Regarding the events of that period, Brother Müller later wrote: “One day in January 1956 in Valdice prison, I was taken to an office where two men were waiting for me. They claimed to be from the Ministry of Interior. They tried to persuade me that we should ‘ease down’ on some of our religious teachings. We could not agree on that, and the interview was therefore short. In 1957 two other officials from the Ministry of Interior visited me. That three-hour discussion had a completely different spirit. I was able to explain openly the views and attitudes of the Witnesses regarding various issues. They were interested in our attitude toward military service, blood transfusions, labor unions, and a number of other things. At the end one of them asked me: ‘Mr. Müller, do you think we can be friends?’ I replied: ‘People who are friends are very close and have many common interests. We Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in God. But you Communists are atheists. We cannot have a common ground. But I think that we can live and exist side by side.’ The official said: ‘I am glad for your reply because otherwise we couldn’t trust you.’ I had the impression that this final question was asked in order to determine if there could be any meaningful dialogue between us in the future. And if so, it would bring us one step closer to a solution to our situation.”

Some of the brothers, perhaps understandably, had strong feelings against the authorities because of the mistreatment of their Christian brothers. Brother Müller comments: “I was very troubled by this situation, so in the autumn of 1957, I wrote a letter [from prison], which was to help the brothers put things in perspective.” One of its paragraphs read:

“There is another pain in my heart. . . . I call to the minds of the brothers that our meetings are devoted to the study of Scripture and to training Jehovah’s Witnesses to be better, more qualified ministers. It is clearly unacceptable to discuss politics or to voice any anti-State opinions at meetings, regardless of where they are held and regardless of whether merely two are present or there are many. Brothers, keep this in mind, and do not allow any such discussions. Do any of you hold grudges against the regime because I and other brothers are in prison? Then I beseech you in my name, and in the name of the other brothers, to let go of such feelings. Do not give in to wrath and animosity, for we have presented our case to God and you do likewise.”—Rom. 12:17–13:1.

Faithful brothers and sisters were greatly encouraged by this letter. Jan Tesarz said: “We received his letter, written in prison in 1957. No sign of compromise, but Christian reasonableness!” Yet, not all took that view. Brother Müller’s letter became the subject of controversy and much speculation.

When a letter was sent by Brother Müller to the brothers in order to clarify matters, some who had strong and critical opinions did not allow the letter to be read to the congregations.