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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: Brother Oscar L. Pillars of Albuquerque Someone, or rather, a couple of someones, have mentioned how the Jehovah Witnesses claim that they are demonized and attacked because of their work for Jehovah God. Really? Is it just a 'claim?' Brother Oscar L. Pillars of Albuquerque, NM, died this week at the age of 90 years old. You may remember the account of a brother that was hanged by a mob and the rope broke. That was brother Pillars. See the account below extracted from the Yearbook. ** yb75 pp. 188-190 Part 3— United States of America *** OTHER ACTS OF MOB BRUTALITY Many were the acts of mob violence having Jehovah’s witnesses as their targets. In December 1942 at Winnsboro , Texas , a number of Jehovah’s witnesses were accosted by a mob while doing magazine street work. Among the Witnesses was O. L. Pillars, servant to the brethren (circuit overseer).. As the mobsters approached, the Witnesses concluded that street work could not be done under such circumstances. So they began walking toward their car. "In the middle of the main street, in his sound car, was the Baptist preacher, C. C. Phillips," recalls Brother Pillars. "He had been preaching about Christ and his being crucified, but as soon as he saw us he changed his sermon. He started ranting and raving about how Jehovah’s witnesses would not salute the flag. He told how he would be happy to die for Old Glory and that anyone not saluting the flag should be run out of town. As we passed his truck, we looked ahead to see another mob coming toward us. Soon they closed in on us and held us until the city marshal appeared and arrested us." Later, the mob entered the office of the marshal, who made no attempt to protect the Witnesses. They were seized by the mobsters. In the street, Brother Pillars, for one, was being pummeled with fists. "At this time," says Brother Pillars, "I experienced the most unusual help. I was taking a terrible beating. Blood was gushing from my nose, face and mouth, but I felt little or no pain. Even at that time I marveled at this fact and felt it to be a manifestation of angelic help. . . . To me it explained how our German brothers had faithfully endured the heat of Nazi persecution without wavering." Brother Pillars was repeatedly beaten into unconsciousness, then revived and beaten again. Finally, unable to bring him to, the mobsters soaked him with cold water and tried to make him salute a two- by four-inch flag, according to him, "the only flag these great ‘patriots’ could find." As they held it up, they would also hold up his arm, but he let his hand droop down, showing he would not salute. Soon they had a rope around his neck, jerked him to the ground and dragged him to the jail. Dimly he heard them say: "Let’s go ahead and hang him. Then we’ll be rid of those Witnesses forever." Not long thereafter, they tried just that. Brother Pillars writes: "They put the new one-half-inch hemp rope around my neck, tying the hangman’s noose behind the ear, and dragged me into the street. Next the rope was thrown over a pipe that extended from the building. Four or five mobsters began pulling on the rope. As I was lifted off the ground, the rope tightened and I lost consciousness." The next thing Brother Pillars knew, he was back in the unheated jail. A doctor examined him and said: "If you want this boy to live, you had better get him to the hospital, as he has lost a lot of blood and his eyes have dilated." To this the marshal retorted: "He’s the most stubborn devil I have ever seen." "How those words encouraged me," remarks Brother Pillars, "for they assured me I had not compromised!" After the doctor left, the mobsters filed through the cold, unlit jail. They struck matches to see Brother Pillars’ face, and he heard them ask: "Is he dead yet?" Someone replied: "No, but he’s going to die." Chilled to the bone and soaking wet, Brother Pillars tried to keep from shivering, hoping they would think he had died. Finally, they left and all was quiet. Eventually the door opened, the Texas State Police entered and Brother Pillars was taken by ambulance to the Pittsburg , Texas , hospital. He had been at the mob’s mercy for six hours. But what had happened when they hung him? Why was he still alive? "I found out those answers late the next day," remarks Brother Pillars, adding: "Into my prison ward at the Pittsburg hospital where I was recuperating came Brother Tom Williams. He was a local attorney from Sulphur Springs and a real fighter for righteousness. He had endeavored to locate me with no success until he threatened to sue the town. Then they revealed I was in the hospital. How very good it was to see a brother’s face! He then told me that it was all over town—I had been hung but the rope broke! "Later, when the F.B.I. made an official investigation and this led to a grand jury inquiry, a group of Pentecostal men were willing to testify. They said: ‘Today it is Jehovah’s witnesses. Tomorrow it will be us!’ When they described the hanging, they said: "We saw him dangling on the rope. Then it broke. When we saw the rope break, we knew it was the Lord that broke it.’" The marshal and other officials fled across the state line. Hence, they never were put on trial. Brother Pillars recuperated and returned to his work as servant to the brethren in that area.
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