• Austria
    1989 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • And Then​—Siberia!

      Until May 1955, Austria was occupied by the troops of the Allies (U.S.A., France, Britain, and U.S.S.R.) and was divided into four occupation zones. The village of Deutsch Wagram was in the Soviet zone. Brother Franz Malina lived there. He knew how to speak Russian, and he witnessed in a very straightforward manner to the occupation troops, even conducting Bible studies with some of the men. He also obtained Bible literature in Russian and distributed it among the soldiers.

      His activities did not go unnoticed. Early in 1948 two men favorably disposed toward him warned: “Franz, get out of here; they want to arrest you. There was literature of yours found with the Russians.” But Brother Malina did not flee. He decided to stay with his sick wife and the children. It was not long, however, before he was arrested. He was detained in the local Soviet commander’s office for eight days and eventually was transferred to the center of the Soviet army staff. During the six weeks he was forced to spend there, he preached frankly to soldiers and officers alike, telling them about Jehovah’s Kingdom. Finally he was sentenced to ten years at forced labor on the now familiar-sounding charge of ‘demoralization of the troops’ and was taken to far-off Siberia.

      At last he arrived in the vast area behind the Ural Mountains. There he went from one camp to another, mostly on foot. Escape was impossible. In almost all the camps he met brothers from various parts of the Soviet Union. When he would arrive at a new camp, he naturally had to search for them. And when he found brothers, they tested him to determine whether he was really one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They did this by asking questions such as: “How is Jonadab’s family?” and “Who is the president of the Watch Tower Society?”

      Convinced that he truly was a brother, they lovingly helped him to endure the harsh, unaccustomed life in the camps. Because of his age he was called Dad. In the course of five years, he got to know 30 camps. Then in 1953, he was granted a pardon and returned home. His wife had died in the meantime, and his eldest daughter had assumed the role of mother. Was Brother Malina now discouraged or broken? On the contrary, within the next few days he was already on his way again preaching the good news from house to house. This he continued to do until his death in 1964.