Wolfgang Kusserow (1 March 1922 – 28 March 1942) was executed by guillotine at Brandenburg-Görden Prison for conscientiously objecting induction into the German Army because of his religious beliefs as a Jehovah's Witness.[1][2]
Wolfgang Kusserow | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1 March 1922 Bochum, Germany |
| Died | 10 March 1942 (aged 20) |
| Nationality | German |
| Parent(s) | Franz Karl Paul Kusserow and Hilda Kusserow |
One of his older brothers, Wilhelm Kusserow, had similarly been executed on 27 April 1940 for refusing conscription on grounds of his faith.[3]
Family
editKusserow was one of eleven children born to Franz Karl Paul Kusserow and Hilda Kusserow in Bochum, Germany, a family of Jehovah's Witnesses that were persecuted for their religion during the Nazi regime.[4][5]
Annemarie Kusserow, one of Wilhelm and Wolfgang's sisters, preserved a 1000-piece archive documenting the persecution of the family by the Nazi regime. In defiance of her will, the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden, Germany, continues to hold the archive. She had left the archive to the Jehovah's Witnesses in her will.[6]
References
edit- ^ "USHMM ID Card: Wolfgang Kusserow". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
- ^ "Last Letter of Wolfgang Kusserow". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Archived from the original on 11 March 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
- ^ Witnesses Launch New Legal Case in Germany Over Annemarie Kusserow’s Archive. Newly Uncovered Evidence Proves Annemarie’s Archive Belongs to Jehovah’s Witnesses
- ^ "Purple Triangles: The True Story of a German Family" Directed by Martin Smith, Peter Williams TV International Ltd., 1991. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Special Collection: Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive, Film, Accession Number: 1993.178.1, RG Number: RG-60.2715, Film ID: 414. A documentary about the fate of the Kusserow family in Germany during WWII. They are Jehovah's Witnesses.
- ^ Kusserow, Hans Werner (1998). Der lila Winkel : die Familie Kusserow : Zeugen Jehovas unter der Nazidiktatur. Germany: Bonn : Pahl-Rugenstein. p. 311. ISBN 3891442513. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
- ^ Jehovah’s Witnesses Launch New Legal Case in Germany Over Annemarie Kusserow’s Archive. Newly Uncovered Evidence Proves Annemarie’s Archive Belongs to Jehovah’s Witnesses
Further reading
edit- Murray, Hallie; Altman, Linda Jacobs (15 July 2018). Teen Victims of the Nazi Regime. Enslow Publishing, LLC. p. 128. ISBN 978-0766098398.
- Roth, John K (2016). Holocaust Politics. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-0664221737.
- The Holocaust: Lessons for Humanity. New Africa Books. 2004. p. 67. ISBN 9781869284466.
- Kusserow Reuter, Magdalena (1 September 1985), "My Family's Love for God Despite Prison and Death", The Watchtower, retrieved 26 August 2019
- Poetzinger, Martin (14 May 1985). "Opinion: Jehovah's Witnesses Were Hitler's Victims". New York Times. p. 26.
External links
edit- "Biografie Familie Kusserow". stolpersteine-bad-lippspringe.de (in German). 28 June 2020.
- "Exhibition: Parallel Journeys". Museum of History and Holocaust Education. Kennesaw State University. Retrieved 26 August 2019. Individuals featured in Parallel Journeys: Wolfgang Kusserow