We accuse ourselves for not having been more courageous in confessing our convictions, more faithful in saying our prayers, more joyful in expressing our faith, and more ardent in showing our love.”

Paul Johnson’s History of Christianity said: “Of 17,000 Evangelical pastors, there were never more than fifty serving long terms [for not supporting the Nazi regime] at any one time.” Contrasting such pastors with Jehovah’s Witnesses, Johnson wrote: “The bravest were the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who proclaimed their outright doctrinal opposition from the beginning and suffered accordingly. They refused any cooperation with the Nazi state.”

Back in 1939, the year World War II began, Consolation quoted T. Bruppacher, a Protestant minister, as saying: “While men who call themselves Christians have failed in the decisive tests, these unknown witnesses of Jehovah, as Christian martyrs, are maintaining unshakable opposition against coercion of conscience and heathen idolatry. The future historian must some day acknowledge that not the great churches, but these slandered and scoffed-​at people, were the ones who stood up first against the rage of the Nazi demon . . . They refuse the worship of Hitler and the Swastika.”

Similarly, Martin Niemoeller, a Protestant church leader who himself had been in a Nazi concentration camp, later confessed: ‘It may be truthfully recalled that Christian churches, throughout the ages, have always consented to bless war, troops, and arms and that they prayed in a very unchristian way for the annihilation of their enemy.’ He admitted: “All this is our fault and our fathers’ fault, but obviously not God’s fault.”

Niemoeller then added: “And to think that we Christians of today are ashamed of the so-​called sect of the serious scholars of the Bible [Jehovah’s Witnesses], who by the hundreds and thousands have gone into concentration camps and died because they refused to serve in war and declined to fire on human beings.”

Susannah Heschel, a professor of Judaic studies, uncovered church documents proving that the Lutheran clergy were willing, yes anxious, to support Hitler. She said they begged for the privilege of displaying the swastika in their churches. The overwhelming majority of clergymen were not coerced collaborators, her research showed, but were enthusiastic supporters of Hitler and his Aryan ideals.

As a lecturer, Heschel is frequently asked by church members, “What could we have done?”

“You could have been like Jehovah’s Witnesses,” she replies.

Why They Were Silent

The reason the churches were silent becomes clear. It is because Christendom’s clergy and their flocks had abandoned the teachings of the Bible in favor of supporting the political state. In 1933 the Roman Catholic Church concluded a concordat with the Nazis. Roman Catholic cardinal Faulhaber wrote to Hitler: “This handshake with the Papacy . . . is a feat of immeasurable blessing. . . . May God preserve the Reich Chancellor [Hitler].”

Indeed, the Catholic Church and other churches as well became handmaidens of the evil Hitler government. Even though Jesus Christ said his true followers “are no part of the world,” the churches and their parishioners became an integral part of Hitler’s world. (John 17:16) As a result, they failed to speak out about the horrors against humanity that were committed by the Nazis in their death camps.

True, a few courageous individuals from the Catholic, Protestant, and various other religions stood up against the Nazi State. But even as some of them paid with their lives, their spiritual leaders, who claimed to serve God, were serving as puppets of the Third Reich.

There was, however, one voice that consistently spoke out. Though the news media, by and large, overlooked the churches as major players in the Nazi drama, Jehovah’s Witnesses felt compelled to expose the treachery and hypocrisy of the clergy, with details of their behind-​the-​scenes collusion. In the pages of the forerunner of this magazine as well as other publications throughout the 1930’s and 1940’s, they printed strong indictments of religious organizations that became Nazism’s handmaidens.

Identifying Christ’s True Followers

Jehovah’s Witnesses are totally different from the religions of the world. Being no part of the world, they take no part in the wars of the nations. In obedience to God’s instructions, ‘they have beaten their swords into plowshares.’ (Isaiah 2:4) Yes, in obedience to Christ’s instructions, they love one another. (John 13:35) This means they never go to war and intentionally hurt one another.

When it comes to identifying the true worshipers of God, the Bible is very plain in saying: “The children of God and the children of the Devil are evident by this fact: Everyone who does not carry on righteousness does not originate with God, neither does he who does not love his brother. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should have love for one another; not like Cain, who originated with the wicked one and slaughtered his brother.”​—1 John 3:10-12.

Yes, history reveals that Jehovah’s Witnesses have always shown love for their fellowman, even in the face of intense pressure. When Hitler waged war throughout Europe, the Witnesses stood firm in the face of the Nazis’ brutal attempts to make them join in the orgy of killing. Professor Christine King well summed up the matter: “Jehovah’s Witnesses did speak out. They spoke out from the beginning. They spoke out with one voice. And they spoke out with a tremendous courage, which has a message for all of us.”

Until this world is safely under the loving rule of Jehovah’s government and is free from war and wickedness, Jehovah’s Witnesses will continue to speak out. As long as it is the will of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, this magazine will expose the evils of this satanic world and herald the only true hope for mankind, God’s Kingdom.​—Matthew 6:9, 10.

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The U.S. press verified church support of Nazism

New York Post, August 27, 1940, Blue Final Edition, page 15

The New York Times, December 7, 1941, Late City Edition, page 33

The New York Times, September 25, 1939, Late City Edition, page 6

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Unlike the churches, Jehovah’s Witnesses spoke out against Nazism

Young People Ask . . .

