We learned that we were going to be exiled to Makrónisos, a barren island off the coast of Attica, Greece. Mere mention of Makrónisos was enough to fill anyone with terror because the prison camp there was associated with torture and slave labor. On the way to prison, we stopped at Piraeus. Though still in handcuffs, we were encouraged when some of our fellow believers came onto the boat and embraced us.​—Acts 28:14, 15.

Life in Makrónisos was a nightmare. The soldiers mistreated the inmates from morning till night. Many non-Witness prisoners lost their sanity, others died, and a great number were left physically disabled. During the night, we heard the cries and groanings of those being tortured. My thin blanket provided little warmth during the cold nights.

Gradually, Jehovah’s Witnesses became well-known in the camp because the name was mentioned during roll call every morning. Thus, we had many opportunities to give a witness. I even had the privilege of baptizing a political prisoner who had progressed to the point of dedicating his life to Jehovah.

During my exile, I kept writing to my dear wife without ever receiving a reply from her. This did not stop me from writing to her in tenderness, offering comfort, assuring her that this was just a temporary setback and that we would be happy again.

Meanwhile, our numbers swelled as more brothers arrived. Working in the office, I struck up an acquaintance with the commanding colonel of the camp. Since he respected the Witnesses, I mustered up the courage to ask him if we could receive some Bible literature from our office in Athens. “That is impossible,” he said, “but why don’t your people in Athens pack it in your baggage, write my name on it, and send it to me?” I stood there dumbfounded! A few days later as we were unloading an incoming boat, a policeman saluted the colonel and informed him: “Sir, your baggage has arrived.” “What baggage?” he replied. I just happened to be nearby and to overhear the conversation, so I whispered to him: “It’s probably ours, which was sent in your name, as you ordered.” That was one of the ways Jehovah made sure that we were fed spiritually.

[Box on page 27]

Makróniso​—An Island of Terror

For ten years, from 1947 to 1957, the arid and desolate island of Makrónisos played host to more than 100,000 prisoners. Among these were scores of faithful Witnesses who were sent there because of their Christian neutrality. The instigators of their banishment were usually Greek Orthodox clergymen who falsely accused the Witnesses of being Communists.

Regarding the process of “reform” used in Makrónisos, the Greek encyclopedia Papyros Larousse Britannica observes: “The methods of cruel torture, . . . the living conditions, which are unacceptable for a civilized nation, and the guards’ degrading behavior toward inmates . . . are a disgrace to the history of Greece.”

Some Witnesses were told that they would never be released unless they renounced their religious beliefs. Nonetheless, the integrity of the Witnesses remained unbroken. What is more, some political prisoners came to embrace Bible truth as a result of their contact with the Witnesses.

[Picture on page 27]

Minos Kokkinakis (third from right) and me (fourth from left) on the penal island of Makrónisos