Ivan Klimko recalls: “It was the winter of 1948. Although we did not have Bible literature, we wrote down on small pieces of paper what we could remember from old magazines and hid them from the foremen. But they knew that we had such pieces of paper. Long, arduous searches were in store for us. During cold winter days, we were herded outside and made to stand in rows of five. Often we were counted over and over again. It seems that they expected us to hand over those papers rather than stand there in the freezing cold. While we were being counted again and again, we huddled closely together and discussed a Bible topic. Our minds were always occupied with spiritual matters. Jehovah helped us keep our integrity to him. Some time later, the brothers were even able to bring a Bible into the camp. We divided it up into several parts so that the whole Bible would not be confiscated during a search.

We were never without Bible literature. In the winter, we hid literature in the snow, and in the summer, in the grass and in the ground. During searches, I hid manuscripts in both hands, covered my shoulders with a big shawl, and held on to the ends of the shawl with my hands. When I moved from camp to camp, I wore a cap that I had sewed myself, putting several issues of The Watchtower in it.

Eventually, I was sent to a camp in Mordvinia. There was a Bible there, hidden away in a secure place. We could look at it only in the presence of the sister who was in charge of keeping it safe.