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Federal Court of Justice rules against Jehovah’s Witnesses KdöR in trade mark dispute with JZ Help

Federal Court of Justice

The Federal Court of Justice in Germany (Bundesgerichtshof – BGH) has dismissed the appeal by Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany KdöR in trade mark dispute with JZ Help on Sep 26th, 2024. JZ corresponds to the abbreviation JW in German.

‘The plaintiff’s appeal against the non-admission of the appeal on points of law in the judgment of the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main – 6th Civil Senate – of 25 January 2024 is dismissed because the case is of no fundamental importance, the complaints based on the violation of fundamental procedural rights do not prevail and the further development of the law or the securing of uniform case law does not otherwise require a decision by the Court of Appeal.
The plaintiff shall bear the costs of the appeal proceedings.
Value in dispute: € 100,000’
(Value in dispute is not equal to the total cost of the court case, it is the basis for calculation)

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Featured

German Commission: Child Sexual Abuse by Jehovah’s Witnesses

On November 24, 2020, the Independent Commission for Processing Child Sexual Abuse spoke in a confidential setting with experts about sexual abuse of children and adolescents of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The board and members of the JZ Help e.V. association were interviewed.

The commission wants to find out what conditions have made sexual child abuse among Jehovah’s Witnesses possible in the past and what structures prevent education and coming to terms with the situation. The stories of victims and contemporary witnesses are of great importance for this. They, as well as persons from other areas, have the opportunity to report to the commission in a confidential hearing or as a written report.

Further information on the workshop discussion can be found here: translation in English
Commission’s statement in German (original source)

You can find more information about child sexual abuse by Jehovah’s Witnesses here.

Featured

Court confirms: Severe criticism of Jehovah’s Witnesses is justified

A groundbreaking ruling

Court confirms: Severe criticism of Jehovah’s Witnesses is justified

  • The religious practice of Jehovah’s Witnesses violates basic rights of their members
  • Children too are affected by ostracism
  • The two-witness rule facilitates sexual violence against children

Press release of July 8, 2020

Judgement (English translation)

English Translation of the article in Tages-Anzeiger by avoidjw.org

All original documents in German you can find here.

Commentaries in the media

Zurich court obliges Swiss authorities to take action against Jehovah’s Witnesses
Teller Report, July 10th, 2020

Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Bulgaria Agreement about the ban of blood

The organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses made concessions in its blood doctrine in the recognition procedure of the state of Bulgaria. According to this, its members must be allowed the life-saving measure of “blood transfusion” without punishment or consequences. According to an agreement before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), this passage had to be included in the organization’s statutes. However according to the Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves, the existing consequences were deliberately concealed and thereby the Bulgarian state and the ECHR was deceived.
We ask ourselves and you: Is this really the case?

Bulgaria – Did Jehovah’s Witnesses deliberately concealed consequences of sanctions for accepting blood for medical reasons and thereby deceiving the Bulgarian state and the ECHR?

History

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Hamburg shooting, March 09, 2023

In memory of the victims of Hamburg

In Hamburg on the evening of March 9, seven people were killed in a Jehovah’s Witnesses meeting, the perpetrator directed himself. Eight people were injured, four of them seriously.

Our deepest sympathy goes to all those affected by this terrible act of bloodshed.

We remember the deceased people, one of whom was not even born yet.

Our thoughts are with the parents, children, siblings and grandparents of the deceased and with all the people they were close to. May they be carried by care, support and comfort in these darkest hours of their lives, and thus learn that they are not alone in their pain and despair.

We think especially of all those who have lost loved ones a second time and are excluded from the care of the former community. We want them to know that they are not alone today, that they are supported by compassion and love in their pain and despair.

Our thoughts are with the injured. May they receive all the medical help they need. May they recover, not only physically, but also mentally.

We think of all those who have been thrown out of their lives by these terrible events. Who do not know how to go on living. May they regain confidence and find their way back to life.

And our thoughts are with all those who are reminded by these events of how they lost their loved ones. Who sympathize with those affected and grieve with them. And wish someone had seen their suffering at the time. May we be there for them, may they heal.

Our thoughts and sympathy are with all the people affected by these terrible events. May they all experience cohesion and healing.

Not knowing the motives of the assassin, we would like to be a contact for information on Jehovah’s Witnesses (in general and in Germany), their dropouts, as well as providing individual reports from dropouts. 

