Bohumil Müller
Encyclopedia
Bohumil Müller was a religious leader of Jehovah's Witnesses
in Czechoslovakia during World War II and the communist period, when their activities were banned by the Nazis and later by the communists. He spent fourteen years in concentration camps and communist prisons.
, in Central Bohemia
, some 30 miles west of Prague
. His parents were both Czech. He came from a religious family. His father, Tomáš Müller, was a leading member of the Unity of Brethren church, but the family converted to become Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1931. Bohumil was 16 at the time and learning to be a typesetter while his brother, Karel, was learning bookbinding.
Young Bohumil became very active in his faith and shortly after he started working in the main office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Prague
. He progressed very quickly within their organization, gaining greater responsibility. The Witnesses at that time used two legal corporations to facilitate their religious activities. In 1936, at the age of 21, Müller was elected a director of the International Bible Students Association, Czechoslovak Branch, and the vice-director of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, Czechoslovak Branch.
Müller was called to report for military service on October 1, 1937. He later wrote: “My conscience, however, told me that God does not want his servants to ‘learn war’ (Isaiah 2: 4).” Consequently he refused to serve and was arrested, becoming the first person imprisoned in Czechoslovakia for his Christian beliefs as a conscientious objector
. Between October 1937 and the end of March 1939, he had been arrested four times, serving several months in prison each time.
could arrest them. He too obtained a passport and was preparing to leave when word reached him asking him to stay and to prepare and coordinate the underground activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Czechoslovakia. He accepted and took on the responsibility of providing leadership during extraordinarily difficult times.
In 1941, Müller was caught and arrested after which he was sent to Mauthausen concentration camp
. Years later he wrote of his time in the camp. The Witnesses could have been released if they would only sign a form renouncing their faith. The SS tried different tactics to get them to sign, but very few did. After describing various unspeakable tortures he underwent in the course of his four years there, he said: “Towards the end of 1944 Himmler’s special deputy, SS-Hauptsturmbannfüher Kramer, came from Berlin to try and persuade us to sign with various promises and smooth talk. When he met with the decisively adverse attitude of the Witnesses, repressions against us started. We were distributed into blocks so that nowhere would two brothers [Witnesses] live together. The camp commander published an order that kapo
s and Blockälteste block elders were to watch us so that we would not go out of the blocks, and the other prisoners were allowed by a special command to kill us whenever they would see two of us together.” Still he survived and was released when the camp was liberated.
Thus began a three-year period of relative peace for the Witnesses in Czechoslovakia. After the end of Nazi occupation and before the full imposition of communism they were granted their freedom and took full advantage of it. However, on November 28, 1948, officials of the State Security showed up at the Witnesses’ office in Prague and arrested Müller and the rest of the office staff, and confiscated their building. However, in July 1949 the State Court stopped the criminal proceedings due to lack of evidence and released them. But as they were leaving the court they were arrested again and informed of a decision by the Communist Political Commission that they were to be sent to a labor camp for two years. Müller was sent to Kladno where he worked in a coal mine.
Suddenly, early in 1950 all Jehovah’s Witnesses were released from labor camps and they experienced a brief reprieve from their persecution. Then in the early morning hours of February 4, 1952, in a major crackdown, Müller and 108 other Witnesses were arrested. For the next fourteen months, Müller was not allowed out of solitary confinement without a blindfold and subjected to long interrogations. Then on March 27 and 28, 1953, a show trial was held. The Communist Party newspaper Rudé Právo
(The Red Law) of March 30, 1953, reported on the results. Under a dateline of Prague, March 29, (CTK) it said: “On trial were the leading members of a religious sect whose adherents call themselves Jehovah’s Witnesses. This organization, directed in Brooklyn, USA, and which has been banned in our country since 1949 for its destructive tendencies, has smuggled into Czechoslovakia cosmopolitan ideologies which under the veil of pure Christianity are designed to undermine the morale of our working masses.” Müller was sentenced to eighteen years imprisonment; others were given lesser sentences.
In May 1960, he and the others were freed as part of a large-scale amnesty for political prisoners. He continued to direct the activities of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Czechoslovakia until his death on November 7, 1987.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
in Czechoslovakia during World War II and the communist period, when their activities were banned by the Nazis and later by the communists. He spent fourteen years in concentration camps and communist prisons.
Early life
Müller was born June 30, 1915 in the town of ZbirohZbiroh
Zbiroh is a town in the Pilsen Region of the Czech Republic. It lies some to the east-northeast from the region capital of Pilsen.Zbiroh is also a Municipality with Commissioned Local Authority within the Rokycany Municipality with Extended Competence....
