• Austria
    1989 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • One day Johann Viereckl wanted to visit Peter Gölles, who was then responsible for oversight of the preaching work in Austria. Instead of going directly to Brother Gölles’ store, Brother Viereckl stopped at a house next door to make inquiry of a businesswoman who had appeared to be interested in the truth and who knew Brother Gölles. He asked how Peter Gölles was and whether he had been arrested. However, she would give no information. Instead, she told him to go across the street to a florist. There, she said, he could get the information requested.

      That roused Brother Viereckl’s suspicions, so he returned home instead. Soon afterward he learned that the Gestapo had been waiting at the florist to intercept and arrest anyone who wanted to see Brother Gölles. Before long, the store was closed, for Brother Gölles and his wife were taken into custody on June 12, 1940.

      An Unusual Court Trial

      Brother Gölles was charged with directing the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Austria. After months of confinement, he was brought before a judge who was notorious for handing down death sentences and who angrily called the Bible Students an abscess on the German people. The public prosecutor called for the death sentence. After Brother Gölles had answered the accusations Biblically and his defense counsel had delivered his speech, court was adjourned. Before the trial was resumed, things took an amazing turn.

      Early in the morning Brother Gölles heard the key in his cell door turn. A prison warden motioned him to come along and took him to a barred room. Who was waiting there for him? The judge, alone.

      “I want to point out to you,” the judge began, “that I violate gravely my oath of office by speaking to an accused privately, but I do this because I could not find any rest or sleep since the trial. I would regard myself a murderer if I would pronounce the death sentence for you.”

      There was total silence in the room. It was Brother Gölles who eventually spoke. “Satan is the one who brings on such circumstances,” he said. “He is the actual murderer. And you, you are just the man who pronounces a sentence on the basis of the facts of the court case.” The atmosphere of tension eased.

      “I will try to maneuver the proceedings in such a way that you will not lose your life,” the judge promised. He then added something that could have resulted in serious consequences for himself: “I really do not want to appear as plaintiff for the State, but, rather, I want to help you to escape from the jaws of death.” Then the judge put one hand on the shoulder of our brother, and with the other one he clasped the brother’s hand.

      The trial took a more unbiased course following its resumption, the judge trembling all the time. The court did not accept the prosecution’s motion for a death sentence but, instead, sentenced Peter Gölles to ten years of penitentiary confinement, barring any mitigation. He spent the following three and a half years in solitary confinement in the penitentiary of Stein, Lower Austria.

      A Humble Servant

      The public authorities recognized what an important part in the underground work was played by Peter Gölles, this simple man who was fully devoted to Jehovah. Protocols preserved among Gestapo records make that clear. From their description one might imagine a strong, dynamic leader. But nothing of the kind! He was a modest man who never wanted to be in the limelight. After the end of the Nazi regime in 1945, he shared in rebuilding the organization in Austria and later went into the background again. For some years he helped to get parcels of literature ready for shipment at the Vienna Bethel. With his kind and friendly disposition, he and his untiring wife, Helene, who stood by his side all the time, were a source of encouragement to the brothers, not only under persecution but also later in postwar times.

      He served faithfully until his death on September 2, 1975. He did not profess to belong to the remnant of Christ’s joint heirs, but he showed deep appreciation for “the faithful and discreet slave” and cooperated with it to care for the work in Austria during very difficult times.​—Matt. 24:45.