Contact: presseinfo(at)jz.help Please feel free to contact us. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

Italy – Jehovah’s Witnesses in Crisis

Jehovah’s Witnesses, a religion in crisis between internal discontent and the flight of the faithful

Article in Italian news portal fai.informazione.it

20/07/2021 – 19:32 Jehovah’s Witnesses have always declared themselves to be the “happiest people on earth”, but certain events are contradicting this statement, giving the image of a religion subject to increasingly loud and revolutionary protest movements. In recent years, in fact, thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been publicly denouncing the climate of hypocrisy that reigns within the community. They are believers and former believers who surf the net, hiding behind a nickname so as not to be recognised, because they fear retaliation from a religious group that does not tolerate criticism and objections from within.

The progression of the number of new followers has begun to stagnate or decrease in many Western countries, where the diffusion of the Internet has allowed most people to access information that was once segregated in the archives of the organisation. Doubt began to spread among congregations, mistrust increased, and reports circulated quickly. Like the one according to which Jehovah’s Witnesses for ten years, from 1991 to 2001, were part of the UNO, a world political institution that they themselves have always branded as a “satanic institution”. This discovery has prompted many believers to accuse the organisation of hypocrisy and inconsistency with respect to what has been taught for years in congregations all over the world.

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jw.help becomes jz.help












When we founded the association JW Opfer Hilfe e.V. a little over 2 years ago, we mainly addressed Jehovah’s Witnesses and those affected by this community. At that time we had decided to use the letters JW in our branding as well, because insiders recognize the letters JW and JW.ORG very well as identification of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

However, we received many questions from people outside the Jehovah’s Witness community about what JW means and we had to explain that the letters stand for the English name of “Jehovah’s Witnesses”.

Last year, our trademark jw.help was attacked by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and opposition was filed against the trademark and the use of the letters JW in the association’s name. In our opinion, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania’s request is legally unfounded, but we still want to avoid an expensive lawsuit. We do not want to invest our time, energy and resources in defending a trademark, but rather to help those affected.

Therefore we have decided to act as “JZ Help” in the future. We will change our social channels in the next days and weeks. The brand JZ is registered in the German trademark register without opposition.

Unfortunately, it is possible that your saved links will be lost. Please remember to update them afterwards.

Corona Crisis and Consequences for Jehovah’s Witnesses Concerned

People with Jehovah’s Witnesses past have been socialized towards disaster, towards Armageddon. When a real crisis occurs, most of these people experience even greater fears than others. Here you will find facts against fears! And a few thoughts on how the current situation can affect (former) Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Helpful facts

The corona crisis poses an enormous challenge: for the older ones among us and those with health problems, an illness can be very dangerous, we all have to reorganize ourselves and many of us fear for their economic existence – we are experiencing an absolute exceptional situation. However, many (former) Jehovah’s Witnesses are likely to experience it as even more critical.

Are you scared?
  • … that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and the associated plague, the COVID-19-pandemic, is confirmation that we are living in the last few days (Luke 21:11; 2 Timothy 3: 1-5)?
  • … that food shortages are a sign of the last few days (Matthew 24: 7; Luke 21:11; Revelation 6: 5, 6)?
  • … that COVID-19 is confirmation that the apocalyptic horseman of the pale horse is on the way (Revelation 6: 8)
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Zurich District Court Acquits Board Member of JW Victims Help e.V.

Dr. Regina Spiess, Board Member JW Victims Help e.V.

Swiss – Zurich district court acquits cult specialist and board member of our assosiasion JW Victims Help e.V. Dr. Regina Spiess.

On Tuesday July 9th, 2019, the district court of Zurich acquitted a former employee of the cult advisory board Infosekta of allegations of multiple counts of defamation. It appears they were made by the Jehovah’s Witnesses over critical statements in the media.

In fact, the defendant had made several defamatory remarks, said the only judge during her oral verdict. But she did not agree that the statements were automatically punishable. For her statements, she had told the truth or provided proof in good faith.

The cult advisory board has a public mission and receives public money. It is widely recognized as such. Its task is to inform society about Jehovah’s Witnesses and various other groups. This was done by the accused. It was not her primary goal to make Jehovah’s Witnesses look evil.

Article from advoidjw.org, originally published in Tages Anzeiger on July 9, 2019.

Watchtower Victims Memorial Day 2019

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7lglys
please click right above at the video for English subtitles

Victims and human rights activists worldwide draw attention to human rights violations among Jehovah’s Witnesses on the occasion of the International Watchtower Victims Memorial Day – including JW Victim Help e.V. and the Golden Aluhut, among others with a stand at Alexanderplatz in Berlin on July 26th, 2019.

Here you can find more information in German.