Erich Frost

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Erich Hugo Frost (1900–1987)

Erich Hugo Frost (born December 22, 1900 in Leipzig , † October 30, 1987 in Lübeck ) headed the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany and was persecuted by National Socialism .

Early life

From 1919 Frost studied music in Leipzig. His mother became a Bible Student , the former name for Jehovah's Witnesses. Finally, on March 4, 1923, Frost himself was baptized as a Bible Student. After dropping out of music studies, Frost earned his living by working in coffeehouses and entertainment venues.

In 1924 Erich Frost was commissioned by the Watchtower Society to supervise the Leipzig literature depot. From 1928 he participated in the performances of the photo-drama of creation in Germany. In Stettin , Frost took over the musical accompaniment of the silent film. From 1932 the photo drama was performed in East Prussia . As a traveling overseer ("pilgrim brother") or Bible speaker, he visited many congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses.

time of the nationalsocialism

After the Nazi regime banned Jehovah's Witnesses , Frost's first arrest took place in the spring of 1934. He was released after ten days of detention. After a short time he managed to get back to Czechoslovakia . There he performed the photo drama 122 times. Frost returned to Germany in May 1935 . He was arrested again on June 13, 1935 and spent five months in the Columbia concentration camp in Berlin .

In September 1936, a convention of Jehovah's Witnesses in place Lucerne ( Switzerland ) instead. Frost was hired by JF Rutherford for the underground work of Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany. As a result, Paul Balzereit , the previous representative, was finally replaced. For December 12, 1936, a nationwide leaflet campaign was organized by Frost. On March 21, 1937, Frost was arrested by ten members of the Gestapo . Frost was until the outbreak of World War II in the concentration camp Esterwegen admitted. In July 1937, his wife was also arrested. Their son should be brought up nationally.

After the outbreak of war, Frost was transferred to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp . Here he composed the song “Forward, you witnesses!” .

Frost also joined a work detachment that was supposed to build a house for high SS officers on Lake Wolfgang . Then he was deployed to SS Construction Brigade I on the channel island of Alderney in the concentration camp there. It was then transported back to St. Malo by ship and finally by train through France , Belgium and the Netherlands to Germany. Originally, Frost was to be sunk on ships with other prisoners in the Bay of Kiel . But the transport was pushed to Austria . He was liberated on May 5, 1945.

post war period

Until the ban by the GDR on August 30, 1950, Frost was the head of the Watchtower Society in Magdeburg . Afterwards he was the overseer of the new branch office of the Watchtower Society in Wiesbaden . In 1955 he resigned from this office for health reasons.

In the mid-1950s, the East German Ministry for State Security tried to recruit Frost as an unofficial employee . The code name of the operational process was "Winter". On July 12, 1956, the meeting between an IM and Frost took place in Wiesbaden, but it was unsuccessful. The MfS then began to discredit Erich Frost for many years. So a pamphlet with the title: Erich Frost - The Traitor to the Cause of Jehovah was distributed. In the July 19, 1961 issue of the news magazine Der Spiegel , a report about Erich Frost appeared with the title Father Frost . In this article he was accused of having betrayed various fellow believers in Gestapo detention. This information had been leaked to the mirror . Today it has been proven that the MfS was the initiator of the campaign. The defamation against Frost did not end there.

In 1964, Erich Frost left the branch office as a full-time employee. He became known as a speaker at the congresses of Jehovah's Witnesses, for example in 1946, 1953 and 1955 in Nuremberg , 1949 and 1951 in Berlin, and 1961 in Hamburg . Erich Frost died on October 30, 1987 at the age of 86.

Song "Forward, you witnesses!"

During his detention in Sachsenhausen concentration camp composed Frost the song "Onward, witnesses!" . Frost reports:

“Melodies constantly run through the mind of a composer, and so I had the music of this song in my head for a long time. My work detachment consisted of 40 Jehovah's Witnesses who had to march for about half an hour a day to a sewage treatment plant outside the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. One morning on such a march the thought occurred to me: 'It's time to write a few stanzas to the melody so that you can sing the song.' And already the first stanza took shape in my mind. "

Frost taught the individual stanzas to four fellow prisoners. They should learn these by heart. After work they would read him the four stanzas. So he could put the words under the already existing note image. The song was hidden outside the camp in a rabbit hutch and eventually made it to Switzerland. The Witnesses in Switzerland sent the song to Brooklyn , the world headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses. After all, it was first sung by a choir in the United States on August 1, 1948.

1st verse
Firm and determined in this evil time
God's people stand ready to fight for truth.
Before Satan's hateful multitudes
as Christians they show courage.
refrain
So go on, you witnesses, are now of a strong heart,
And rejoice in the work of Jehovah always.
Get the message across, old and young.
Soon there will be blessings from the new order.
2nd stanza
People have done away with truth and justice.
The name of Jehovah's slanderers attack.
You are being kept in check
by Christians who really love God.
3rd stanza
Jehovah's fighters are not comfortable today,
it is not agreeable to either the world or the rulers;
but they stand there, firm in their faith.
Nothing can steal their integrity.

The song was part of the songbooks used by Jehovah's Witnesses during meetings in their Kingdom Halls and at their conventions for many decades . The third stanza was changed in 1986. For the songbook Singt Lieder für Jehovah , which was introduced in 2010, a new text was largely written, so that only the original melody remained.

literature

  • The Watchtower , July 1, 1961 pp. 410 to 415
  • Sing and Play Jehovah in Your Hearts , Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, 1969, song 11
  • Sing Praise to Jehovah , Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, 1986, song 29
  • Sing Songs to Jehovah , Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, 2009, song 17
  • Sing to Jehovah with Joy , Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, 2016, song 61
  • Jonas Höltig: "Jehovah's Witnesses, Undaunted!" . In: Dreaming of Freedom. Songs of the persecuted . Edited by Jonas Höltig and Tassilo Rinecker, Norderstedt / Münster 2018, ISBN 9783752859133 , p. 74 ff.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses 1974 , p. 96
  2. ↑ The Watchtower - February 2013 Study Edition
  3. ↑ Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses 1974, p. 198
  4. ↑ Father Frost. Der Spiegel , July 19, 1961, accessed March 5, 2010 .
  5. ↑ The Watchtower , March 15, 1988, p. 21
  6. ↑ A Song That Made You Persevere (JW Broadcasting)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Frost, Erich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Frost, Erich Hugo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German professional musician, Jehovah's Witness
DATE OF BIRTH 22nd December 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig , Germany
DATE OF DEATH October 30, 1987
Place of death Lübeck , Germany