Jehovah’s Witnesses in Eastern Europe

WHEN the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, Asiaweek reported that “some 2 million East Germans poured into the western half of their divided country in the two days after East Berlin opened the frontier.” What was their mission?

For the more affluent, it was a buying spree. For others, it was mainly window-shopping and tasting their newfound freedom. Many found Jehovah’s Witnesses on the streets of Berlin and other cities and accepted literature from them. Since then, some have written to the Watch Tower Society’s branch office in Selters, near Frankfurt am Main, expressing some remarkable reactions.

One letter stated: “When I visited West Berlin for the first time in my life, I received a copy of The Watchtower as a gift from Jehovah’s Witnesses on the street. Since then, I have started looking into the Bible again, and even though I have many, many problems, once again there is someone who gives me hope and joy in living. I would be very happy if I could read the book Your Youth​—Getting the Best out of It. I would also like to have contact with Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

Another visitor wrote: “As I passed through the tunnel to the main station in Nuremberg, a lady gave me copies of Awake! and The Watchtower. I was thrilled when I read them. For some days I have been using the Bible daily again.”

Conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses were held in major cities across Eastern Europe during the summer of 1990. The Olympia Stadium in what was then West Berlin was the site of one convention attended by Witnesses from many nations, including eastern Germany. It is estimated that of the 44,532 in attendance, some 30,000 were from eastern Germany. The newspaper Berliner Morgenpost reported that 1,017 new Witnesses were baptized in the Olympic swimming pool, using total immersion in water, the method by which “the participants closely stick to the pattern of the primitive Christians.”

How have things changed in eastern Germany? In March 1990 the East German newspapers announced the legalization of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Under the title “Jehovah’s Witnesses Legal Again,” the East German newspaper Mitteldeutsche Zeitung stated: “March 14 meant the end of a ban that had lasted for four decades. On this day German representatives of Jehovah’s Witnesses were able to leave the building of the G[erman] D[emocratic] R[epublic] State Secretariat for Church Affairs with an official document in their pocket again permitting their community of faith the free exercise of religion within the realm of the GDR.”

A letter received last spring from a Witness in Leipzig tells the story: “One week ago we were still secretly importing spiritual food in small amounts. Now [March 14, 1990] we have been officially recognized! Soon we will be unloading a truck with four tons of literature!” In fact, the first truck into East Germany was loaded with 25 tons of Bible literature, and within the next two months, 250 tons more were sent. Such was the spiritual hunger of those Witnesses who had been deprived of freedom for over 40 years!

When we recall that both Nazism (1933-45) and Communism tried to stamp out the work of the Witnesses in Germany, their past and present vigorous activities are a fine testimony to their integrity and to God’s blessing upon them.

Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Soviet Union

In December 1989, Mikhail Gorbachev met with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican. The Soviet newspaper Pravda reported Gorbachev as saying about this dialogue: “We had a deep and meaningful talk. . . . We spoke about religion and relevant processes underway in Europe, the world, and the Soviet Union.” L’Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper, reported that Mr. Gorbachev said in his speech to the pope: “People of many confessions, including Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and others, live in the Soviet Union. All of them have a right to satisfy their spiritual needs. Shortly, the Law on the Freedom of Conscience will be adopted in our country.”

True to that word, in September 1990 the Soviet legislature approved a law allowing freedom of conscience. Article 3 of the law as drafted states: “In harmony with the right to freedom of conscience, every citizen decides for himself his relationship to religion, has the right to practice any religion individually or together with others or to practice none, to express and spread convictions relative to his relationship to religion.”

There are thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Soviet Union who look forward to the exercise of freedom of religion. (See page 22.) For the 1990 “Pure Language” Conventions, over 17,000 delegates from the Soviet Union attended the Russian sessions in Warsaw in representation of all the Witnesses spread throughout the Soviet Union. They look forward to the day when it will be possible to hold conventions in the Soviet Union.

Progress in Poland

Jehovah’s Witnesses were legalized in Poland in May 1989. Since then a branch office has been established, and enlarged facilities are being constructed near Warsaw. Formerly, hundreds of young Witnesses were imprisoned because of the issue of Christian neutrality. Now they are exempt from military service and punishment if they present an appropriate certificate.

The conventions held in Poland in 1989 and 1990 have been another great stimulus to the Witnesses there. A report states that the number of active Witnesses in Poland has risen every month during the last year, with a new peak of over 97,000. No doubt Poland will soon be the 12th nation with over 100,000 Witnesses.a The attendance at the Memorial of Christ’s death in April was 188,861 persons.

Religious Freedom in Romania

Witnesses in Romania were thrilled to hear that their association was legally recognized in April 1990. (See box, page 13.) Soon circuit assemblies were organized throughout the nation, and in one series over 44,000 were present, yet there were only about 19,000 Witnesses in the country at that time. Certainly many Romanians are responding to the Kingdom message.

District conventions with the worldwide theme for 1990 of “Pure Language” were held in the cities of Brasov and Cluj-Napoca. The program was presented in Romanian and Hungarian. Over 36,000 were present, and 1,445 were baptized.

With the January 1, 1991, issue, The Watchtower in Romanian began to be published simultaneously with the English and in full color.

In nearby Bulgaria, where the Eastern Orthodox religion predominates, the Witnesses do not yet have legal recognition but are renting rooms for their congregation meetings. Over two hundred traveled down to Salonika, Greece, for the “Pure Language” Convention held in Bulgarian and Greek.

