Suddenly—The Berlin Wall Falls!

The suddenness of the event amazed the world! People around the world watched on television. In Berlin thousands celebrated noisily. The barrier between East and West had been removed. It was November 9, 1989.

Over 25 years previously, in the morning hours of August 13, 1961, Berlin citizens had been stunned to discover East Berlin officials constructing a wall separating the Communist-controlled sector from the rest of the city. Berlin was being physically divided into east and west, thus mirroring the nations of East and West Germany. Perhaps more dramatically than anything else, the Berlin Wall came to symbolize the struggle between two superpowers during the Cold War.

Then, on June 12, 1987, just over two years before the astonishing events of 1989, U.S. President Ronald Reagan, speaking within sight of the Brandenburg Gate and with the Berlin Wall at his back, demanded: “Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall.” But was there any indication that his request would be granted? Was it anything more than Cold War rhetoric? Not really. As late as early 1989, Erich Honecker, head of the East German regime, said, as if in answer, that the Wall “will continue to exist in 50 and also in 100 years.”

Yet, with unexpected suddenness the Brandenburg Gate was opened and the Berlin Wall crumbled. A member of the Selters Bethel family recalls attending a congregation meeting on the evening of Thursday, November 9, and upon returning home turning on his TV set to watch the late evening news. In disbelief, he followed reports that the border between East and West Berlin had been opened. Citizens of East Berlin were freely entering West Berlin for the first time in 27 years! He could scarcely believe what he saw: cars crossing the border, their horns honking in celebration as more and more West Berliners—some roused from their beds—headed for the border to line the route and reach out to embrace their unexpected visitors. Tears flowed freely. The wall had fallen—literally overnight!

During the next 24 hours, people all over the world found it difficult to tear themselves away from their television sets. Here was history in the making. What would it mean for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany? What would it mean for Witnesses throughout the world?

A Trabi Comes to Call

On the following Saturday morning shortly before eight o’clock, as a Bethel brother headed for work in Selters, he met a fellow member of the Bethel family, Karlheinz Hartkopf, who now serves in Hungary. Excitedly, the brother said: “I’m sure it won’t be long before the first brothers from East Germany will show up here in Selters!” Brother Hartkopf, in his usual calm and matter-of-fact manner, responded: “They are already here.” In fact, in the early morning hours, two brothers had arrived in their East German two-stroke Trabi car and were parked outside the Bethel gate, waiting for the workday to begin.

The news spread rapidly through Bethel. Before everyone had a chance even to see and greet these unexpected but welcome visitors, however, they were already on their way back to East Germany, their car packed full of literature. Though the literature was still officially banned there, as was the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the excitement of the moment gave the brothers renewed courage. “We have to be back for the meeting tomorrow morning,” they explained. Imagine the joy of the congregation when these brothers showed up with cartons of literature that had been in such short supply for so very long!

During the next few weeks, thousands of East Germans poured across the border into West Germany, many of them for the first time in their lives. They were clearly enjoying a freedom of movement they had long gone without. At the border they were met by waving West Germans. Jehovah’s Witnesses were also there, greeting the visitors—however, with something more substantial than just an outward show of emotion. They freely distributed Bible literature to these visitors from the East.

In some border cities, the congregations put forth special efforts to reach the visiting East Germans. Since the literature of Jehovah’s Witnesses had been banned for decades, many knew little or nothing about it. Instead of door-to-door activity, “Trabi to Trabi” service came into vogue. People were eager to investigate anything new, including religion. In some instances publishers simply said: “You have probably never read these two magazines, because they were banned in your country for almost 40 years.” The often-heard reply was: “Well, if they were banned, they must be good. Let me have them.” Two publishers in the border city of Hof each placed up to 1,000 magazines a month. Needless to say, local and neighboring congregations soon cleared out their surplus magazine stock.

Meanwhile, the East German brothers were enjoying their newly found freedom, although initially somewhat cautiously. Wilfried Schröter, who learned the truth under ban in 1972, recalls: “During the first few days after the wall fell, we were naturally a bit afraid that everything might suddenly be reversed.” Less than two months later, he attended an assembly in the Berlin Assembly Hall. Regarding that assembly he later reported: “I was simply overwhelmed by being able to associate with so many brothers. I had tears in my eyes when we sang our Kingdom songs, as did many others. The joy of experiencing a ‘live assembly’ was tremendous.”

