Fascism in Hungary

Another land where Jehovah’s Witnesses endured decades of discrimination was Hungary. Some experienced persecution at the hands of, not two totalitarian regimes, but three. One example is Ádám Szinger. Ádám was born in Paks, Hungary, in 1922 and was raised a Protestant. In 1937 some Bible Students called at Ádám’s home, and he at once showed interest in their message. What he learned from the Bible convinced him that the teachings of his church were not Biblical. So he left the Protestant Church and joined the Bible Students in their public ministry.

Fascism was growing in influence in Hungary. A number of times, gendarmes observed Ádám preaching from house to house and took him in for questioning. Pressure on the Witnesses intensified, and in 1939 their activities were outlawed. In 1942, Ádám was arrested, taken to prison, and severely beaten. What helped him at 19 years of age to endure the suffering and the months in prison? “While still at home, I studied the Bible carefully and got a sound understanding of Jehovah’s purposes.” Only after his release from prison was Ádám at last baptized as a Witness of Jehovah. That was in the dark of night in August 1942, in a river near his home.

Prison in Hungary, Labor Camp in Serbia

Meanwhile, during the second world war, Hungary joined Germany against the Soviet Union, and in the fall of 1942, Ádám was drafted for military service. He reports: “I stated that I could not serve in the military because of what I had learned from the Bible. I explained my neutral stand.” He was sentenced to 11 years in prison. But Ádám did not spend long in Hungary.

In 1943 about 160 of Jehovah’s Witnesses were rounded up, loaded onto barges, and transported down the Danube River to Serbia. Ádám was among them. In Serbia these prisoners were now under the control of Hitler’s Third Reich. They were interned in the labor camp at Bor and forced to work in a copper mine. About one year later, they were transported back to Hungary, where Ádám was liberated by Soviet troops in the spring of 1945.

Hungary Under Communist Control

But freedom did not last long. By the late 1940’s, the Communist authorities in Hungary restricted the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses, just as the Fascists had done before the war. In 1952, Ádám, who by now was 29 years of age and married with two children, was arrested and charged when he once again refused military service. Ádám explained to the court: “This is not the first time I have refused military service. During the war, I went to prison and was deported to Serbia for the same reason. I refuse to join the military because of my conscience. I am a Witness of Jehovah, and I stay politically neutral.” Ádám’s sentence was eight years in prison, later reduced to four years.

Ádám continued to experience discrimination until the mid-1970’s, over 35 years after the Bible Students first called at his parents’ home. Throughout this time, he was sentenced to 23 years of detention by six courts, being held in at least ten prisons and camps. He endured serial persecution under three regimes​—Fascists in prewar Hungary, German National Socialists in Serbia, and Communists in cold-war Hungary.

Ádám still lives in his hometown of Paks, serving God loyally. Does he have extraordinary abilities that enabled him to endure the hardships so triumphantly? No. He explains:

“Bible study, prayer, and association with fellow believers were vital. But I would like to highlight two other things. First, Jehovah is the Source of strength. A close relationship with him was my lifeline. And second, I kept in mind Romans chapter 12, which states: ‘Do not avenge yourselves.’ So I never bore a grudge. Several times I had the chance to get back at those who persecuted me, but I never did. We should not use the strength that Jehovah gives us to pay back evil for evil.”

[Pictures on page 7]

Ádám Szinger at the time of his imprisonment and now