Similar to the history of Rwanda, during 12 years of Nazi rule, racial politics began with discrimination and culminated in genocide. Although the circumstances during the Nazi era and the Genocide against the Tutsi differed, both posed moral challenges to foundational principles of Jehovah’s Witnesses, such as the sanctity of life, ethnic and racial impartiality, and while generally law-abiding, the refusal to obey any human directive that violates God’s commands. Though the Witnesses were not targeted for physical extermination as were other groups, the Hitler government banned them in spring 1933 for their refusal to conform to Nazi demands. For adhering to their values of neutrality and nonviolence, thousands of Witnesses faced the risk of imprisonment, torture, and death.
Building on the body of research about the faith community during the Nazi era, the JW-RWA study investigates the individual and collective position of Jehovah’s Witnesses before and during the Genocide against the Tutsi. The results show a consistent pattern of adherence to nonviolence and political neutrality as defining characteristics, shaping both their group religious identity and personal decisions during periods of conflict.