It was at this assembly that Brother Wozniak decided to enter the pioneer service. He obtained much literature, enabling him to witness in another Dutch-speaking province of Belgium, the Limburg.

In that same year several English pioneers settled down in Flanders. One of them, Sister Louie Berry, had the privilege of attending a meeting in Brussels where 13 Bible Students had gathered together in a kitchen to discuss the words of Isaiah 60:22: “The little one himself will become a thousand.” Those words would certainly come true in Belgium.

PIONEERS’ STEADFASTNESS

The majority of the pioneers in Belgium had come from England, France and Switzerland. Those who found it difficult to speak Dutch or French used the testimony card to give a witness. These foreign brothers achieved excellent results. For example, in 1931 one Polish brother placed 2,110 books and 10,338 booklets, and an English pioneer placed 15,000 booklets. But these results were not achieved without opposition. As soon as the pioneers arrived in a village the Catholic priests hastily ran to the police to instigate their arrest. But the pioneers persisted in preaching and proved themselves to be a real support and encouragement for the little groups.

LEGAL ORGANIZATION FORMED

Unquestionably, the opposers of the truth were not rejoicing, and they put forth vigorous efforts to get the publishers arrested and to expel the foreign pioneers. To give the organization a legal representation, a nonprofit corporation was established under the designation Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, and it was registered with legal statutes in the Belgian official journal, Le Moniteur Belge, on May 7, 1932.

It was in that same year, 1932, immediately preceding the declaring of 1933 to be a “holy year” by Pope Pius XI and the coming to power of the Nazi regime in Germany, that the Belgian brothers distributed over 196,000 books and booklets, more than double that of the preceding year.

FEARFUL CATHOLICS

The enemies continued their opposition without letup. Threats to expel the foreign pioneers and to arrest the publishers went hand in hand with the sermons of the Catholic priests, who stirred up their flocks against the proclaimers of God’s Kingdom. The people were struck with fear. In the Catholic province of Limburg the countryfolk even thought Brother Wozniak to be the Devil himself and whenever they met up with him they would make the sign of the cross. To overcome this obstacle Brother Wozniak bought himself a black bowler hat, which gave him a very distinguished appearance. Now the people looked upon him as being a respectable gentleman. With what result? He then distributed an average of 10 books and 100 booklets daily.

INCREASED OPPOSITION

In the German-speaking part of Belgium, Nazi groups began forming and they started attacking Brothers Belflamme and Novak while these brothers were distributing magazines in the city of Eupen. One group of 12 young Nazis savagely tore away their magazine bags. The attacks became so ruthless and shameful that the police had to step in to protect the brothers.

Elsewhere the authorities forbade the foreign pioneers to preach the Kingdom, and several pioneers were even expelled from the country. Now only 6 of the 26 pioneers who had reported in 1933 were left in the country. During 1934 appeals were made to King Leopold III, to the prime minister and to the minister of justice, but all in vain. Brother Wozniak, although hunted by the police, escaped expulsion. After a change in government took place, the minister of justice was replaced by a more liberal-minded man who granted Brother Wozniak permission to remain in Belgium.