A Favorable Change Is Only Temporary

After the second world war, things changed once again. A coalition government promised human rights. The brothers returning from the camps immediately began to preach and to organize congregations. They felt that Jehovah had granted them freedom so that they could praise his great name, not in order for them to try to accumulate material possessions. By the end of 1945, there were 590 active Kingdom publishers. In 1947 a villa was purchased to be used as a branch office of the Watch Tower Society, and the first national convention was held, in a sports hall. The attendance was 1,200, and the Hungarian state railway even gave a 50-percent discount to those traveling to the convention.

Freedom did not last long, however. Soon, the Communist Party gained power, and the government changed. The increase of Jehovah’s people caught the attention of the new government, for they had grown from 1,253 publishers in 1947 to 2,307 in 1950.

What Is Happening Today

The Hungarian editions of The Watchtower and Awake! are now published simultaneously with their English counterparts and in the same beautiful format. In 1992 the Yearbook began to be published in Hungarian. The number of publishers of the good news jumped from 6,352 in 1971 to 13,136 in January 1993.

Today, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hungary enjoy freedom of religion and preach freely from house to house. There are 205 congregations, and 27,844 attended the Memorial on April 17, 1992. Until sufficient Kingdom Halls are available, the congregations continue to meet in schools, cultural centers, empty barracks, and even in the vacated offices of the Communist Party. As of 1992, ten congregations had dedicated their own Kingdom Halls, and other halls are under construction.