Jehovah’s Witnesses Expect 75,000 at Hamburg Congress Marking 1946 Gathering and Nazi Persecution

Jehovah’s Witnesses expect several tens of thousands of visitors this weekend for an international congress at the Volkspark Stadium in Hamburg. The religious community expects a total of 75,000 participants from Friday to Sunday, including around 5,000 delegates from 25 countries, said Michael Tsifidaris, spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Northern Germany. Volunteers from the community had already cleaned the stadium on Tuesday, when preparations began.

The congress also commemorates a gathering in Hamburg 80 years ago. Tsifidaris said that in 1946, 4,000 believers from across Northern Germany met on the Moorweide in the war-devastated city. After the persecution under the Nazi regime, he said, they set a determined sign for peace and unity, a lesson in living together in harmony (Psalm 133:1).

According to the information provided, thousands of congress participants also plan to visit the Neuengamme concentration camp memorial to learn about the persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Visitors will see a partial reconstruction of a barn where imprisoned Witnesses, some of whom had been forcibly recruited, had to breed angora rabbits for wool production. Tsifidaris explained that at risk to their lives, they supplied other prisoners, who were marked by starvation, with food and held secret Bible studies. Tours will be led by Jehovah’s Witnesses’ own guides, a spokeswoman for the Hamburg Memorials and Places of Learning Foundation for the Commemoration of the Victims of Nazi Crimes said. An online tour will also be offered in cooperation with the memorial.

During the Nazi era, Jehovah’s Witnesses, then known as Bible Students, refused to give the Hitler salute or send their children to the Hitler Youth, and many refused military service. From 1933 onward, they were persecuted by the Nazis, and thousands were deported, imprisoned and tortured. At least 1,700 lost their lives. On June 24 of this year, a memorial was unveiled in Berlin to commemorate the persecution and resistance of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

A little over three years ago, a shooting shook the Hamburg congregation. On March 9, 2023, a former member of the community entered a community center in the Alsterdorf district shortly after an evening service and shot seven people, including an unborn child, and himself, according to reports. The public prosecutor’s office said eleven other people were injured. The attack caused great shock in Germany and internationally. Since early May, services have again been held in the completely renovated building.

Source: Read the original report (translated from German)