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Under the Japanese Yoke2016 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses
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Dissent in Jakarta
As the brothers adjusted to the wartime hardships, they soon faced another serious test. The Japanese authorities ordered all foreigners (including Chinese-Indonesians) to register and to carry an identity card bearing an oath of allegiance to the Japanese Empire. Many brothers wondered, ‘Should we register and sign the identity card, or should we refuse?’
Felix Tan explained: “The brothers in Jakarta urged those of us in Sukabumi to refuse to sign the identity card. But we asked the authorities if we could change the wording on the card from ‘the undersigned have sworn allegiance to’ to ‘the undersigned will not impede’ the Japanese army. Surprisingly, they agreed, so we all obtained cards. When the brothers in Jakarta heard about our decision, they called us apostates and cut us off.”
Sadly, most of the hard-liners in Jakarta were arrested and renounced the truth. One brother who refused to compromise ended up in prison with André Elias. “I reasoned with him on the registration issue and helped him to get a more balanced view,” said André. “He humbly asked forgiveness for cutting us off. We then had a grand time building each other up, but tragically, he died because of the harsh prison conditions.”
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Under the Japanese Yoke2016 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses
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On August 17, 1945, the leaders of Indonesia’s independence movement proclaimed Indonesia an independent republic, triggering a four-year revolution against Dutch colonial rule. Tens of thousands of people died in the ensuing chaos, and more than seven million people were displaced.
Throughout the revolution the brothers kept preaching from house to house. “Patriots tried to force us to shout their war cry ‘Merdeka,’ meaning ‘Freedom,’” said Josephine Elias. “But we told them we were neutral in such political affairs.” In 1949, the Dutch handed over sovereignty of their longtime colony to the Republic of the United States of Indonesia (now the Republic of Indonesia).b
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