“See You in God’s Kingdom”

“Dear Friend! Rupert, today I was sentenced to death. Do not mourn for me. I send my love to you and to everyone in the house. See you in God’s Kingdom.”

ON JUNE 8, 1942, Franc Drozg penned these words minutes before being shot by Nazi soldiers. Why was he executed?

According to the records in the Museum of National Liberation in Maribor, Slovenia, this 38-year-old blacksmith refused to join the Wehrmannschaft, a German paramilitary detachment in German-occupied Slovenia. He was a Bibelforscher, or Bible Student, as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then known in that area. Acting in harmony with Isaiah 2:4, he would not support the Nazi war effort, declaring himself to be a subject of God’s Kingdom.​—Matthew 6:33.

In his hometown of Ptuj, Franc was known as a zealous proclaimer of the good news of God’s Kingdom. (Matthew 24:14) Despite many hardships, he preached the good news without letup until his arrest in May 1942.

Many Slovenian Witnesses of Jehovah were intensely persecuted by the Nazis. Franc was one of the first of them to be executed for his religious convictions. Like first-century Christians, he was strengthened by the words: “We must enter into the kingdom of God through many tribulations.” (Acts 14:22) His belief in the reality of that heavenly government was evident in his final words, “See you in God’s Kingdom.”

[Picture Credit Lines on page 32]

Franc Drozg: Photo Archive-Museum of National Liberation Maribor, Slovenia; letter: Original kept in Museum of National Liberation Maribor, Slovenia