Franz Wohlfahrt family collection

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn1138
• English
• 1928
• Updated 7 months ago

Jehovah's Witness pamphlet, Wohlfahrt Sicher, used by Gregor Wohlfahrt and then his son, Franz, to preach and recruit members for the Jehovah's Witness in Austria. After Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938, the literature was banned by the Nazis. The Watchtower Society, the administrative arm for the Jehovah Witnesses, had been banned in Germany since 1935. The religion was not banned but members were arrested for their refusal to be drafted or participate in any military work. Members in Austria knew that they would be persecuted for their refusal to accept the authority of any temporal p...

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn1139
• English
• overall: Height: 10.125 inches (25.718 cm) | Width: 10.750 inches (27.305 cm)
• Updated 7 months ago

Simulated wallpaper sample created by Franz Wohlfahrt to demonstrate the patterns, materials, and techniques he developed while imprisoned at Strafgefangenenlager Rollwald forced labor camp in Germany from 1940-1945. The paint roller and stencil used to create this sample are in collection 2008.448. Franz, 20, was jailed in 1940 for being a Jehovah's Witness, because his beliefs did not permit him to put any authority before God. He would not submit to the authority of the German government or serve in the military. In 1943, at Rollwald, a new camp commandant, Karl Strumpf, was decorating h...

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn1140
• English
• 1943-1945
• overall: Height: 13.000 inches (33.02 cm) | Width: 10.125 inches (25.718 cm)
• Updated 7 months ago

Wallpaper sample created by Franz Wohlfahrt while imprisoned at Strafgefangenenlager Rollwald labor camp in Germany from 1940-1945. The paint roller and stencil used to create this sample are in collection 2008.448. Franz, 20, was jailed in 1940 because, as a Jehovah's Witness, his beliefs did not permit him to put any authority before God. He would not submit to the authority of the German government or serve in the military. In 1943, at Rollwad, the new camp commandant, Karl Strumpf, was decorating his villa and Franz was assigned to the work detail. Franz experimented with latex paint an...

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn1141
• English
• overall: Height: 5.875 inches (14.923 cm) | Width: 8.250 inches (20.955 cm)
• Updated 7 months ago

Copy of notification of December 7, 1939, execution of Gregor Wohlfahrt, in Berlin, Germany, issued to his widow, Barbara. In August 1939, Gregor was told to report for military service in Austria. He was deemed unfit but declared his opposition to the war. He was imprisoned in Vienna, declared an enemy of the state, tried, and sentenced to death by beheading on December 7, 1939, with 28 other Jehovah's Witnesses. After the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938, Jehovah's Witness literature was forbidden. The Watchtower Society, the administrative arm for the Jehovah Witnesses, had ...

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn1142
• English
• overall: Height: 6.000 inches (15.24 cm) | Width: 8.375 inches (21.273 cm) | Depth: 0.625 inches (1.588 cm)
• Updated 7 months ago

Plaque created by Franz Wohlfahrt presumably for the Nazi SS (Schutzstaffel; Protection Squadrons) while imprisoned in Strafgefangenenlager Rollwald labor camp in Germany in 1944. He was assigned the task as part of his forced labor service. However, an inscription on the back states that he made this one in secret out of wood scraps and paint samples and smuggled it home. Franz, 20, was jailed because, as a Jehovah's Witness, his beliefs did not permit him to put any authority before God. He would not submit to the authority of the German government or serve in the military. In 1943, at Ro...

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn1143
• English
• Updated 7 months ago

Old and New Testament Bible found by liberating troops at Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1945. They discovered it on the body of a prisoner, Johann Stossier, a Jehovah's Witness, who died in Sachsenhausen shortly before the camp was liberated. The troops returned the Bible to his family. It is inscribed by his sister and her husband, who survived the war. After the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938, Jehovah's Witness literature was forbidden. The Watchtower Society, the administrative arm for the Jehovah Witnesses, had been banned in Germany since 1935. The religion was not...

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn518563
• English
• 1943-1945
• a: Height: 10.250 inches (26.035 cm) | Width: 6.500 inches (16.51 cm) | Depth: 2.500 inches (6.35 cm) b: Height: 6.750 inches (17.145 cm) | Width: 1.875 inches (4.763 cm)
• Updated 7 months ago

Paint roller and stencil used by Franz Wohlfahrt while imprisoned at Strafgefangenenlager Rollwald labor camp in Germany from 1940-1945. Wallpaper samples made from this roller and stencil are in collection 1989.314. Franz, 20, was jailed because, as a Jehovah's Witness, his beliefs did not permit him to put any authority before God. He would not submit to the authority of the German government or serve in the military. In 1943, at Rollwad, the new camp commandant, Karl Strumpf, was decorating his villa and Franz was assigned to the work detail. Franz experimented with latex paint and produ...