A similar expression of appreciation comes from Manfred Tamme. During the ban, meetings had been small, and no sound equipment had been needed. But now he says: “Although I had been a special pioneer for over 30 years, for the first time in my life, I now was speaking through a microphone. I still remember how terrified I was when I heard my voice coming from the loudspeakers.” Nevertheless, he says, “it was wonderful suddenly to be sitting with the entire congregation in a rented hall.”

And it was rewarding to hear other voices, like the one Manfred heard a few months later. He reports: “In January 1990, I was in a sauna for medical treatment. There I met the former authorized agent of the National Police Force. During a friendly discussion, he said: ‘Manfred, I now realize that we were fighting the wrong people.’”

Spiritual Food in Abundance!

“Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth.” Jehovah’s Witnesses everywhere are well acquainted with that fundamental truth quoted by Jesus Christ from the inspired Hebrew Scriptures. (Matt. 4:4; Deut. 8:3) With the loving help of the international brotherhood, even during the years of ban, Witnesses in East Germany received spiritual food, but in limited supplies. How they longed to have access to the spiritual abundance being enjoyed by their brothers in other lands!

As soon as the Berlin Wall fell, individual Witnesses began taking supplies of literature with them to the East. About four months later, on March 14, 1990, official recognition was given to Jehovah’s Witnesses in the German Democratic Republic. Now the Society could make direct shipments. On March 30 a truck containing 25 tons of spiritual food pulled out of the Selters complex and headed east. The 1991 Britannica Book of the Year subsequently noted: “During just two months, the West German branch office of the Watchtower Society shipped 275 tons of Bible-based literature, including 115,000 Bibles, to East Germany alone.”

At about that time, a brother from Leipzig wrote to a fellow Witness in West Germany: “One week ago we were still secretly importing food in small amounts; soon we will be unloading a truck with four tons of it!”

“The first literature shipment came so soon,” recalls Heinz Görlach from Chemnitz, “that we were hardly prepared. After the first shipment arrived, I could reach my bed only with difficulty—my entire bedroom was full of cartons. I felt as though I was sleeping in a treasure vault.”

The brothers in Selters were also experiencing in a small way what the new situation meant for those who had been cut off for so long from the things Witnesses in freedom often take for granted. An overseer in the printery reports: “An elderly, modestly dressed brother stood watching one of our printing presses. His tour group had already gone ahead, but he lingered, still deep in thought, watching the magazines flooding out of the machine at top speed. With tears in his eyes, he approached one of the brothers; it was apparent that he was deeply moved. Attempting to say something in broken German, his voice faltered. But we understood his smile as he pulled a few sheets of paper from the inside pocket of his jacket, handed them to us, and hurried on. What had he given us? An almost illegible Watchtower in Russian that had been copied on the sheets of a school exercise book. How long had it taken to make this copy of the magazine? We have no way of knowing but, for sure, hundreds of times longer than the split second we need to produce a magazine on the press.”

No more did the Witnesses in each study group have to make do with a few small-print or handwritten magazines that they could keep for only a few days. Now everyone had his own copy—with illustrations in full color—plus additional copies to use in field service.

Adjustment to Worshiping Openly

Having greater freedom presented challenges of its own. Preaching under government ban required courage. It also taught those who did it to rely fully on Jehovah. However, after the ban was lifted, Ralf Schwarz, a Christian elder in Limbach-Oberfrohna, said: “We have to be more careful not to be sidetracked by materialism and the anxieties of life.” In some cases, after East Germany was integrated into the Federal Republic, in October 1990, Witness families in the East moved into more humble quarters so that they could pay the rent without having to work extra time and miss meetings when the rents went up.—Matt. 6:22, 24.

Even during the difficult years under Communist rule, the brothers had continued to share in the field ministry. They even went from house to house—but discreetly, perhaps calling at one house on one block and then going to another block to work another house. Some did it even when danger of imprisonment was greatest. Martin Jahn, who was only 11 years old when the ban was imposed, explained some of the changes that they now faced: “The territories all had to be redone so that publishers could now work entire sections of houses. We were accustomed to the old system of working only certain house numbers or certain floors. This had been the normal way to do it for so long that we had to be patient with those who found adjusting difficult. No longer lending literature but, rather, placing it was new for both publishers and interested ones. Since we were used to doing it the other way, publishers sometimes ended up with more literature in their bags after field service than they had to begin with.”

There were also changes in the attitudes of the people. During the years of ban, many people had viewed Jehovah’s Witnesses as heroes because the Witnesses had the courage to stand up for their convictions. This brought them respect. With greater freedom, many welcomed the Witnesses with a measure of enthusiasm. Within several years, however, things changed. People became engrossed with the way of life that goes with a market economy. Some of them began to view visits of the Witnesses as disturbing to their peace and quiet, even as annoying.

