RUSSIA: Dedication of the new branch facilities in Russia drew special international attention. Outstanding theocratic developments had taken place in this part of the world. On hand for the program on June 21, 1997, were people from 42 lands.

There were 10,000 Witnesses in the whole Soviet Union in 1972. In 1991, when the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses was at last granted legal recognition there, 49,171 Witnesses were reporting in the Union’s 15 republics. In May 1997 over 215,000 Witnesses were active in that area, and some 600,000 had attended the Memorial in March.

Russia and nine of those former republics come under the supervision of the Russia branch. In order to coordinate their activity and translate literature for them, new branch facilities have been built about 25 miles [40 km] northwest of St. Petersburg, near the community of Solnechnoye. This was done in accord with the legal registration of the Administrative Center of the Regional Religious Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Russian Federation. This beautiful complex includes seven residences that accommodate about 250, a Kingdom Hall and a dining room that seat over 500 each, and a spacious office and storage complex.

At the dedication program, Theodore Jaracz, a member of the Governing Body, gave the principal talk, “Building for the Future.” Others related interesting historical developments. On large display boards in the reception area were photos and experiences documenting the activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia for over 100 years. Viewers learned that as early as 1892, at the instance of the Orthodox metropolitan of Moscow, a man who told others what he had learned from the Bible Students (as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then known) was sent into exile in what is now Kazakstan. They read about the hundreds of Russians who learned Bible truth from Jehovah’s Witnesses when in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. They read experiences about the thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses who were exiled to Siberia and the Russian Far East in 1951, during the dictatorship of Stalin.

Among those present for the dedication were many who had endured long years in prison and Siberian labor camps for their faith. Can you imagine the utter amazement and joy of these old-timers as they toured the beautiful facilities located in this gardenlike, 17-acre [7 ha] setting? Tears filled many eyes, especially as brothers recognized ones they had not seen since prison days. What a joy it was to be present when brothers and sisters in the large courtyard spontaneously began singing in four-part harmony Kingdom songs that they had sung when they were exiles in Siberia decades earlier!

Many construction workers, from some 20 countries, had worked together for over four years to build these facilities. Some had given up their homes and had made radical changes in their lives to help their Russian brothers. What an emotional event the dedication was for them, as they prepared to move on to other theocratic assignments!

(1) Russia