Wolfgang Kusserow Explained

Wolfgang Kusserow
Birth Date:	1 March 1922
Birth Place:	Bochum, Germany
Death Place:	Brandenburg-Görden Prison
Nationality:	German
Parents:	Franz Karl Paul Kusserow and Hilda Kusserow

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]}

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

Kusserow 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]

Further reading

• Book: Murray, Hallie . Altman, Linda Jacobs . Teen Victims of the Nazi Regime . 15 July 2018 . Enslow Publishing, LLC . 978-0766098398 . 128.
• Book: Roth, John K . Holocaust Politics . 2016 . Wipf and Stock Publishers . 978-0664221737 . registration .
• Book: The Holocaust: Lessons for Humanity . 2004 . New Africa Books . 9781869284466 . 67.
  • News: Poetzinger, Martin . Opinion: Jehovah's Witnesses Were Hitler's Victims . New York Times . 14 May 1985 . 26 .

External links

• News: Biografie Familie Kusserow. stolpersteine-bad-lippspringe.de. 28 June 2020. de.
• Web site: Exhibition: Parallel Journeys . Museum of History and Holocaust Education . Kennesaw State University . 26 August 2019. Individuals featured in Parallel Journeys: Wolfgang Kusserow

Notes and References

1. Web site: USHMM ID Card: Wolfgang Kusserow . United States Holocaust Memorial Museum . 26 August 2019.
2. Web site: Last Letter of Wolfgang Kusserow . United States Holocaust Memorial Museum . https://web.archive.org/web/20170311070403/https://www.ushmm.org/learn/students/learning-materials-and-resources/jehovahs-witnesses-victims-of-the-nazi-era/last-letter-of-wolfgang-kusserow. 26 August 2019. 11 March 2017.
3. https://www.jw.org/en/news/jw/region/germany/Jehovahs-Witnesses-Launch-New-Legal-Case-in-Germany-Over-Annemarie-Kusserows-Archive/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
4. "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.
5. Book: Kusserow . Hans Werner . Der lila Winkel : die Familie Kusserow : Zeugen Jehovas unter der Nazidiktatur . 1998 . Bonn : Pahl-Rugenstein . Germany . 3891442513 . 311 . 27 August 2019.
6. https://www.jw.org/en/news/jw/region/germany/Jehovahs-Witnesses-Launch-New-Legal-Case-in-Germany-Over-Annemarie-Kusserows-Archive/ 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