Jehovah’s Witnesses in Warmia and Mazury after World War II (until 1950)
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Online publication date: 2019-07-20
Publication date: 2019-07-20
KMW 2019;304(2):243-283
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ABSTRACT
The article concerns the organisation and religious activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Warmia and Masuria
after World War II, to their suppression by the state in July 1950. The appearance of Jehovah’s Witnesses in these
areas resulted from two natural and forced settlement processes. This community consisted of three groups of
followers: Polish settlers, Ukrainians from the “Wisła” deportation action, and local groups cooperating with each
other. In total, they formed a group of over a thousand people. From 1947, they were subject to the actions and
repressive measures of the state and security authorities as the “American denomination.” They often also met with
hostility from provincial communities, Catholic clergy and associations of Protestant Churches