Good News From Hungary

June 27, 1989, was a historic day for the Witnesses in Hungary. The newspaper Magyar Nemzet announced: “The State Office for Church Affairs declared the religious association of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hungary, according to the law pursuant to freedom of religion, as a legally recognized religious confession.” The news was announced over the radio and on TV. Hungarians learned that Jehova Tanúi (Jehovah’s Witnesses) at last had legal recognition of their work.

To cover the major regions of the country, “Pure Language” Conventions were held in Pecs, Miskolc, Debrecen, and Budapest. Some 2,000 who spoke Hungarian came from Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union. To underline the international unity of Jehovah’s Witnesses, a group of 700 visiting delegates attended from Finland. The total attendance in Hungary was 21,568, including upwards of 2,000 Romanian delegates.

Since January 1990, the Witnesses in Hungary have been receiving their full-color magazines regularly, translated simultaneously with the English language originals.

On the Move in Czechoslovakia

In this beautiful country of rugged mountains and fertile plains, Jehovah’s Witnesses are busy helping their neighbors learn more about the Bible. A report on their activity states: “The work is being carried on openly, and large meetings are being held.”

After the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe beginning in late 1989, the Witnesses in Czechoslovakia reacted very swiftly and organized a series of circuit assemblies during the months of April through June 1990. As a result, for the first time, there were positive press reports about the Witnesses. Presently, there are over 21,000 Witnesses in Czechoslovakia, and in 1990 there were 40,295 in attendance at the Memorial of Christ’s death. Over half of the congregations have already rented places where they can hold meetings, and 12 congregations even have their own Kingdom Halls.

A convention was held in Prague in August 1990, with an attendance of 23,876, and 1,824 were baptized. To make the stadium presentable for the convention, over 9,500 Witnesses voluntarily spent over 58,000 hours in cleaning and painting. A representative of Czechoslovak TV commented: “We have visited many social events, but we admire your organization here in the stadium. We can hardly believe that you are organizing such a gathering for the first time.” A visitor said: “I admire the spiritual atmosphere, cordial relations, and love among your brothers. I came as a friend; I leave as an even greater one.”

The Watchtower and Awake! magazines are being published in full color in the Czech and Slovak languages, and The Watchtower is simultaneous with the English in both tongues. When we recall the repressive situation of just over a year ago, these are remarkable changes.

Future Prospects

What are the prospects for the Witnesses preaching in countries where the newer generations have been raised on atheism? A report states: “There is a great darkness as to the Bible and God. The positive side is, however, that the people are not confused by false religious teachings that must be discarded. It appears that the harvest will be great.”

So, what is the message that Jehovah’s Witnesses have to offer the people of Eastern Europe from the Bible? The following article will answer.

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 8, 9]

Religious Freedom At Last!

The following are comments by Witnesses from former East Germany who attended the “Pure Language” Convention in Berlin, July 1990.

“My name is Lydia. I am eight years old, and I come from the GDR [German Democratic Republic]. I am very happy to be attending this district convention because a year ago, the borders were not open. We had to celebrate the Memorial secretly. This time free! When everyone starts singing, the tears come. I am so excited I will just have to tell about it at school!”

“We are filled with gratefulness and appreciation for being Jehovah’s guests here in Berlin amid an international brotherhood.”​—Bernd.

“That GDR brothers were also on the program points up a special aspect: Jehovah trains and qualifies his people even when they are under ban.”​—Gottfried.

“The applause and the singing showed that everyone was happy. It was a roaring sound that inwardly swept a person off his feet. How Jehovah must have rejoiced!”​—Egon.

“After my baptism some of the brothers asked if the water had been very cold. I could only answer that I didn’t know. The blessing of Jehovah was so warm that I hardly noticed the temperature of the water.”​—Heidrun.

“The atmosphere in the dormitory accommodations was indescribable! From Denmark, Mozambique, England, California, southern Germany, Spain, GDR​—all of us sang together, all of us were speaking the ‘pure language.’”​—Jutta.

“We always related to our children the memories of the 1958 and 1960 Berlin conventions, the last we were able to attend. But what we now experienced surpassed all our memories and expectations.”​—Wolfgang.

“What impressed us most was when thousands stood up to sing and praise Jehovah, especially during the closing song and prayer. We could no longer hold back our tears.”​—Monika and Reinhard.

[Box on page 13]

“An Injustice Was Corrected”

Under that title a news item was reported in the Romanian journal Tineretul liber (Free Youth) of August 11, 1990. It stated: “Yes, an injustice was corrected. The much reviled religious organization ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses,’ who have kept their integrity as followers of Christ for more than 40 years, have been legalized, obtaining the charter of a legal entity. This organization carries on its activity under the oversight and authorization of the Governing Body, as a worldwide organization, which is active in 210 countries and island territories.” The item concluded by announcing the August conventions in Brasov and Cluj-Napoca.

[Pictures on page 9]

Convention activities: (from lower left, clockwise) presenting new brochure in Warsaw; Hungarian and Romanian platforms, Budapest; taking notes, Berlin; preconvention stadium facelift, Prague

[Pictures on page 10]

Convention activities: (from left, clockwise) baptism, Romania; stadium, Prague; family with “Mankind’s Search for God” book in Berlin; speaker in Budapest; examining the Bible in Poland