Witnessing under ban had taken courage. Adjusting to the new situation required no less determination. In fact, many Witnesses agree with what was stated by an overseer in a Western European country where the work had long been banned, namely: “Working under ban is easier than doing so in freedom.”

Opposition Fails to Slow Down the Work

Although the preaching of the good news in East Germany took off with renewed vigor, Christendom’s clergy showed little concern at first. However, when it became evident that people were really listening to Jehovah’s Witnesses, clergy discomfort grew. According to the Deutsches Allgemeines Sonntagsblatt, a minister from Dresden who viewed himself as an expert on religions claimed that “Jehovah’s Witnesses are like the Communist Party.” So now instead of claiming that the Witnesses were American spies opposed to Communism, as the clergy had done during the 1950’s, the clergy were trying to connect the Witnesses with the Communists. Of course, people who knew that the Witnesses had been banned by the Communist government for 40 years realized that this was a gross misrepresentation.

What was the objective? The clergy hoped that Jehovah’s Witnesses would again be banned, just as they had been during the Nazi era and again under Communist rule. Though religious elements, supported by apostate forces, strove to prevent Jehovah’s Witnesses from enjoying constitutionally protected freedoms, the Witnesses were making full use of opportunities to give a witness, as Jesus Christ had commanded.—Mark 13:10.

Some Who Embraced the Truth

Among those who responded to the Kingdom message were some who had been deeply engrossed in the old system. For 38 years Egon had been an East German policeman. He was none too pleased when his wife began studying with Jehovah’s Witnesses. He was impressed, however, by their friendly, loving, and disciplined behavior, as well as by the timely Awake! articles they often brought to his house. Attending a special assembly day with his wife, he was shocked to come face-to-face with a brother he had once arrested. It is not hard to imagine that he felt ill at ease, yes, even guilty. But in spite of the past, a friendship developed between the two. Now both Egon and his wife are baptized Witnesses.

For 19 years Günter had been a member of the State Security Service, and he had risen to the rank of major. Embittered and disillusioned after the collapse of the system for which he had worked so long, he met the Witnesses for the first time in 1991. He was impressed by their conduct and by the understanding they showed for him and his problems. A Bible study was started and, although he was an atheist, he eventually became convinced that God does exist. By 1993 he was ready for baptism. Today he is happy working in support of God’s Kingdom.

Another man, lacking faith in God and wholly convinced that Communism was mankind’s only hope, had no qualms about infiltrating himself into Jehovah’s organization in order to pass on information about their activities to the State Security Service. After being “baptized” in 1978, he lived a lie for ten years. But he now admits: “The behavior of Jehovah’s Witnesses, which I experienced firsthand, and a study of the Creation and Revelation Climax books convinced me that much of what enemies say about the Witnesses is untrue. The proofs of the existence of a Creator are overwhelming.” Shortly before the Berlin Wall fell, he was faced with a hard decision: either find an excuse to withdraw from Jehovah’s people and keep on supporting a system in which he no longer believed or admit to being a traitor and then strive to become a genuine servant of Jehovah. He chose the latter. His sincere repentance led to a Bible study and to a second baptism, this time one based on accurate knowledge and true dedication.

Now They Could Tell About It

After the ban was lifted, Witnesses from the East could speak more freely about their experiences under Communist rule. During dedication ceremonies of an administrative building of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Berlin on December 7, 1996, several elders who had played a vital part in keeping the flock in East Germany spiritually strong reminisced about the past.

Wolfgang Meise, a Witness for 50 years, recalled what had occurred in June 1951, when he was 20 years of age. In a publicized show trial, he was sentenced to four years of imprisonment. As he and several other convicted brothers were being led off, some 150 Witnesses who were also in attendance at the trial surrounded them, shook their hands, and began singing a Kingdom song. Heads popped out of all the courthouse windows as people tried to see what was happening. That was not the sort of impression that the authorities wanted to leave on the minds of the public. This put an end to such show trials of the Witnesses.

Egon Ringk recalled that during the early days of the ban, individual Watchtower articles were typed out with six to nine carbon copies. “In order to provide the congregations with spiritual food, a West Berlin brother, a truck driver who drove back and forth between West Berlin and East Germany, put himself at our disposal. The ‘food’ was transferred quickly—in just three or four seconds—during which time two large teddy bears of equal size were also transferred from one vehicle to another. After arriving home, their stomachs were ‘emptied’ to reveal important messages and information about new appointments.”—Compare Ezekiel 3:3.

