The local brothers were especially pleased to receive The Watchtower in Russian, which Pauls and Valija Bergmanis translated into Latvian, handwriting it in school exercise books.

“WE HAD JUST ONE WATCHTOWER TO SHARE”

During the 1970’s and 1980’s, brothers from Estonia obtained The Watchtower on microfilm in Russia and smuggled it into Latvia. Because photography was a popular hobby at the time, the brothers had the means to process the negatives at home, make copies, and distribute them. From time to time, other publications came into the country in the same way, mainly from Lithuania and Ukraine.

“We had just one Watchtower to share,” recalls Vida Sakalauskiene, then about ten years old. “For a time, each group received the magazine on photographic paper developed from negatives and passed it from family to family so that all could read it and make notes. No one could keep the magazine for more than 24 hours. At the meeting, the conductor had the magazine, and we answered the study questions from memory or from our notes.” This spiritual provision helped Vida to stand firm for the truth during her school days. It also helped her brother, Romualdas, to maintain his integrity while imprisoned for his Christian neutrality.

[Picture on page 194]

Pauls and Valija Bergmanis translated “The Watchtower” into Latvian, handwriting it in school exercise books

[Picture on page 194]

Using microfilm (actual size shown), the brothers developed, copied, and distributed “The Watchtower”