, in Central Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, some 30 miles west of Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. His parents were both Czech. He came from a religious family. His father, Tomáš Müller, was a leading member of the Unity of Brethren church, but the family converted to become Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1931. Bohumil was 16 at the time and learning to be a typesetter while his brother, Karel, was learning bookbinding.
Young Bohumil became very active in his faith and shortly after he started working in the main office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. He progressed very quickly within their organization, gaining greater responsibility. The Witnesses at that time used two legal corporations to facilitate their religious activities. In 1936, at the age of 21, Müller was elected a director of the International Bible Students Association, Czechoslovak Branch, and the vice-director of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, Czechoslovak Branch.
Müller was called to report for military service on October 1, 1937. He later wrote: “My conscience, however, told me that God does not want his servants to ‘learn war’ (Isaiah 2: 4).” Consequently he refused to serve and was arrested, becoming the first person imprisoned in Czechoslovakia for his Christian beliefs as a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
. Between October 1937 and the end of March 1939, he had been arrested four times, serving several months in prison each time.
Nazi Period
On April 1, 1939, Müller was released from prison after serving his fourth term. Meanwhile, two weeks before, on March 15, 1939, Nazi German forces had invaded and occupied all of Bohemia and Moravia. Müller reported back to his office and found many were fleeing Czechoslovakia before the GestapoGestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
could arrest them. He too obtained a passport and was preparing to leave when word reached him asking him to stay and to prepare and coordinate the underground activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Czechoslovakia. He accepted and took on the responsibility of providing leadership during extraordinarily difficult times.
In 1941, Müller was caught and arrested after which he was sent to Mauthausen concentration camp
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
. Years later he wrote of his time in the camp. The Witnesses could have been released if they would only sign a form renouncing their faith. The SS tried different tactics to get them to sign, but very few did. After describing various unspeakable tortures he underwent in the course of his four years there, he said: “Towards the end of 1944 Himmler’s special deputy, SS-Hauptsturmbannfüher Kramer, came from Berlin to try and persuade us to sign with various promises and smooth talk. When he met with the decisively adverse attitude of the Witnesses, repressions against us started. We were distributed into blocks so that nowhere would two brothers [Witnesses] live together. The camp commander published an order that kapo
Kapo (concentration camp)
A kapo was a prisoner who worked inside German Nazi concentration camps during World War II in any of certain lower administrative positions. The official Nazi word was Funktionshäftling, or "prisoner functionary", but the Nazis commonly referred to them as kapos.- Etymology :The origin of "kapo"...
s and Blockälteste block elders were to watch us so that we would not go out of the blocks, and the other prisoners were allowed by a special command to kill us whenever they would see two of us together.” Still he survived and was released when the camp was liberated.
Communist Era
Müller was one of the first Witnesses to return home. He began the process of trying to reestablish contact with Witnesses both inside Czechoslovakia and outside. Once communication with the outside was established, Müller was appointed coordinator for the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Czechoslovakia in November 1945.Thus began a three-year period of relative peace for the Witnesses in Czechoslovakia. After the end of Nazi occupation and before the full imposition of communism they were granted their freedom and took full advantage of it. However, on November 28, 1948, officials of the State Security showed up at the Witnesses’ office in Prague and arrested Müller and the rest of the office staff, and confiscated their building. However, in July 1949 the State Court stopped the criminal proceedings due to lack of evidence and released them. But as they were leaving the court they were arrested again and informed of a decision by the Communist Political Commission that they were to be sent to a labor camp for two years. Müller was sent to Kladno where he worked in a coal mine.
Suddenly, early in 1950 all Jehovah’s Witnesses were released from labor camps and they experienced a brief reprieve from their persecution. Then in the early morning hours of February 4, 1952, in a major crackdown, Müller and 108 other Witnesses were arrested. For the next fourteen months, Müller was not allowed out of solitary confinement without a blindfold and subjected to long interrogations. Then on March 27 and 28, 1953, a show trial was held. The Communist Party newspaper Rudé Právo
Rudé právo
Rudé právo was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia....
(The Red Law) of March 30, 1953, reported on the results. Under a dateline of Prague, March 29, (CTK) it said: “On trial were the leading members of a religious sect whose adherents call themselves Jehovah’s Witnesses. This organization, directed in Brooklyn, USA, and which has been banned in our country since 1949 for its destructive tendencies, has smuggled into Czechoslovakia cosmopolitan ideologies which under the veil of pure Christianity are designed to undermine the morale of our working masses.” Müller was sentenced to eighteen years imprisonment; others were given lesser sentences.
In May 1960, he and the others were freed as part of a large-scale amnesty for political prisoners. He continued to direct the activities of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Czechoslovakia until his death on November 7, 1987.