Sexual Harassment​—How Can I Protect Myself?

ANITA is a vivacious 16-​year-​old with a ready smile. She frowns, though, when she describes recent events at her school. “A very popular boy cornered me in the hallway and started touching me inappropriately,” she recalls. “He had got away with this with a number of other girls​—they were flattered by his attentions, but I wasn’t! Asking him in a nice way to keep his hands to himself didn’t work. He didn’t think I really meant it.”

Anita’s dilemma is by no means unusual. Sexual harassment was apparently common in Bible times. (Compare Ruth 2:8, 9, 15.) And it is alarmingly prevalent today. “Some men at work have made vulgar comments about my body,” says one teenage girl. But oftentimes the harassment goes beyond mere words. “Some have tried to touch or grab me,” she adds. A teenage girl named René told Awake!: “The harassment got so bad at work that I had to quit.”

One recent survey reported that 81 percent of students in grades 8 through 11 said that they had been sexually harassed at least once. “Of those,” reports U.S.News & World Report, “65 percent of girls and 42 percent of boys said they had been touched, grabbed or pinched in a sexual way.” Yes, boys as well as girls are targets. As the parent of one teenage boy recalls: “I have been shocked at how bold the girls are at my son’s school. From the time he was 12 or so, we have had persistent phone calls, invitations to date, lewd suggestions​—you name it.”

It is easy to make light of this annoying behavior. One youth remarked: “Sometimes it’s done in a joking manner.” But it is not a joke to Christians! They know that sexual harassment is often an attempt to lure one into sexual immorality, something that Jehovah God condemns. (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10) Furthermore, God’s Word commands that young women be treated “with all chasteness.” (1 Timothy 5:2) It also forbids “obscene jesting.” (Ephesians 5:3, 4) Christian youths should therefore not tolerate sexual harassment! The question is, How can you protect yourself from being a target of it? Let’s talk about preventive steps.

Ways to Avert Harassment

Develop a reputation for Christian conduct. “Let your light shine before men,” exhorted Jesus. (Matthew 5:16) Sharing what you believe with schoolmates and workmates is one way to do this. When you are known as one who has deep conviction and high moral standards, you are less likely to be a target of harassment.

Watch how you dress and groom yourself. In Bible times certain clothing identified a woman as being immoral. (Compare Proverbs 7:10.) Likewise today, provocative styles may make you popular with your peers, but they could send out the wrong message. You could find yourself attracting the wrong kind of attention from the opposite sex. A similar problem could arise if a girl wears her makeup in such a way as to make herself look older than she really is. The Bible’s advice is that you ‘adorn yourself in well-​arranged dress, with modesty and soundness of mind.’​—1 Timothy 2:9.

Choose your associates carefully. (Proverbs 13:20) After all, people will judge you by your associates. And if your friends are known to spend a lot of time talking about the opposite sex, people could get the wrong impression of you.​—Compare Genesis 34:1, 2.

Avoid flirting. It is true that there is nothing wrong with being friendly, yet staring and touching can easily be misconstrued by the opposite sex. It is not necessary to touch someone in order to carry on a conversation. Practice the Golden Rule and treat the opposite sex as you want to be treated​—chastely and with respect. (Matthew 7:12) Avoid trying to attract the attention of the opposite sex just for the fun of it. Doing so can be not only unkind and misleading but dangerous. “Can a man rake together fire into his bosom and yet his very garments not be burned?” asks the Bible at Proverbs 6:27.

If You Are Victimized

Of course, even if some changes in your dress, grooming, or conduct are in order, others do not have the right to put their hands on you or make lewd suggestions to you. And even some youths who have been exemplary in appearance and behavior have been victimized. What should you do if this happens to you? Here are some suggestions.

Refuse firmly. It is no secret that some people will say no to sexual advances when they really mean yes. Aggressors may therefore assume that a halfhearted no really means yes​—or at least maybe—​until you convince them otherwise. Jesus’ advice to let your no mean no is quite practical in this matter. (Matthew 5:37) Do not giggle or act coy. Nor should you allow your body language, voice, or facial expression to contradict your words.

Make a scene. Sexual predators often depend on the unwillingness of their victims to resist. In Bible times, though, Israelite women were given the right, indeed the obligation, to resist sexual assault. (Deuteronomy 22:23, 24) Similarly today, a Christian should not feel that being inappropriately touched or fondled is no big deal. It is wrong, an assault on your dignity as a person and as a Christian. You do not have to take it! “Abhor what is wicked” exhorts the Bible!​—Romans 12:9.

One effective way to halt the misbehavior is to make a scene and embarrass your harasser; perhaps he will stop. Recall the experience of Anita, who was mentioned at the outset. Politely asking her assailant to stop touching her did not work. Anita tells us: “I had to embarrass him in front of his friends by loudly telling him NOT to touch me that way!” The result? “All his friends laughed at him. He was very cold for a while, but a few days later, he apologized for his behavior and later even defended me when someone else tried to bother me.”

