ClaimAuthority and accountabilityverified1930sExplicit statement

Authority and accountability · Claim record

On 25 June 1933 more than 7,000 of Jehovah's Witnesses met in Berlin and adopted a resolution entitled “Declaration of Facts”, which the Society then printed and sent to senior officials of the German government and distributed to the public.

Claim ID claim-authority-de33-berlin-conventionConcerns 25 June 1933Explicit statement

La afirmación y sus pruebas

Explicit statement · 25 June 1933 Verified

On 25 June 1933 more than 7,000 of Jehovah's Witnesses met in Berlin and adopted a resolution entitled “Declaration of Facts”, which the Society then printed and sent to senior officials of the German government and distributed to the public. Source: Year Book of Jehovah's Witnesses, 1934Source: Year Book of Jehovah's Witnesses, 1934Source: Year Book of Jehovah's Witnesses, 1974Source: Awake!, 8 July 1998

Show the evidence (4 sources)
Primary JW publication Verified

Year Book of Jehovah's Witnesses, “Germany”

1934 · p.131 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“This company of German people, who are peaceable and law-abiding citizens representing many others from every part of Germany, all of whom are earnestly laboring for the highest welfare of the people of this land, being now duly assembled at Berlin this 25th day of June, A D. 1933, do joyfully declare our complete devotion to Jehovah, the Almighty God, and to his kingdom under Christ Jesus, whose shed blood bought the human race.”

The opening words of the resolution, printed under the centred heading “Declaration of Facts”. The narrative immediately above it states that the president of the Society visited Germany in June 1933 to try to recover the Society's seized property, that “a Declaration of Facts was prepared”, and that on 25 June 1933 more than 7,000 of Jehovah's Witnesses assembled at Berlin and adopted it.

Provenance and verification note for Year Book of Jehovah's Witnesses, Germany

Confidence note. Read on the page image of p. 131 (leaf 127) of the 1934 Year Book scan on 19 September 2026, whose own running head reads “Year Book 131”, and confirmed word for word. The printed date is set as “A D. 1933”, without a point after the A, and is given here as printed. Printed pages were fixed from the running head of each page image, not from the item’s page-number file alone; the Declaration occupies pp. 131-143, ending on p. 131 of leaf 127 and closing on p. 143 of leaf 139.

Scan provenance. Scan of the 1934 Year Book of Jehovah’s Witnesses held by the Internet Archive as item “1934-JwYearbook”. The item was uploaded to the Internet Archive in January 2012 by a private account; its “creator” field reads “watchtower”, but the upload is not by the publisher and the Internet Archive is not the publisher. The scanned title page names the corporate publishers as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, Peoples Pulpit Association and International Bible Students Association, Brooklyn, New York, and carries the notice “Copyright 1933”. The volume is the Year Book for 1934: it carries the branch reports for the 1933 service year, and it is dated here by its edition year, the form in which the organisation’s own publications cite it (“1934 Yearbook, pp. 127-146”, The Watchtower, 1 August 1955, footnote h).

Notes. The heading “Declaration of Facts” is set as a centred subheading; the resolution runs to about 4,000 words and carries the further subheadings “Jews” (p. 132), “Our Literature” (p. 135), “League of Nations” (p. 138) and “Great Truths” (p. 140), each confirmed on the page image.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-de33-yb34-declaration-opening

Primary JW publication Verified

Year Book of Jehovah's Witnesses, “Germany”

1934 · pp.131, 144 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“more than 7,000 of Jehovah's witnesses assembled at Berlin and unanimously adopted the resolution, millions of which were printed and distributed throughout Germany”

The Society's own account of the convention. Thirteen pages later, after the text of the Declaration, the same report states that “Many of the brethren throughout Germany have been arrested and thrown into concentration camps, and they have been in great difficulties”, and that the Magdeburg property was returned in October 1933 while the ban on the Society's activities remained.

Provenance and verification note for Year Book of Jehovah's Witnesses, Germany

Confidence note. Both passages read on the page images on 19 September 2026: p. 131 (leaf 127, running head “Year Book 131”) and p. 144 (leaf 140, running head “144 Year Book”), and confirmed word for word. On p. 144 no point is printed after “difficulties”.

