Praising Jehovah in Camps and Prisons

In addition to prisons, Romania had three large labor camps. One was in the Danube Delta, another was on the Great Island of Braila, and the third was on the canal linking the Danube with the Black Sea. From the beginning of the Communist era, imprisoned Witnesses often found themselves alongside former persecutors, who were arrested because of their links to the former regime. One brother, a circuit overseer, found himself in the company of 20 priests! To be sure, such a captive audience made for many interesting discussions.

For example, a brother in one prison had an extended conversation with a professor of theology who had formerly examined candidates for the priesthood. The brother soon discovered that the professor knew next to nothing about the Bible. Among the inmates listening in was an army general of the deposed regime.

“How is it,” the general asked the professor, “that simple craftsmen know the Bible better than you do?”

The professor replied: “At theological seminaries we are taught church tradition and related matters, not the Bible.”

The general was not impressed. “We trusted in your knowledge,” he said, “but now I see that we have been woefully misled.”

In time, a number of prisoners came to an accurate knowledge of the truth and dedicated their lives to Jehovah, including one man serving 75 years for robbery. In fact, this individual underwent such a remarkable change in personality that he caught the attention of the prison authorities. They, in turn, gave him a new job​—one that would not normally be given to a person incarcerated for robbery. He would go to town unescorted and purchase items for the prison!

Nevertheless, life in confinement was harsh, and food was scarce. Prisoners even asked that their potatoes not be peeled so that they could have a little more to eat. They also ate beets, grass, leaves, and other plants, just to feel full. In time, a number died from malnutrition, and all suffered from dysentery.

During summer the brothers in the Danube Delta shoveled and moved earth for the dam under construction. In winter they cut water reeds while standing on ice. They slept in an old, iron ferryboat, where they endured cold, filth, lice, and heartless guards who remained impassive even when a prisoner died. Yet, no matter what their circumstances, the brothers encouraged and helped one another to remain spiritually strong. Consider the experience of Dionisie Vârciu.

Just before Dionisie’s release, an officer asked him: “Has confinement succeeded in changing your faith, Vârciu?”

“Pardon me,” Dionisie replied, “but would you change a high-quality suit for one of lesser quality?”

“No,” said the officer.

“Well,” continued Dionisie, “during my confinement, no one has offered me anything superior to my faith. So why would I change it?”

At that, the officer shook Dionisie’s hand and said: “You are free, Vârciu. Keep your faith.”

Brothers and sisters like Dionisie were not superhuman. Their courage and spiritual strength came from faith in Jehovah, which faith they kept alive in amazing ways.​—Prov. 3:5, 6; Phil. 4:13.

Studying From Memory

“My time in prison was a period of theocratic training,” reflects András Molnos. Why could he say that? Because he saw the value of assembling with his brothers every week to study God’s Word. “Often,” says András, “the information was not on paper but in minds. Brothers would recall Watchtower articles they had studied prior to their imprisonment. A few brothers could even remember the contents of an entire magazine​—including the questions in the study articles!” In some cases, this exceptional recall could be attributed to the work of hand copying spiritual food, which some inmates had done prior to their arrest.​—See the box “Duplication Methods,” on pages 132-3.

When planning Christian meetings, responsible brothers announced the subject to be considered, and each inmate tried to recall all that he could on that topic, from Scripture texts to points gleaned from Christian Bible study aids. Finally, everyone met to discuss the material. At the meeting they selected a conductor who, after the opening prayer, led the discussion by asking appropriate questions. When everyone else had commented, he presented his thoughts and then moved on to the next point.

In some prisons, discussion groups were forbidden. But the brothers’ ingenuity knew no bounds. Recalls one brother: “We used to take the bathroom window out of its frame and paint the glass with a mixture of moist soap and lime that we had scraped off the wall. When dry, this instrument became a workable writing tablet, enabling us to inscribe the lesson for the day. One brother quietly dictated the words while another wrote them on the tablet.

“We were divided into several prison cells, which became study groups. Each lesson was passed from brother to brother within the cell. Because only one cell had the tablet, the brothers in the other cells received the information by Morse code. How so? As quietly as possible, one of us would tap out the article on the wall or on the heating pipes. At the same time, the brothers in the other cells would hold their cups against the wall or the pipe, and each one would put his ear to his cup, which served as a listening device. Naturally, those who did not know Morse code had to learn it.”

In some prisons, the brothers were able to receive fresh spiritual food from the outside by means of equally ingenious and resourceful sisters. For instance, when baking bread, sisters would hide literature inside the dough. The brothers dubbed this food bread from heaven. Sisters even got portions of the Bible into the prisons by folding pages into tiny blocks, inserting these into small plastic balls, and then smothering the balls with moist chocolate and cocoa powder.

The unpleasant thing about this arrangement, however, was that the brothers had to do their reading in the restroom, the only place they could be alone for a few minutes unsupervised by guards. When a brother finished his turn, he would hide the printed matter behind the water reservoir. Non-Witness inmates also knew about this hiding place, and many would enjoy a quiet period of reading as well.

[Box/​Picture on page 124, 125]

We Recalled 1,600 Bible Verses

Dionisie Vârciu

Born: 1926

Baptized: 1948

Profile: Beginning in 1959, he spent just over five years in several prisons and work camps. He died in 2002.

During our imprisonment we were allowed to communicate with our families, and they were permitted to send us a ten-pound [5 kg] gift package each month. Only those who finished their work assignments received their package. We always shared the food equally, which usually meant dividing it into about 30 portions. In one instance, we did this with two apples. True, each portion was small, but it helped to alleviate our hunger.

Even though we had no Bibles or Bible study aids, we maintained our spiritual strength by recalling the things we had learned before our confinement and by sharing these things with one another. Our arrangement was that every morning a brother would call to mind a Bible verse. We then repeated this text in an undertone and meditated on it during our compulsory morning walk, which took 15 to 20 minutes. Back in our cell​—20 of us were packed into a room measuring 7 by 13 feet [2m by 4m]—​we commented on that verse for about 30 minutes. Between us, we were able to recall 1,600 Bible verses. At noon we considered various topics, including some 20 to 30 associated scriptures. Everybody memorized the material.

One brother initially felt that he was too old to memorize many Bible texts. However, he had underestimated his ability. After hearing us repeat the passages out loud about 20 times, he too was able to recall and recite a large number of scriptures, much to his delight!

True, we were physically hungry and weak, but Jehovah kept us spiritually fed and strong. Even after we were released, we had to maintain our spirituality because the Securitate kept harassing us, hoping to break our faith.