If words do not work, you may simply have to walk​—or even run—​away from the assault. And if escape is not possible, you have the right to use any means necessary to fend off molestation. One Christian girl bluntly put it this way: “When a boy tried to grab me, I punched him just as hard as I could, and I ran!” Of course, this does not mean that the harasser will not try again. So you will likely need to get some help.

Tell someone. “That’s what I finally had to do,” admits 16-​year-​old Adrienne. “I asked my parents for advice on the situation when a boy I thought of as a good friend just wouldn’t leave me alone. The more I protested, the more persistent he became, almost as if it were a game.” Adrienne’s parents had practical advice that helped her cope better with the problem.

Your parents can also help you to deal with any emotional fallout that may result from the victimization, such as embarrassment, fear, or shame. They can assure you that the assault was not your fault. They may also take steps to help protect you in the future.

For example, they may decide it is advantageous to inform your teacher or school officials of the problem. Many schools in the United States take complaints quite seriously and have well-​defined policies for handling sexual harassment among students.

True, not all school officials are sympathetic. “In my school,” says 14-​year-​old Earlisha, “sometimes the teachers cuss and act worse than the kids. You don’t know where to turn for help.” Not surprisingly, then, when she reported being harassed, she was accused of being hypersensitive. Earlisha did not give up, though. She got together with six other girls who had been pinched and fondled by the same boy. “It took six of us to convince the principal that there was a real problem,” she says. Finally, she was able to get the misbehavior stopped.

Turn to God for support. If being in school sometimes feels like being trapped in a lions’ den, remember that Jehovah God protected the prophet Daniel in a literal lions’ den. (Daniel 6:16-22) Jehovah can help you too. He understands the pressures you face at school. And if the going gets rough, you can call upon him for help​—out loud if necessary! Do not be afraid or embarrassed to be known as a servant of the true God. The Bible promises Jehovah’s faithful servants: “He is guarding the souls of his loyal ones; out of the hand of the wicked ones he delivers them.”​—Psalm 97:10.

This does not guarantee miraculous deliverance. You must do what you can to protect yourself. Follow Bible principles. Be modest in your speech and appearance. Exercise caution in dealing with the opposite sex. By doing so, you can do much to protect yourself from harassment.

[Picture on page 18]

Do not be halfhearted when turning down improper advances; let your no mean no!

Discipline Has Been My Salvation

WHEN I was four years old, my parents enrolled me in a calisthenics class. It required practice, and I had to work in unison with other girls. Shortly afterward, I began training to be a dancer. Discipline became part of my life.

My parents were real disciplinarians and expected their children to be mannerly, well-​behaved, and respectful. I thought them unfair at times, but now as I look back​—having raised three children of my own—​I understand the value of discipline. Indeed, I thank my parents for caring so much.

My early training in self-​discipline, as well as in working as part of a team, assisted me later in life.

Meeting Challenges

At the age of eight, I contracted rheumatic fever, an illness that confined me to bed. I suffered severe pain in both knees, and I was not allowed to walk for 12 months. My loving family carried me everywhere. Nobody thought I would be able to dance again. But mainly because of the care I received from my parents, along with the skill and patience of our family doctor, I recovered fully and returned to my dancing more determined than ever to be the best.

My parents allowed me to leave regular school at the age of 16 so that I could pursue my career as a dancer. I did this with zeal and enthusiasm. In time, I began training in classical ballet. This demanded more self-​discipline than ever. For three and a half years, I studied and trained six days a week.

When I was 19, auditions for the Australian Ballet School were held. Competition for acceptance in this prestigious school was fierce. Only a few were to be selected from all of Australia. To my delight I was one of those selected. Thus, I began 18 months of intense training. The school included classes in ballet, mime, drama, and art. Ballet is a graceful dance form, but it requires real strength to make it appear effortless. So to strengthen our legs, we did programmed workouts in a gymnasium.

Finally, in June 1970, auditions for the Australian Ballet Company were held. Again I was selected, and within a week I had joined the company.

Life in a Different World

Almost before I knew what was happening, I was away from home for the first time in my life and thrust into a very different environment. Our company toured Australia, and then we went to Asia. It was like living in another world with its own rules and standards. There were long strenuous days and nights of work, along with sore, bleeding, blistered feet. But the performances made the hard work worthwhile. It was wonderful out there on stage.

After we returned to Australia, an epidemic of the flu swept through the company, putting many of us out of action. I was unable to dance for three months. Upon returning to the ballet company, I began to have trouble dealing with the life of a dancer​—always striving for perfection and restricting any sort of social activity outside of ballet, since both time and tiredness prevented a social life. After all my years of training, was this to be the end of my career?

I began to have crazy, mixed-​up feelings. I became deeply introverted and isolated myself. Finally, about a year later, I became ill with a severe allergic disorder called urticaria. As a result, my whole body broke out in swollen, itchy, red lumps that joined together until I was one big, red blob. This was the last straw​—I resigned from the Australian Ballet Company. Many months passed before I recovered. Again my parents nursed me back to health.