Scan provenance. Scan of the 1934 Year Book of Jehovah’s Witnesses held by the Internet Archive as item “1934-JwYearbook”. The item was uploaded to the Internet Archive in January 2012 by a private account; its “creator” field reads “watchtower”, but the upload is not by the publisher and the Internet Archive is not the publisher. The scanned title page names the corporate publishers as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, Peoples Pulpit Association and International Bible Students Association, Brooklyn, New York, and carries the notice “Copyright 1933”. The volume is the Year Book for 1934: it carries the branch reports for the 1933 service year, and it is dated here by its edition year, the form in which the organisation’s own publications cite it (“1934 Yearbook, pp. 127-146”, The Watchtower, 1 August 1955, footnote h).

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-de33-yb34-unanimous-and-camps

Primary JW publication Verified

Year Book of Jehovah's Witnesses, “Part 1—Germany”

1974 · pp.110-111 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“Brother Rutherford, who, together with Brother Knorr, had come to Germany just a few days before in order to see what could be done to ensure the safety of the Society’s property, had prepared a declaration with Brother Balzereit to be presented to the convention delegates for adoption. It was a protest against the meddling of the Hitler government into the preaching work we were doing. . . . Many in attendance were disappointed in the “declaration,” since in many points it failed to be as strong as the brothers had hoped. Brother Mütze from Dresden, who had worked closely with Brother Balzereit up until that time, accused him later of having weakened the original text. It was not the first time that Brother Balzereit had watered down the clear and unmistakable language of the Society’s publications so as to avoid difficulties with governmental agencies. A large number of brothers refused to adopt it just for this reason. . . . It could not be rightfully said that the declaration was unanimously adopted, even though Brother Balzereit later notified Brother Rutherford that it had been.”

The 1974 Year Book’s account of the Berlin convention, in the history of the work in Germany that fills that volume, printed under the heading “BERLIN CONVENTION ON JUNE 25, 1933”. The same passage says the congregations were invited “on very short notice”, that 7,000 brothers attended, and that Rutherford returned to America several days before the convention opened.

Provenance and verification note for Year Book of Jehovah's Witnesses, Part 1—Germany

Confidence note. Full document opened on the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026 and the wording confirmed against the page text, and re-opened and re-checked word for word for a second audit on the same day. Pages taken from the pageNum markers in the document: the passage begins on p. 110, and the break to p. 111 falls inside the phrase “All high government officials”, p. 111 beginning at “officials, from the Reich’s president on down”. The first ellipsis stands for two sentences, about the copies to be sent to government officials and about Rutherford’s return to America several days before the convention; the second stands for one sentence recording that a former pilgrim brother named Kipper refused to offer the resolution for adoption and that another brother substituted. In the original the sentence “A large number of brothers refused to adopt it just for this reason.” opens a new paragraph.

Corroborated by. src-de33-yb34-unanimous-and-camps, src-de33-g98-nazi-peril

Notes. The sentence about Balzereit having “watered down” the Society’s language stands on p. 111, immediately after the accusation that he weakened the Declaration. Earlier, on p. 109, the same account records that when officials objected to the cover illustration of the Crisis booklet Balzereit, “who had repeatedly shown his willingness to compromise, gave immediate instructions to remove the colored covers from the booklets”.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-de33-yb74-convention

Primary JW publication Verified

Awake!, “Jehovah's Witnesses—Courageous in the Face of Nazi Peril”

8 July 1998 · pp.13-14 · Awake! correspondent in Germany · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“Having mentioned money, the “Declaration” went on to denounce unfair practices of big business. It said: “It has been the commercial Jews of the British-American empire that have built up and carried on Big Business as a means of exploiting and oppressing the peoples of many nations.” This statement clearly did not refer to the Jewish people in general, and it is regrettable if it has been misunderstood and has given cause for any offense.”

The organisation’s published answer to criticism of the Declaration, signed “BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN GERMANY”. The article says that Rutherford, “together with the Germany branch office manager, Paul Balzereit, decided to mount a campaign to inform Chancellor Hitler, government officials, and the public that Jehovah’s Witnesses posed no threat to the German people and the State”, and that allegations that the Witnesses tried to curry favour with the regime or endorsed its racial ideology “are absolutely false”.

Provenance and verification note for Awake!, Jehovah's Witnesses—Courageous in the Face of Nazi Peril

Confidence note. Full article opened on the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026 and read in full; the passage quoted begins on p. 13 and finishes on p. 14, the pages taken from the pageNum markers. The article itself runs pp. 10-14.

Notes. The article carries a footnote saying that space does not allow full documentation but that “a list of complete references is available upon request from the publishers”.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-de33-g98-nazi-peril

Claim page Correct or update

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