By August 1964, meetings had essentially stopped. The little information that trickled out indicated that the brothers were under strict surveillance by the Sigurimi. One message beneath a stamp read: “Pray to the Lord for us. Seizure of literature house to house. They do not allow us to study. Three persons in internim.”

It was years, though, before our brothers in Albania heard about these organizational adjustments. When they did, it was because tourists from the United States made brief contact with Llopi Bllani, a sister in Tiranë. They learned that no meetings were being held, and they were told that there were only three active Witnesses in the city, though there were actually many more.

In 1963, Melpo Marks wrote her brother John that two of the three brothers who made up the Country Committee, Leonidha Pope and Luçi Xheka, were “away from their families” and that meetings were not being held.

In 1968, Gole Flloko wrote to John and Helen Marks about his failing health. It was illegal to preach, and meetings were banned.