Marriage and a Family

In 1974, I met a fine young man. He was an actor who owned his own business. We married and traveled throughout Europe. After we returned to Australia, our first child, Justin, was born in 1976. Later, we moved to Perth, the capital of Western Australia, and purchased a hotel. What a change in life-​style this meant!

The work load was enormous, since we were trying to run the hotel ourselves. I rose at four in the morning and at times did not finish work until the following morning. To add to the pressure, there were strong demonic influences in the hotel. This slowly affected our lives, especially the life of my dear husband. So after three years, because of marital and money problems, we decided to sell the hotel and salvage what we could of our marriage.

Our family had increased to five with the births of our two daughters, Bianca and Victoria. The hotel didn’t sell quickly, and it was during this time that I started to look to God for help. I remembered the Our Father prayer that I had memorized as a child. It was constantly on my mind, and I was always saying it.

Finally, the hotel sold. However, my husband died of an aneurysm just three weeks before we were to leave Perth for Melbourne. He was only 32. My sorrow was overwhelming, and it was not lessened when a Catholic priest in Melbourne told me that because of the trouble my husband had had with the demons, their bad influence was no doubt with me also. So he proceeded to sprinkle “holy” water all over me and the children and in every room of my mother’s home, where we were staying.

Questions Still Unanswered

Several years passed, and I continued to ask questions about God, but I did not receive any satisfying answers from my Catholic religion. I then made the decision to move our family from Melbourne to the warmer climate of Queensland. There, in Brisbane, we became very involved in church activities. The children attended Catholic schools, and we all went to church regularly, fasted, said the Rosary, and did everything that I thought God required of us.

Since I had not received answers to my questions, I decided to read a portion of the Bible privately every day to see if I could find answers for myself. Eventually I read Matthew 7:7, which amazed me. It simply said to keep asking and to keep seeking. ‘This was easy,’ I thought. So I did just that. I kept on asking God for help to get answers to my questions.

Answers Finally Provided

In retrospect, I can see that it was no accident that Jehovah’s Witnesses called at my door not long after that. What they said sounded wonderful. Even though I listened with interest, I failed to recognize that this was what I had been searching for. So after a few visits, I told the women who called on me not to bother coming back again.

I was very busy at that time early in 1987. My home was in the final stages of renovation, and a good painter was needed to finish everything off. The builder recommended a friendly, respectful, and helpful young housepainter named Peter. Peter spoke lovingly about his wife and children, and he had a fresh, clean appearance. I wanted to have that same look, so I asked him one morning while he was balancing on a plank: “Where do you go to church?”

Upon learning that he was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, I badgered him with questions from the time he arrived for work in the morning until he left exhausted in the afternoon. And he was able to answer them all. I began studying day and night, and the Bible started to come alive. Overjoyed, I agreed to a home Bible study for the whole family. It was the most exhilarating time of our lives because of the joy of knowing we had found the truth.

We cleaned out all the rubbish​—the things in our minds and possessions relating to idolatry. Bagfuls were removed from our house and sent to the rubbish dump. It was not too long before my children were politely asked to leave the Catholic schools. Their witnessing about Jehovah was not appreciated.

United in True Worship

The four of us are now baptized Witnesses. Justin and Bianca have finished school and are serving in the full-​time ministry as pioneers. Victoria is 16 and is still in school. And I am in my sixth year as a pioneer.

We spent six years in a Brisbane congregation, where I assisted two dear elderly women, who soon dedicated their lives to Jehovah God. In 1994 we moved to an area where the need for Kingdom preachers was greater. Now we are serving in a small country town named Charleville in southwest Queensland. Our preaching territory covers a huge area, about as large as Australia’s island-​state of Tasmania!

Thinking back to my childhood and my training, I have come to realize how much I benefited from discipline. It has helped me to apply Bible principles and make necessary changes in life. Indeed, to be disciplined now by Jehovah brings sheer joy and the hope of endless blessings for myself and my beloved family.​—Proverbs 6:23; 15:33.​—As told by Sue Burke.

[Picture on page 21]

With my three children

Japan’s Sudden Disaster​—How People Coped

BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN JAPAN

ONE minute Kobe, Japan, was a thriving port city of 1,500,000. But in 20 seconds, an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale reduced much of it to ruins. Tens of thousands of houses and buildings were destroyed or damaged, and over 300,000 people were left homeless.

Disaster struck January 17, 1995, exactly one year to the day after an earthquake badly damaged Northridge, California, U.S.A., and killed 61 people. The Kobe quake released about twice as much seismic energy as that one did. The death toll of more than 5,500 made it the deadliest quake in Japan since 1923, when some 143,000 were killed in the great quake that devastated Tokyo and Yokohama.

A Moment of Horror

At 5:46 on that fateful morning, Ryuji was delivering newspapers in the center of Kobe City. It was still dark. Suddenly there was a sound like a train going over an elevated railway. The road and buildings rolled just like waves of the sea. Then all the lights went off.

Elevated highways toppled, dumping vehicles onto the roads below. Railway tracks were bent like clay sticks, and trains derailed. Old wooden buildings collapsed, and two-​story apartments suddenly looked like single-​story buildings. Most residents of Kobe were jarred from their sleep.