Experiences were related about the courage shown by couriers who had obtained literature in West Berlin before the wall was built and smuggled it into East Germany. There was, of course, the possibility that access to West Berlin might someday be cut off. It was to discuss just such a possibility that a number of East German brothers were invited to a meeting on December 25, 1960. “This was obviously at the direction of Jehovah,” Brother Meise stated, “because on August 13, 1961, when the wall was suddenly built, our organization was prepared.”

Hermann Laube related that he first came in contact with the truth as a prisoner of war in Scotland. Back home in East Germany, once the ban went into effect, he saw the need to supply the brothers with as much spiritual food as possible. So the Witnesses set up their own printing operation, using a makeshift printing press. “But without paper, the best press is of little value,” Brother Laube noted, recalling the day he was told that there was only enough paper left for three more issues. What now?

Brother Laube continued: “A few days later, we heard someone knocking on the eaves of the house. It was a brother from Bautzen who said: ‘You’re a printer. Several rolls of newsprint are lying in the Bautzen dump, leftover rolls from the newspaper printing plant, which they plan on burying. Could you use them?’”

The brothers wasted no time. “That very night we drummed up a group, and off we went to Bautzen. No, it was not just a few rolls but almost two tons of paper! It borders on the incredible that our rickety autos were able to transport the paper, but in a short time, all of it had been moved. We then had enough paper to keep us going until the Society arranged to supply us with the thin-paper, small-print publications.”

Circumstances demanded the greatest care to keep the identity of individual members of the flock secret. Rolf Hintermeyer recalled: “Once, after having met brothers, I was caught and taken to a building for interrogation. I had several slips of paper containing addresses and other information. Upon arrival we had to climb a winding staircase. This gave me the chance to swallow the slips. But since there were so many of them, it took quite some time. At the top of the stairs, the officials realized what I was doing and grabbed me by the throat. I also put my hands to my throat and stammered, ‘There, I’ve finally got them down.’ Upon hearing this they released me, which in turn gave me an opportunity really to finish swallowing them, now that they were smaller and moist.”

Horst Schleussner came into the truth during the mid-1950’s when persecution was at its worst, so he knew whereof he spoke when he said: “For a certainty, Jehovah God lovingly protected his servants during the almost 40 years that they were under ban.”

A Victory Celebration in Berlin

With that era of Communist oppression behind them, the brothers just had to celebrate. Above all, they longed to express to Jehovah in public assembly their gratitude for the opportunity that was now open for them to serve him with greater freedom.

As soon as the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, the Governing Body gave directions to begin making plans to hold an international convention in Berlin. A convention organization was quickly set up. On the evening of March 14, 1990, the group was scheduled to meet to discuss convention arrangements. Helmut Martin still remembers when the appointed convention overseer, Dietrich Förster, asked him to announce to the assembled brothers that earlier in the day, official recognition had been granted Jehovah’s Witnesses in East Germany. Yes, the ban was officially over!

Since the convention was being planned at such a comparatively late date, the Olympic Stadium was no longer available on a weekend. So the convention was scheduled for Tuesday through Friday, July 24 to 27. When it came time to move in, the brothers had only one day to prepare the facilities and only a few hours to dismantle everything afterward.

Thus, on Monday, July 23, hundreds of volunteers were already in the stadium at five o’clock in the morning. Gregor Reichart, a member of the Selters Bethel family, recalls that “those from East Germany took to the work with gusto, as if they had been doing it for years.” A stadium official later remarked that he was pleased that “for the first time, the stadium got a thorough cleaning.”

Some 9,500 East Germans traveled to the convention aboard 13 chartered trains. Others came in 200 chartered buses. An elder reports that when making arrangements for one of the chartered trains, he told a railway official that three were being planned from the Dresden area alone. The official’s eyes grew wide in amazement as he asked: “Are there really that many of Jehovah’s Witnesses in East Germany?”

For those who traveled by chartered train, the convention started before they even reached Berlin. “We met at the Chemnitz railway station to board the train reserved for us,” Harald Pässler, an elder from Limbach-Oberfrohna, recalls. “The trip to Berlin was unforgettable. After long years of ban, during which we carried on our activity in small groups underground, it was suddenly possible to see so many brothers at one time. During the entire trip, we mingled in the various train compartments, speaking with brothers we had not seen for years, yes, even for decades. It was the indescribable joy of reunion. Everyone had grown several years older but had faithfully endured. We were greeted at the station in Berlin-Lichtenberg and directed by loudspeakers to different gathering points where our Berlin brothers stood awaiting us with large signs. What a completely new experience—our emerging from anonymity! We personally experienced what we had until then only read or heard about: We truly are a large international brotherhood!”

