Any Weapon Formed Against You Will Have No Success (Isa. 54:17)
WORKING UNDERGROUND
1 Many publishers had stashed publications in novel hiding places. The term “underground” took on new meaning when the brothers buried literature in the ground and dug it up when needed. Brother Skau, who was an electrician, hid one carton of books behind a transformer at his place of work. Brother Øiseth hid literature in a beehive, and Brother Kvinge had a cache in a potato bin.
2 Concerned that the literature depot in Harstad might be discovered, Lotte Holm went to retrieve all the cartons of literature. She boarded a boat, carefully stacked the cartons on the deck, and sat down on the stack. As the boat departed, Lotte was dismayed to see how many German soldiers were on board and anxiously contemplated how she would unload the literature without being exposed. However, she need not have worried. When the boat docked, the soldiers felt sorry for the old lady who had so many heavy things to carry, so they helped her ashore with all the cartons and even carried them to her home for her. Little did those polite soldiers know how much their kindness benefited the Witnesses at that time.
3 In spite of the ban, brothers continued smuggling the latest copies of The Watchtower into Norway from Sweden and Denmark. They translated study articles into Norwegian and distributed typewritten copies countrywide. A complex network of couriers traveled by train, bicycle, or boat to get the timely spiritual food to true worshippers throughout the country.
THEY KEPT ON PREACHING
4 During the war, a situation developed that proved to be a test for the brothers and sisters in Norway. When our work was banned in July 1941, the brothers were advised to be careful so as not to provoke the Nazi authorities. Therefore, many preached informally to friends and relatives or visited people they had spoken to in the past. Some brothers, though, felt that this approach was too passive and that there was nothing to be lost by preaching from house to house using only the Bible. Although there was some disagreement about how the preaching work should be done, both groups had a strong desire to serve Jehovah faithfully in the face of opposition.
5 What could the brothers do? The war made communication with world headquarters in New York impossible, so it did not seem likely that the matter could be settled quickly. Would the brothers allow their differences to weaken their faith? Or would they continue preaching as best they could and wait for Jehovah and his organization to settle the matter?
6 It is evident that Jehovah was blessing their faithful service, for the organization enjoyed the same growth during the war as it did in the five years prior to the war. In spite of the war, the ban, and the different ways of doing the preaching, the peak of publishers increased from 462 in 1940 to 689 in 1945—giving the brothers reason, indeed, to rejoice!
7 In spite of those arrests, honesthearted people were not discouraged, and the persecution often brought positive results. Odette Mukandekezi, an energetic, outgoing sister, was among the many who were arrested at that time. She relates: “During the time of persecution, brothers were arrested and beaten. One day we passed a little girl named Josephine who was herding cattle. She had a Bible and had read in it that the early Christians were maligned, persecuted, scourged, and imprisoned. Since she knew that the Witnesses were being persecuted, she concluded that they must have the true religion, and she requested a Bible study. She is now a baptized sister.”