United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW, Washington D.C. 20024-2126.

Bühnenprobe mit Dr. William Meinecke (links) und Zeitzeuge Franz Wohlfahrt im leeren Auditorium am 4. Oktober 2006.

Musikhistoriker Bret Werb kurz vor Beginn seines Programmpunkts am 5. Oktober 2006 im USHMM.

Während des Programms: Bret Werb interviewt Johannes Stephan Wrobel zu dem KZ-Lied von Erich Frost, das 1942 in Sachsenhausen entstand (Video mit Interview, siehe zweiten Teil der Aufnahme). Resources: USHMM-website).

HONOR AND REMEMBER JEHOVAH'S WITNESS VICTIMS OF THE NAZI ERA
PUBLIC PROGRAM
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM.ORG)
100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW, Washington D.C. 20024-2126

EVENT INFORMATION

DATE October 5, 2006
10:00 AM to 5:30 PM
PLACE N/A

HONOR AND REMEMBER JEHOVAH'S WITNESS VICTIMS OF THE NAZI ERA
The Holocaust was the systematic state-sponsored murder of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II. In Nazi Germany during the years 1933- 1945, Jehovah’s Witnesses faced intense harassment, imprisonment, and death for the sake of their faith. Their insistent dedication only to God and their firm refusal to abandon their beliefs made Jehovah’s Witnesses dangerous in the eyes of a regime that tolerated no rivals for the allegiance of the German people. The courage the vast majority of Jehovah’s Witnesses displayed in holding to their beliefs, despite Nazi persecution, won them the respect of many contemporaries.

AGENDA SCHEDULE

10:30 AM - 11: 15 AM
Lecture Presentation on history of Jehovah’s Witness Victims during the Holocaust. Museum historian William Meinecke will discuss the history between the years of 1933-1945 in Nazi Occupied Europe.

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
First Person with Magdalena Kusserow Reuter. A conversation with Ms. Kusserow, whose family was persecuted by the Nazis for their principles and beliefs as Jehovah’s Witness, and who was imprisoned in the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp in Germany.

1:30 PM-2:15 PM
Lecture Presentation on art and artifacts of Jehovah’s Witness Victims during the Holocaust. Curator Suzy Snyder will discuss the artifacts, documents, and photos in the Museum’s collections related to the Holocaust history of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

2:30 PM – 3:30 PM
First Person with Franz Wolfhart. A conversation with Mr. Wolfhart, who was sent to the German concentration camp Rollwald Ragnau 2 and survived by working in a commandant’s house as an artist.

3:45 PM - 4:30 PM
Lecture Presentation on Jehovah’s Witness Holocaust history on the USHMM website, including the history of “Stand Fast,” a song written by Witness Erich Frost while imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in 1942. (Interview with Johannes S. Wrobel, archivist and historian of the History Archive of Jehovah's Witnesses at Selters/Taunus, Germany.) Musicologist Bret Werb and Outreach Technology Specialist David Klevan will present.

Display of Jehovah’s Witness related artifacts 10 – 5:30 p.m.

Rotating Excerpts of Jehovah’s Witness Oral History Recordings 10 – 5:30 p.m.

Rotating Film related to Jehovah’s Witness Holocaust History 10:30 - 4:30

Survivor's Registry set-up for new entries and Collections Processing –10 – 5:30

On October 5th, the Museum offered a full day of programs and small artifact display about Jehovah’s Witness Victims of the Nazi era.

USHMM website: https://www.ushmm.org/collections/bibliography/jehovahs-witnesses