16 September

August Dickmann, a German conscientious objector and Jehovah's Witness, became the first conscientious objector to be executed by the Nazis on this day in 1939. The execution took place in Sachsenhausen concentration camp in front of 400 other Jehovah's Witness inmates.

After his death by firing squad, the camp commander asked them 'Who is now ready to sign the Declaration?' The declaration meant supporting the German military and signing a document renouncing their religion. Only two stepped forward - not to sign, but to ask that their signatures given a year earlier be annulled.