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Victims or Martyrs What Is the Difference?

IN THE course of history, mankind’s inhumanity to man, woman, and child has caused endless suffering and resulted in millions of victims. Whether for political, national, racial, or religious reasons, innocent blood has been and is being shed. Hatred prevails over love and understanding. Bigotry smothers tolerance. And the killing continues.

In past centuries, warfare pitted army against army, and civilian involvement was relatively slight. In our 20th century, with the advent of aerial bombing, long-range artillery and missiles, civilian casualties have been so high that one study states: “Civilians are now by far the main victims in wars. In this century many more unarmed civilians than professional soldiers have died in wars.” Innocent people have been cannon fodder for the war machines set in motion by political leaders. In our century alone, the number of victims of war has soared, with over a hundred million dead and hundreds of millions traumatized by injury and the loss of loved ones.

In addition to the victims of modern conflicts, there have also been the martyrs.a What is the difference? Millions​—Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, homosexuals, and others—​died as victims in Nazi Germany just for what they were. They had no recourse, no alternative. Under that evil system, their death was inexorable. On the other hand, some did not have to die. They had a way out, and yet, because of their principles, they chose not to take it.

One famous example was that of Catholic priest Maximilian Kolbe, who aided Jewish refugees during World War II. In 1941 he was “shipped to [the Nazi concentration camp at] Auschwitz, where he volunteered his life in the place of the condemned inmate Franciszek Gajowniczek. First starved, he was finally injected with phenol and cremated.” (Encyclopædia Britannica) He became a self-sacrificing martyr​—an exception to the general rule as far as the Protestant and Catholic religions were concerned.

During the Nazi period in Germany (1933-45), Jehovah’s Witnesses suffered terrible persecution for daring to remain neutral and for refusing to serve in Hitler’s war effort. Thousands were sent to the dreaded concentration camps, where many were executed and others died from mistreatment. Yet, they did not have to suffer and die. They had a choice. They were offered a way out. If they would just sign a paper renouncing their faith, they could walk away free. The vast majority chose not to sign and became not only victims of the Nazi terror but also martyrs. Thus, while all martyrs are victims, only a few victims could and did choose to become martyrs. They were victorious in the face of death.

Impartial testimony from many non-Witnesses proves this fact. “The Swiss Pastor Bruppacher observed in 1939 that ‘While men who call themselves Christians have failed in the decisive tests, these unknown witnesses of Jehovah, as Christian martyrs, are maintaining unshakable opposition against coercion of conscience and heathen idolatry . . . They suffer and bleed because, as Jehovah’s witnesses and candidates for the Kingdom of Christ, they refuse the worship of Hitler and the Swastika.’”

However, it is not in Nazi Germany only that Jehovah’s Witnesses have maintained their integrity in the face of death. They have had to show their courage in the face of Communism, Fascism, and other kinds of political tyranny, as well as religious opposition. Even in the so-called democratic countries of the West, the Witnesses have faced violence. Our next article will detail some of the cases that have involved Witnesses who gained victory in the face of death.

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After World War II, East German courts wrongfully convicted Jehovah’s Witnesses as American spies

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Neue Berliner Illustrierte