In January 1939, Consolation (now Awake!) was published in Afrikaans for the first time. This was also the first magazine to be printed by Jehovah’s Witnesses in South Africa. Type for this magazine was set by hand, a slow process.

PROGRESS DESPITE CENSORSHIP

As a result of pressure from religious leaders of Christendom and the government’s alarm over our neutral stand, subscribers’ copies of The Watchtower and Consolation were seized by the censorship authorities in 1940. An official announcement was made banning these publications. Shipments of magazines and literature from overseas were seized on arrival.

[Picture on page 87]

First “Consolation” and “The Watchtower” in Afrikaans