Fires immediately broke out, and whole blocks burned. Firefighters watched helplessly, since the quake had cut off water supplies. In a moment, the myth of earthquake-​proof construction had been shattered.

Narrow Escapes and Tragedies

In the area directly affected by the quake, there were 3,765 of Jehovah’s Witnesses associated with 76 congregations. By the morning following the quake, it was established that 13 Witnesses and 2 unbaptized associates had been killed. (Ecclesiastes 9:11) At that time the death toll released by the police was 1,812, but within a week it rose to over 5,000. Since the Witnesses had quickly located those associated with their congregations, their death toll remained the same.

Misao’s husband had left early for work. “About an hour later, the house shook,” said Misao. “Roofing tiles fell around me. The large center tile of the roof hit the pillow where my husband’s head had rested just an hour before.” A chest of drawers and a bookcase fell against each other just over Misao. This saved her from being buried under the roofing tiles.

A mewing cat woke Hiromasa, a 16-​year-​old schoolboy. As he let the cat out, the quake hit. When he returned he found his mother under the television set and bookcase. How relieved he was to find her alive! Hiromasa borrowed a flashlight from a neighbor and freed his mother. Thousands have stories of narrow escapes. But other Witnesses suffered painful tragedies.

Hiroshi and Kazu Kaneko were buried under the rubble of their apartment. Members of the Christian congregation rushed to the site to help them. It was not until 10:00 a.m. that Hiroshi was freed and taken to the hospital. But Kazu was dead when she was later pulled out.

Miyoko Teshima, 24 years of age and baptized only about two years, had the goal of the full-​time ministry. On the morning of the quake, she was sleeping on the first floor of her apartment building when its second floor collapsed. Miyoko was buried under the rafters and beams. Her parents and neighbors tried to remove the rubble but could not. Her mother, who is a Bible student, contacted Jehovah’s Witnesses, who came to help.

When Miyoko was pulled free after about seven hours, she was still alive. Three Christian elders took turns with the doctor and a nurse in giving heart massage, but Miyoko died. Her father, who had opposed her faith, was moved by the efforts of the Witnesses to save his daughter, and he consented to her earlier request to have a Witness funeral.

Takao Jinguji, a Christian elder, lived on the first floor of an old apartment building with his wife and their daughter. “When the quake hit,” he said, “the floor above crumbled on us, and I was trapped beneath a bookshelf. Eventually, I was able to pull myself clear of it and began trying to get out. Suddenly I heard a voice. It was a Witness neighbor, who had come searching for us.”

When Takao finally made his way outside, he saw fire from surrounding buildings spreading to his apartment. So he crawled back into the rubble and tried desperately to pull his wife out. But it was too late. Eiko , his wife of 26 years, and his daughter Naomi were killed. In spite of this, he began helping other members of his congregation. “There was nothing else I could do for my family,” he said later, “so I turned my attention to helping others. I was relieved to find that everyone else in our congregation was safe.”

A Desperate Situation

Thousands took refuge in schools and public buildings. Fearing aftershocks, others camped outside or slept in their cars. Railways and highways were torn to pieces, and the roads available for transporting relief supplies were clogged with thousands of vehicles. For days many had little or nothing to eat. But remarkably, there were no reports of looting, and many shared what little food they had.

“This is like after the Second World War,” said an elderly man wrapped in a blanket, with tears running down his cheeks. The Japanese prime minister, Tomiichi Murayama, surveyed the damage and reported: “I have seen nothing like it. This is far beyond anybody’s imagination.”

Witnesses Immediately Respond

When Keiji Koshiro, a Christian elder, visited downtown Kobe the morning of the quake and saw the terrible devastation, he returned home and organized the local congregation to cook food for fellow Christians who had been more seriously affected. By evening, he was delivering food and drink by car to congregations in the center of Kobe. The following morning, more food and water was provided. Because traffic jams were encountered, the Witnesses organized a convoy of 16 motorcycles to deliver the relief supplies.

Many others also immediately took the initiative to search out and help their Christian brothers. Tomoyuki Tsuboi and another elder set out on motorcycles for Ashiya, a city next to Kobe that was also severely damaged. At the Kingdom Hall in downtown Ashiya, they found that the traveling overseer, Yoshinobu Kumada, had already set up a relief center there.

A telephone contact was made to alert brothers of the need, and soon supplies were being gathered. Nine cars carrying blankets, food, and water were soon heading toward Ashiya. These supplies were delivered to two Kingdom Halls in the city, where between 40 and 50 persons had taken refuge. Others found shelter in homes of fellow believers. The following day Witnesses in a nearby area prepared meals for 800. The food provided for those in need was abundant, so the Witnesses shared it with neighbors who were in need.

Throughout the area affected by the quake, Jehovah’s Witnesses immediately came to the aid of their fellow believers. This impressed many observers. A week after the quake, a helicopter pilot approached a Witness in Yokohama and said: “I went to the disaster area on the day of the quake and spent a week there. Jehovah’s Witnesses were the only ones that rushed to the site. I was deeply impressed.”

