German parliament okays Berlin memorial for persecuted Jehovah’s Witnesses

Emmanuel Thomas I DPA, Friday, June 23, 2023

 

BERLIN – A memorial is to be built in Berlin for Jehovah’s Witnesses who were persecuted and murdered by the Nazi regime. A memorial is to be built in Berlin for Jehovah’s Witnesses who were persecuted and murdered by the Nazi regime.

Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, on Thursday unanimously voted for the proposal by the coalition government and the opposition Christian Democrats and Christian Social Union parties.

The memorial sculpture will be erected in Berlin’s Tiergarten park to commemorate the fate of the religious community.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Jehovah’s Witnesses were persecuted because they did not recognise the authority of the Nazi rulers, did not perform the Nazi salute and did not send their children to the Hitler Youth.

Thousands were deported, imprisoned and tortured and at least 1,700 members of the religious community lost their lives.

“They were persecuted, harassed, imprisoned and murdered because of their religion,” Germany’s Federal Commissioner for Culture Claudia Roth said.

The memorial should ensure “that they will no longer be forgotten victims of National Socialism,” she said.