‘We Obey God Rather Than Men’

When he was 17 years of age, Adam was one of three winners of a contest sponsored by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Those submitting an entry​—nearly 500 in all—​used art or writing to depict courage under Nazi oppression. Adam is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and he decided to create a collage that would portray the adversity faced by members of his religion under the Nazi regime. The art, Adam says, reflected, not defeat or bitterness, but joy in that Jehovah’s Witnesses triumphed over the onslaught of that cruel oppressor. A child is shown. Why? “To point out that even children remained strong against Nazi persecution,” Adam says.

It is well-known that during the Nazi era, Jehovah’s Witnesses refused to salute Hitler or support his political party. Their stand is illustrated in the upper right corner of Adam’s collage. There a letter is quoted that was sent to the German government on October 7, 1934, by all congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In part, the letter stated: “There is a direct conflict between your law and God’s law, and, following the lead of the faithful apostles, ‘we ought to obey God rather than men,’ and this we will do. (Acts 5:29) . . . Since your government and its officers continue in your attempt to force us to disobey the highest law of the universe, we are compelled to now give you notice that we will, by his grace, obey Jehovah God and fully trust Him to deliver us from all oppression and oppressors.”

Adam is proud of his spiritual heritage. “Jehovah’s Witnesses firmly believed in not harming their fellowman and in giving worship to no one other than God, even if this meant death,” he says. The unwavering position of Jehovah’s Witnesses is reflected in the title of Adam’s collage: “We Will Obey God Rather Than Men!”