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.

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.”