Indeed, for many Witnesses this was their very first convention. “We were all thrilled when we got the invitation,” recalls Wilfried Schröter. Because he made his dedication in 1972 under ban, we can understand his feelings. “Weeks ahead of time, we were in a fever of expectation. Never had I experienced anything like this, something true of many other brothers also. It was simply inconceivable that we would be seeing an international brotherhood gathered together in a huge stadium.”

How often brothers living in East Berlin had longed to travel the few miles across town to where their brothers were meeting in convention! And now they finally could.

Almost 45,000 from 64 countries were present. Among them were seven members of the Governing Body. They had come to rejoice with their Christian brothers from East Germany on this momentous occasion. It was in this stadium that the Third Reich had endeavored to use the Olympic Games in 1936 to impress the world with their achievements. Now the stadium once again reverberated with thunderous applause, though this time not in praise of athletes or out of national pride. These were members of a truly happy international family of Jehovah’s people, and their applause was in gratitude to Jehovah and in appreciation for the precious truths in his Word. On this occasion, 1,018 presented themselves for water immersion, most of them people who had learned the truth in East Germany under ban.

Perhaps those in attendance who could best understand the feelings of the East German brothers were the some 4,500 enthusiastic delegates from Poland, East Germany’s next-door neighbor. They too had endured many years of ban and had only recently experienced their first large convention in many years. One Polish Witness later wrote: “The brothers from Poland greatly appreciate the sacrificing spirit of their neighbors to the west, who provided them with free accommodations, free food, and free transportation to and from the convention grounds, without which it would have been impossible for many of us to come.”

Brothers from West Germany, for whom enjoying conventions in freedom was commonplace, were nevertheless deeply impressed. “It was heartwarming to see a number of our older faithful brothers—some of whom were persecuted not only during 40 years of Communist rule but also during the Third Reich—sitting in the reserved section where Adolf Hitler and other Nazi bigwigs once sat,” commented Klaus Feige, of the Selters Bethel family. This choice section of the stadium had lovingly been reserved for the elderly and disabled. What a striking symbol of God’s Kingdom, now triumphant over political forces that had conspired to halt its march to final victory!

Providing Places to Assemble

Promptly after the lifting of the ban in East Germany, arrangements were made for the brothers there to benefit from the regular program of assemblies that is enjoyed by Jehovah’s servants worldwide. Even before the circuits were fully reorganized, the congregations were invited to attend special assembly days and circuit assemblies in West Germany. At first, publishers in attendance were divided equally between those from West Germany and those from East Germany. This strengthened the bonds of brotherhood and also gave East German brothers an opportunity to learn convention procedures by working with their West German counterparts.

As circuits took shape, those in the East were invited to make use of Assembly Halls already existing in West Germany. Five—the ones in Berlin, Munich, Büchenbach, Möllbergen, and Trappenkamp—were close enough to the former border to make this feasible. Nevertheless, as soon as possible, work began on an Assembly Hall in East Germany. Located in Glauchau, near Dresden, it was dedicated on August 13, 1994, and is presently the largest Assembly Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany, seating 4,000 persons.

Attention was also given to the building of Kingdom Halls. These had not been allowed in the German Democratic Republic, but now they were needed in order to care for the more than 20,000 Witnesses in that area. The way that the building work was done made others stare in amazement.

About the construction of a Kingdom Hall in Stavenhagen, a newspaper wrote: “The way and the speed at which the structure is being erected has already left numerous curious onlookers amazed. . . . The building was put up by some 240 trained builders from 35 trades, all of them volunteers and all of them Jehovah’s Witnesses. All on a weekend without pay.”

Another newspaper wrote about a hall built on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen, in Sagard: “Some 50 women and men, as busy as bees, are preparing the building’s foundation. But things are not hectic. The atmosphere is strangely relaxed and friendly. Despite the obvious speed at which they work, no one seems nervous and no one snaps at fellow workers as happens on most construction sites.”

By the end of 1992, seven Kingdom Halls had been constructed and were being used by 16 congregations. Some 30 others were in the planning stage. By 1998, more than 70 percent of the congregations in what was formerly East Germany were already meeting in their own Kingdom Halls.

[Pictures on page 118]

Berlin convention, 1990