Relief Program Established

The branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses, located in Ebina, Japan, soon sent four representatives to the Kobe area to organize the relief work. “We immediately agreed to find Kingdom Halls that were not destroyed and to send relief supplies to them,” one representative reported. “Six halls were located, and within five hours these were filled to capacity. Other supplies were sent to two large Assembly Halls of Jehovah’s Witnesses nearby.”

A bank account for the relief fund was opened, and congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout Japan were informed. Within the first three business days, a million dollars was donated. The money was quickly distributed for the use of those in need.

Congregations were told they could pick up needed supplies at the designated relief centers. The elders in each congregation arranged for the distribution of supplies to the needy members of their respective congregations. Unbelieving family members of the Witnesses were not ignored. The father of a Christian elder in the affected area​—who previously had been unfavorable to Jehovah’s Witnesses—​was heard bragging over the phone to a relative: “People from my son’s religion come and help us!”

More Than Material Assistance

Immediately, Christian meetings were organized. One congregation gathered at a park for their meeting on Tuesday, the day of the quake. By Sunday most congregations in the affected area held their regular Watchtower Study, either in small groups or in Kingdom Halls that had been spared severe damage. Appropriately, the December 1, 1994, Watchtower, which was studied that week, discussed the privilege of using resources “to help victims of natural disasters.” A woman at the meeting commented: “For the first time, we are at the receiving end of relief work. I am filled with gratitude that I can’t express in words. Once we are back to normal, I will do my part at the giving end.”

Representatives from the branch office used motorcycles to visit the areas hardest hit. “It was touching to see the brothers in tears,” one of them reported. “They would tell us, ‘We are not crying because we have lost everything but because our hearts are touched by you brothers who came to visit us all the way from Ebina.’”

Within 24 hours of the quake, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A., as well as branch offices in other parts of the world, sent messages expressing concern. Many more such messages were received in the days that followed. A fax from the Wŏnju West Congregation, Republic of Korea, which had lost 15 members in a firebombing two years earlier, was especially moving.a It concluded: “The pains of our brothers in Kobe are our pains and sorrows. Please remember, just as we have experienced, you are not alone when you are in distress. Dear brothers, do not give up!”

The branch representatives made arrangements for continued spiritual support. For example, additional traveling overseers were temporarily assigned to the Kobe area to provide encouragement. And Christian elders from other parts of Japan were also invited to visit Kobe for a week or so at a time to provide spiritual and emotional support to those who were suffering.

With such care and encouragement from fellow believers worldwide, the Witnesses in the affected area maintained a positive and appreciative attitude. After attending the first meeting following the quake, one Witness said: “We were a bit anxious until yesterday, since we did not have anywhere to go. But coming here and hearing the kind arrangements that have been made for our benefit, including laundry service, provisions for taking baths, and the use of the Assembly Halls as temporary residences, has really relieved us of our anxieties. This truly is God’s organization!”

Indeed, putting emphasis on spiritual riches has helped the Witnesses to cope. A woman in her early 20’s said: “My mother taught me from the time I was three to put my trust in Jehovah. Her training and that received through the Christian congregation has helped me to bear this distressing experience.”

Organized to Rebuild

About 350 houses of the Witnesses were severely damaged or destroyed; a hundred of these were privately owned. More than 630 additional houses of the Witnesses required minor repairs. Also, ten Kingdom Halls were so badly damaged that they were unusable.

Quickly, arrangements were made to reconstruct Kingdom Halls for the congregations that had lost theirs. And the 11 Regional Building Committees in Japan each organized a team of 21 persons to repair the damaged houses of Witnesses.

A Sign of the Times

Earthquakes are occurring with greater frequency. “Last year alone,” noted Maclean’s magazine, “there were several quakes [in Japan] bigger than the one in Kobe.” One was a major quake with a magnitude of 8.1, but it struck a sparsely populated area in the north.

Such an increase in earthquakes does not surprise Jehovah’s Witnesses. Why, right after the quake shook his house in Kobe, five-​year-​old Atsushi marched around saying: “There will be earthquakes in one place after another”! (Mark 13:8) He had learned this prophecy from his mother. Jesus Christ included earthquakes as part of “the sign of [his] presence and of the conclusion of the system of things.” Other parts of that sign include wars, food shortages, pestilences, and the cooling off of the love of the greater number.​—Matthew 24:3-14; 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

The Kobe quake is only further evidence that we are living in the last days of this world. Happily, it is part of Jesus’ sign now undergoing fulfillment that proves that soon this world will be replaced by a righteous new one.​—1 John 2:17.

[Footnotes]

[Pictures on page 23]

Takao Jinguji lost his family in these ruins

[Picture on page 24]

Destroyed railway station

[Pictures on page 24, 25]

Collapsed overpass

[Pictures on page 26]

Witnesses quickly set up a relief program for victims

Watching the World

“Global Urgency”

At the Summit on AIDS held in Paris on the seventh annual World AIDS Day, the UN secretary-​general, Boutros Boutros-​Ghali, asked the heads of state and the health ministers from 42 countries and 5 continents “to declare a state of global urgency” in view of the alarming progression of the AIDS pandemic. Between July 1993 and July 1994, despite worldwide efforts to check the spread of AIDS, the total number of AIDS cases in the world increased by 60 percent, reaching some four million. In a grim report, the World Health Organization warned that at the present rate of growth, the AIDS pandemic is indeed “threatening the future of entire societies,” and it predicted that as early as the year 2000, between 30 million and 40 million persons will have been infected by the deadly AIDS-​causing HIV virus.

