As reported today by The New York Times, Jehovas Zeugen in Deutschlanda is seeking to obtain the extensive archive of the Kusserow family currently held by the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden, Germany. Jehovas Zeugen in Deutschland is, in fact, the legal heir to the archive. More importantly, acquiring the archive will right a gross moral injustice.
The 13 members of the Kusserow family were harshly persecuted by the Nazi regime because they were Jehovah’s Witnesses. Two of the boys, Wilhelm and Wolfgang, were executed for not supporting the Nazi military effort. Thus, their youngest and only living sibling, Paul-Gerhard Kusserow, asserts: “My brothers died for refusing to participate in military service. I don’t find it proper that this inheritance is stored, of all places, in a military museum.” Therefore, primarily to address this moral wrong, Jehovas Zeugen in Deutschland is seeking to obtain the Kusserow archive from the museum.
Additionally, Jehovah’s Witnesses have documentation to prove that Annemarie Kusserow, the eldest sibling, bequeathed Jehovas Zeugen in Deutschland the archive that she meticulously compiled. The archive consists of over 1,000 items that include photographs, drawings, pre-execution farewell letters, death penalty pronouncements, and classified Gestapob reports.
Annemarie died in 2005. Subsequently, the Witnesses discovered the Bundeswehr Military History Museum had obtained the archive. According to the museum, they bought the archive in good faith from a Kusserow family member—who was no longer affiliated with Jehovah’s Witnesses and has since died.
For nearly seven years, Jehovas Zeugen in Deutschland has been unable to reach a peaceful settlement with the museum, so they have been forced to take legal action to acquire what rightfully belongs to them.
If successful, the Witnesses hope to display the archive in the museum at the Central Europe office in Selters, Germany. There, tens of thousands of visitors from around the globe will be able to tour free of charge and learn of the Kusserow family’s unwavering faith.c
c Tours are currently suspended due to COVID-19. However, prior to the spread of COVID-19, tens of thousands of Witnesses and other interested ones from around the world visited the museum annually.
