They had literature, and they communicated with mature fellow believers. All of this contributed to good spirits and spiritual growth. In one prison camp, the sisters buried some literature in the ground so skillfully that no one could find it. Once, an inspector said that in order to clear all “anti-Soviet literature” out of the territory, they would need to dig up the grounds around their prison two yards [2 m] deep and sift the soil! Imprisoned sisters studied the magazines so thoroughly that even now, 50 years later, some of them can still recite portions from those Watchtowers.

The brothers and sisters kept their loyalty to Jehovah and did not compromise Bible principles, despite difficult times. Mariya Hrechyna, who spent five years in prison camps because of her preaching activity, relates the following: “When we received The Watchtower with the article ‘Innocence by Respect for Sacredness of Blood,’ we decided not to have lunch in the dining room of the prison camp when meat was served. Often, meat used in those camps had not been properly bled. When the warden of our prison found out why the Witnesses did not eat certain lunches, he decided to force us to deviate from our principles. He commanded that meat be served each day for breakfast, lunch, and supper. For two weeks we did not eat anything except bread. We relied fully on Jehovah, knowing that he sees everything and knows how long we are able to endure. By the end of the second week of such ‘nutrition,’ the warden changed his mind and began to serve us vegetables, milk, and even some butter. We saw that Jehovah really cares for us.”

I lived for seven years in Mordvinia. Though this was a maximum security camp, many publications were distributed during the time I was there. Some guards took literature home, read it themselves, and then gave it to their families and relatives.

Sometimes a guard would come to me during the second work shift. He would say: “Do you have anything, Serhii?”

“What do you want?” I would reply.

“Just something to read.”

“Will there be a search tomorrow?”

“Yes. There will be one tomorrow in the fifth unit.”

“OK, on a certain bunk under a towel, there will be a Watchtower. You can take it.”

The search was conducted, and he took that Watchtower. But the guards would not find any other literature because we knew in advance about the search. In that way, some guards helped us.