“The Worst Drug”

A recent headline in the Brazilian newspaper Jornal do Brasil labeled cigarettes “the worst drug.” According to the director of Brazil’s National Cancer Institute, Dr. Marcos Moraes, the tobacco industry is targeting young people. He explained that the “earlier a youth begins smoking, the longer he will continue to smoke. And the longer he is exposed to smoking, the greater the health risks.” Dr. Moraes notes that among the 30 million smokers in Brazil, “2.4 million are children and adolescents.” He adds that “cigarettes kill more [people] than AIDS, cocaine, heroin, alcohol, fires, car accidents and suicides put together.”

More Violence Against Women

“Assaults on women by their husbands or male partners are the world’s most common form of violence,” says the newspaper The Australian in an article about a UN report. The article explains that “up to a quarter of the women in the world are violently abused.” In some countries, such as Chile, the Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, and Thailand, this rate is even higher. In one country, about 80 percent of the female population are abused, stated another newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald, in discussing the same UN report. Many of the victims also endure ongoing emotional abuse. Domestic violence is very difficult to solve because it almost always occurs in the privacy of the home. Often friends, neighbors, and relatives are reluctant to report it.

Toxic Fumes

Health officials in the United States are concerned over the number of carbon monoxide (CO) poisonings. MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) states that “nationally, approximately 590 deaths occur annually from unintentional CO poisoning.” This does not include the many nonfatal cases of CO poisoning. Because the deadly gas is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, it is difficult to detect. The gas impairs the blood’s ability to carry oxygen to the cells, causing headaches, nausea, anomalies in the nervous system, coma, and death. According to MMWR, the “accumulation of CO may be associated with any combustion process occurring indoors (e.g., home heating, cooking, or a running vehicle or gasoline-​powered tool)​—particularly when ventilation is inadequate.”

Is Four-​Wheel Drive Safer?

Many believe that it is always safer to drive a four-​wheel-​drive vehicle, especially in snow and ice. However, “when it comes to stopping, four-​wheel-​drive vehicles have no advantage over two-​wheel-​drive vehicles,” reports The Wall Street Journal. According to insurance officials, some of the most popular models actually have “worse than average injury and collision insurance claims.” Evidently, many drivers become overconfident and take unnecessary risks when driving vehicles with four-​wheel drive. Marc Schoen, a researcher at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, noted that “through movies and TV, people have come to associate four-​wheel drives with a sense of independence and freedom.” This sense of power and invincibility can interfere with sound judgment, which is ultimately the best policy for safe driving.

Toys That Inspire Violence

A TV program about teenagers who transform, as by magic, into martial-​arts warriors has become the craze among children in the United States. The TV characters are known as the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. School authorities are concerned over what seems to be obsessive behavior displayed by small children imitating the violent acts of the Power Rangers. The Wall Street Journal reports that in a recent study, 96 percent “of teachers polled say they have witnessed a Morphin-​inspired act of aggression.” In some cases the children are as young as three years of age. “Small children may suddenly turn into frenzied, brawling boxers,” says the Journal. The popularity of the program is reflected in the expected $300 million to be generated in one year by the sales of Power Ranger toys.

New Device Warns of Heart-​Attack Risk

Scientists in Victoria, Australia, have developed a new device that when placed against the skin over a key artery in the neck predicts the risk of heart disease. Without invasive surgery, it measures blood velocity and variations in blood pressure after each heartbeat. A computer can then be used to calculate “the elasticity of the patient’s entire cardiovascular system,” says the report in the newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald. The tool promises to be more accurate than conventional methods of determining a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease. While high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure are strong indicators of risk, “many people in these categories never have a heart attack,” says the report, adding that “with the use of this test, [they] would be spared from taking expensive cholesterol-​lowering drugs or following strict diets they do not need.”

“Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables”

For decades scientists have recommended the intake of carotenoids as food supplements. Beta-​carotene is a well-​known carotenoid, and it has been associated with the prevention of heart attacks, strokes, and certain cancers. However, new studies question the benefits of beta-​carotene supplements. According to The New York Times, food scientist Dr. Paul LaChance “cautioned against taking supplements of individual carotenoids.” He explained that “in nature we get a mix of carotenoids, and we don’t yet know how important it is to get this mix.” Another researcher, Dr. Regina Ziegler, recommends that “until we identify the protective entities in fruits and vegetables, we can’t encapsulate them into a pill.” The Times notes that “most experts have returned to the advice traditionally given by mothers: ‘Eat your fruits and vegetables.’”

Church Resignations

According to the Catholic newspaper Christ in der Gegenwart, 28 million persons in Germany, or one third of the population, are Catholic. In the years 1992 and 1993, a total of almost 350,000 persons resigned from the Catholic Church. Bishop Karl Lehmann, chairman of the German Bishops Conference, fears that a new federal tax, to be introduced in 1995, will lead to a more rapid increase in resignations, reports the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Church members in Germany are required to pay a church tax. Thus, it is felt that some Catholics will try to avoid the new federal tax simply by pulling out of the church.

