Evidence of the spirit of persecution manifested by the “former brethren” is shown in the following article which appeared in a German newspaper in 1918:

“At the beginning of the war our denomination divided into two parts. While ninety-eight percent of our membership took the position on Bible grounds that it was their conscientious duty to defend the Fatherland with weapons, and that also on the Sabbath, and this united position of the leaders was at once forwarded to the War Department; two percent, however, did not submit themselves to this united resolution and therefore had to be disfellowshiped because of their unchristian conduct.”45

About 98% of the members in Europe were successfully drawn into apostasy, with only 2% remaining faithful. The leading brethren were responsible for disfellowshiping the faithful souls. These members did not walk out of the church. They stood firmly for the truth, not yielding or conforming to apostasy. And as a result of their conscientious adherence to moral principle, they were severely persecuted. Some of the faithful brethren were betrayed by their own leaders to the secret police, arrested, condemned, and finally martyred.

When the war finally came to an end in 1918, there were two to three thousand disfellowshiped members outside the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

During World War I in Germany, Elder Oscar Kramer, a pioneer of the Reform Movement, witnessed the separation in the church. In his booklet, Rise and Progress of the Reform Movement, My Personal Experiences, he reminisces how faithful believers were disfellowshiped from their churches in Germany in 1914.

“Our elder, Brother Richter, was the first, or one of the first, to be disfellowshiped. Others named included Sister Riechers, Sister Schwarting, Sister Richter, Brother and Sister Hollman; and I believe also Brother Kuhlmann, our deacon. A little later my mother was also disfellowshiped, along with quite a few others whose names I cannot recall.

“When these believers heard what was being done, they began to cry. It was heartbreaking for them, for they believed that the church had no right to act in such an unbiblical way. But still, we were cast out, whether we liked it or not. We loved the church beyond anything in this world, but we loved the truth even more. It was then that we began to have all-night prayer meetings, lasting many, many hours. How we cried to God to intervene and bring unity again with our dear brethren, whom we loved with all our hearts. But it seemed that the die was cast, and the way of return was barred against us…

“In the meantime, we were astonished to receive visitors from distant cities and towns. They came from all over Germany, and also from Austria-Hungary, etc. We could hardly believe it when they told us that everywhere scores of believers had been disfellowshiped by the leading brethren. In the Rhineland, two whole churches, elders and all, were crossed off the membership list–Wermelskirchen, where Brother Otto Welp was elder, and Coblenz, where Brother Woltz was elder. We no longer stood alone. In fact, there were hundreds who found themselves, practically overnight, cast out of the church which they loved with all their heart.”46

“Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.”47

This Bible text was fulfilled during the First World War. It was the leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church that wrongfully disfellowshiped those who did not want to support the war or participate in the military. In other words, all those who were faithful to God’s moral law–the Ten Commandments–were unjustly treated and persecuted.