doctrine. I assure by this never again to be active for the International Bible Students Society. I promise to deliver immediately every person communicating this doctrine of error in my presence or showing a tendency as a Bible student in some other way. I shall bring all Scriptures of the Bible students handed over to me to the nearest office of police. In future times I shall respect all the laws of the state to be completely a member of the community of the people. I, too, have been taught to expect my repeated arrest, in case of violating my declaration given today.”d

Needless to add, very few witnesses signed this total abdication of association with Jehovah’s theocratic New World society. Signing such a statement would be tantamount to committing spiritual suicide.

Now for some evidence as to the preaching activities and results inside these vast concentration camps made up of thousands of political prisoners and other maladjusted ones held inimical to the Hitler government. Note the following report:

“The happenings at the Ravensbrück women’s camp show the vile practices carried out against Jehovah’s witnesses by the Catholic SS troops. In this women’s camp alone there were 50 Polish women in the truth, 15 Ukrainians, 10 Czechs, 10 Hungarians, 25 Hollanders, 2 Belgians, 500 Germans, and 300 young Russian Jonadabs that learned of the truth in the camp itself. Here nearly one thousand Christian women went through the tortures of a Catholic ‘purgatory.’ . . . Roll was called at five o’clock in the morning. . . . During the day these women were forced to do hard labor: digging foundations for buildings, constructing roads, carrying coal, handling heavy trunks and boxes in the luggage department, building barracks, and performing many other tasks too heavy for underfed, underclothed and badly-treated people. Because 495 of Jehovah’s witnesses refused to make ammunition cases, they were sentenced to eight weeks in dark arrest (meaning confinement in a cell without windows).”e

Mademoiselle Genevieve de Gaulle of France, herself a nontheocratic inmate of Ravensbrück, supplies the following testimony:

“I am very glad to be able to convey to you my testimony regarding the Bible Students whom I met in the Ravensbrück camp. Indeed, I have true admiration for them. They belonged to various nationalities: German, Polish, Russian and Czech, and have endured very great sufferings for their beliefs. The first arrests began ten years ago, and the majority of those who had been brought into the camp at that time died from the bad treatment inflicted upon them, or were executed. I knew, however, some survivors of that time and other prisoners who had arrived more recently; all of them showed very great courage and their attitude commanded eventually even the respect of the SS. They could have been immediately freed if they had renounced their faith. But, on the contrary, they did not cease resistance, even succeeding in introducing books and tracts into the camp, which writings caused several among them to be hanged.”f

Truly the faith in their God Jehovah and integrity toward him on the part of this international band of witnesses in maintaining neutrality against Hitler’s Catholic Inquisition-like regime has become world-renowned.

During all this storm of Fascist war what was happening to the witnesses in Britain? They too were zealous in following a strict course of neutrality. At the commencement of the war Jehovah’s witnesses were in the news in Britain due to the wide distribution and discussion of the White Paper (Germany No. 2) issued October 30, 1939, entitled “Treatment of German Nationals in Germany,” where the terrible experiences of Jehovah’s witnesses in Germany were officially publicized to the world. The facts presented in this White Paper were based on a report compiled by Sir Neville Henderson, British ambassador in Berlin up to the declaration of war September 3, 1939. We quote from this White Paper:

“There were 1,500 Jews and 800 Ernste Bibelforscher [International Bible Students]. . . . Each man wore a badge—Jews yellow with the star of David, Bible Students violet, etc. . . . Jewish prisoners wrote and received letters twice a month. The Bible Students were allowed no communication with the outside world, but, on the other hand, their rations were not cut down. Herr X spoke with the highest respect of these men. Their courage and religious faith were remarkable, and they professed themselves ready to suffer to the uttermost what they felt God had ordained for them. . . . The ‘Bibelforscher,’ a religious sect taking its doctrine from the Bible and having a considerable membership in every part of the country, but proscribed by the Gestapo since its members refuse military service; these unhappy people were almost as badly treated as the Jews.”g

On November 15, 1939, it became necessary for the Society’s London office to issue the following statement to all members of Parliament, religious leaders, local officials and the press:

“Jehovah’s witnesses, wherever they reside, are loyal to the laws and customs of the countries, seeking to serve God, and are of goodwill to all men. If they are judged by men as disloyal it is only when a human law is enacted which interposes a human instruction contrary to the Scriptures, or would give to a man the worship which belongs only to Almighty God. That the position of Jehovah’s witnesses in relation to present events may be clear, a pamphlet republished from The Watchtower is enclosed. At the same time this makes plain the reason for their NEUTRALITY in all cases, and why they are unable to take part in anything military. On behalf of the thousands of Jehovah’s witnesses in Britain we wish to make this position clear. As servants of the Most High God, our position is identical with that of our German brethren, namely, that of strict NEUTRALITY. Our devotion, service and loyalty are consecrated to Jehovah’s THEOCRATIC GOVERNMENT, and according to John 17:16, ‘They are not of the world, even as I am not of the World.’”h

The statement also made reference to the British government White Paper’s recognition that the German witnesses were persecuted, too, for failure to take up military service.

(To be continued)

Blood Substitutes

Nature’s Own Blood Substitute?

What may well turn out to be the most remarkable of all blood substitutes is coconut water. The Chicago Daily News, March 26, 1954, in reporting on “How Coconut Water Substitutes for Blood,” said the following:

“A researcher reported Friday that water drawn from an ordinary coconut has been used as a blood substitute and body fluid replacement in humans. Dr. Ben Eiseman of Denver said the substance may be a cheap source of suitable fluid under emergency military conditions or where pure water solutions are unavailable. Writing in the Archives of Surgery, published by the American Medical Association, he said 21 persons have received a total of 26 intravenous infusions of coconut water without any serious reactions. The preliminary studies were carried out in Bangkok, Thailand, and in St. Louis. The water was obtained by withdrawing the fluid through a tube inserted in the eye of an unripened coconut. This water was then filtered to drain off any particles of coconut meat.

“Tests showed the water was free from contamination and that its main ingredients were potassium, chloride, phosphate, sugars, magnesium, calcium and proteins. Dr. Eiseman said that while the present study was too limited to make definite conclusions, further study is warranted.”

Lemon Pectin, a Blood Substitute

During World War II, a whitish, grainy powder was found in the emergency kits of German war prisoners who stated that they had been instructed to sprinkle it onto wounds to form a clot quickly. It turned out to be pectin made from lemons. American doctors began to experiment with it and a number of recoveries were attributed to it. Only because of the extensive use of blood plasma, now rejected by many governments because of its carrying the hepatitis virus, was lemon pectin discarded.