Life in the Big City

Although London, England, is Europe’s biggest city, according to the newspaper The Independent, its seven million inhabitants are not altogether happy about living there. Of the Londoners polled, 6 out of 7 believe life in the capital has worsened over the past five years, with pollution and traffic congestion being among their major worries. When asked which people they trusted, 64 percent cited doctors, with the police and teachers inspiring less confidence. A mere 2 percent felt they could trust businessmen working in London’s financial district. About 60 percent believed that this area was “full of people who make themselves rich at other people’s expense without creating real wealth.”

From Our Readers

Listening The article “Are You an Empathetic Listener?” (December 8, 1994) was just what I needed. A friend told me several times that he doesn’t like it when I say that his problems really aren’t that bad and then proceed to give him unrequested advice. To be honest with you, I thought he had the wrong attitude. Now I see that I was wrong!

S. H., United States

I had been waiting for an article like this one, but it surpassed all my expectations. All too often, we underestimate the importance of knowing how to listen. Yet, most of us have dreamed of receiving such attention ourselves.

S. D., Italy

I am 18 years old, and I often find myself not knowing what to say in certain situations. But after reading that lovely article, I feel that I can be an empathetic listener.

J. M., Australia

It’s good to know that we don’t have to solve each problem we hear but that often listening is enough. Especially may those of us from dysfunctional families need to learn basic communication skills. Thank you for continuing to use the Bible to teach us how to live.

J. D., United States

Improved Artwork I majored in visual design in school. At the same time, I was studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. But when I would take Awake! to school, my fellow students used to complain about its design​—that the ‘color sense’ was bad and so forth. In recent months, however, the designs have been truly outstanding. I really feel proud of the magazines!

N. I., Japan

Damaged Atmosphere I just finished reading the article “When Our Atmosphere Is Damaged” and enjoyed it very much. (December 22, 1994) You certainly have a knack for selecting meaningful subjects to write about. Several times, though, you mentioned global warming but gave no proof. Careful! If the opposite should one day prove true, there would be a journalistic penalty to pay.

M. L., United States

We did not endorse the theory of global warming but merely reported the fact that a number of reputable scientists believe it is taking place. Whether the controversial theory will be verified or disproved by further research remains to be seen.​—ED.

Class Trips I was pleased to read your article “Young People Ask . . . What About Class Trips?” (October 22, 1994) Years ago my class planned a one-​week trip. After considering the matter in prayer, I decided not to go. When the class came home, I learned that several of my classmates had engaged in sexual immorality. Indeed, such trips could be a very hard test for a Christian youth.

J. S., Norway

The article really helped me because I have gone on a number of field trips. The questions you presented enable a youth to analyze the situation. Thank you for helping me put class trips into perspective.

M. R., United States

Recently I was invited to take part in a class trip to a place I’ve always wanted to see. I decided to forgo the trip, although I had already bought the ticket. Later I began to think about what I had missed. But your article arrived at the right time. After reading it, I was sure I had made the right decision.

L. S. B., Brazil

The Word’s Largest Cashew Tree

BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN BRAZIL

THE world’s largest? According to Guinness O Livro dos Recordes 1994, it may well be. Located near the coast of Rio Grande do Norte, the cashew tree here pictured is certainly the largest in Brazil. Indeed, this single tree presently covers the area of a large city block [7,300m²]​—equivalent to 70 average-​size cashew trees!

The cashew tree is an evergreen that usually ranges in size from a small shrub to a tree some 65 feet [20 m] in height. The small flowers of the cashew tree contrast vividly with its large, leathery leaves. Its edible seed is the delicious cashew nut, which appears to have been forcibly sunk into a pear-​shaped fruit called the cashew apple. Strangely enough, the cashew tree is related to poison ivy, and those who handle it must exercise care. The nut has two shells, and between these shells there is an oil that can cause blisters on the skin. Thankfully, the roasting process removes the nut’s poisonous properties.

Oddly, the kidney-​shaped nut appears to grow outside the fruit, as though its Creator forgot the nut and glued it on afterward. The apple supports the nut. Therefore, some call the nut the real fruit of the tree. In any case, just think, the next time you eat cashew nuts, you may be eating the produce of the world’s largest cashew tree!

Who Really Rules the World?

That arresting question is the title of a tract that is distributed by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Last year a woman from Mississippi, U.S.A., wrote: “When a young man asked me that question, I was undecided on my answer.” She noted: “It seemed to me that the world is hardly run as God would have it.”

Then she added: “I see from the Scriptures given in that tract that I had not fully understood before what the Bible tells us on that matter. One of our Christmas carols, ‘Joy to the World,’ says God rules the world, which, as a matter of truth, is deceptive.”

The woman concluded: “I do not usually write this sort of letter but felt you should be assured that in at least this instance, your work is appreciated.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses direct people to what the Bible says on important subjects that affect our lives. If you would like a copy of the above-​mentioned tract or desire a free home Bible study, please write to Watchtower, 25 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, NY 11201-2483, or to the appropriate address listed on page 5.