• Cyprus
    1995 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • First Visit of the Society’s President

      An event that brought great joy to the Cypriot brothers was the visit, in December 1951, of Brother Knorr accompanied by Milton Henschel. The Royal Cinema was the site for a three-day assembly. It was a modern building, and Brother Knorr commented: ‘We would like to have a place like this for our circuit assemblies in New York.’ A three-day assembly had been planned, but because the Royal Cinema was in a residential part of the old city, the Pallas Cinema in the center of Nicosia was booked for the public talk to be given by Brother Knorr on Sunday morning. Arrangements were made to give full publicity to this talk. Four large banners prepared in Greek and English were mounted on the side of the Royal Cinema. Two hundred posters were distributed throughout the capital. Advertisements were flashed on the screens in the largest cinemas. English, Greek, and Turkish newspapers carried announcements of the public talk “Will Religion Meet the World Crisis?” Not surprisingly, personnel at the leading Communist newspaper said that they could not advertise the talk ‘because it was against party line,’ and members of the staff at the leading nationalist newspaper said that they ‘must first have the approval of the archbishop.’

      With all the publicity, we wondered how our religious opposers would react. We soon found out. One night the banners on the Royal Cinema were ripped down. We informed the police. The archbishop had a leaflet printed in which he urged: “ATTENTION! KEEP AWAY FROM THE MILLENNIALISTS.” Part of the leaflet said: ‘Do you see? They have invited a stranger also to uphold them. . . . They are wolves in sheep’s clothing who come to devour the sensible sheep of Christ. . . . Do not approach them, don’t give them any attention. Ignore them, maybe they will come to their senses and be corrected. From THE HOLY ARCHBISHOPRIC.’

      Would it be possible for Brother Knorr to give his public talk at the Pallas Cinema without disturbance? Let an eyewitness describe the scene. Don Rendell recalls: ‘It was just after 10:00 a.m. when I approached the cinema. There were police outside the entrance, and I could see a crowd of young men milling around with the intention of getting into the cinema to cause trouble. As there were brothers who knew many of the troublemakers, they were assisting the police who were keeping the mobsters away from the entrance. I had to push my way through them to get in. At 10:30 a.m., Brother Knorr began his talk with 420 present. But the religious hooligans outside started to bang on the doors. This was quickly stopped by the police. But the question now was, How will we be able to get out of the cinema after the program? The brothers decided that, with the help of the police, they would keep the mobsters at the front of the cinema. Then at the end of the talk, we were asked to leave the building by a rear exit, and this we did quietly, thus avoiding any confrontation.’