The events that took place during the Holocaust led to many different controversies. One of these controversies that have been brought up is whether or not the Jehovah's Witnesses was at fault for their own persecution. Concluding from all the information present, one can conclude that the Witnesses did not cause their own persecution. .
Hitler and his Nazi party saw the Witnesses as a threat to their regime. At one point her called them a "brood to be exterminated" (Awake 15). They were put in camps for security reasons which evolved from their American and International ties and their unwillingness to participate in the Nazi activities. The Witnesses refused to take part because they were peaceful people who maintained neutral in the matters of politics and race and it violated all their beliefs. They did not offer any resistance to the Nazis nor offer any reason to be incarcerated.
The Witnesses were given a chance to obtain release or avoid imprisonment altogether by signing a document that states they are no longer active on behalf of the organization. However, most refused to sign it. Was it possible that they could have signed the papers and secretly went back to holding meetings and their preaching work? Sure, one could have tried, but in reality the Nazis would have found some way around it. The truth is that the Witnesses shouldn't have been bothered with in the first place. .
Another example that shows how they are peaceful people was while they were in camps; Witnesses were viewed highly compared to the other inmates for their order, cleanliness, and discipline. In addition, they did not cooperate with illegal political groups nor tried to escape and offer resistance to the guards. Their actions prove what serene people they are. Even the soldiers within the camps used them for their own purposes. .
Since they were willing to die because their love for god was so strong, contrary to popular belief, they did not, after all, cost their own lives.