“During these times, we copied from the originals, which were kept hidden in secure places. Several originals were stored in the stove, even in the stove in the camp administrator’s office. The brothers who cleaned for him had constructed a special chamber in the stove, and we kept the precious originals of many Watchtower magazines there. No matter how carefully the foremen searched us, the originals were always safe in the administrator’s office.”

The brothers became skilled at hiding literature. A favorite place was a windowsill. The brothers even learned to hide literature in tubes of toothpaste. Only two or three brothers knew where the originals were kept. When the need arose, one of them retrieved the original and after making a handwritten duplicate put it back in its place. In this way, the originals always remained in a secure place.

“One time in Mordvinian Camp 19, soldiers with dogs led the brothers away from the camp territory and conducted a careful search. Each Witness was stripped, even down to the rags he was wearing on his feet. But the brothers had glued a few handwritten pages to the soles of their feet, which escaped detection. They had also made tiny booklets that they could fit between their fingers. When the guards ordered everyone to raise his hands, the booklets stayed between the fingers, and again, some of them were saved.”