Meetings in Prison

Even before the 1976 ban, many of our young brothers faced tests of loyalty as a result of their Christian neutrality. Because they followed the Bible principle found at Isaiah 2:4, not to “learn war,” many were sentenced to from three to six years in prison.

Yet, even in prison they devised ways to study the Bible and to hold the meetings. They also eagerly shared the Kingdom message within the penitentiaries. Elders from neighboring congregations willingly visited these faithful young men to give encouragement and to provide vital spiritual food.

Omar Tschieder, who has been serving at Bethel since 1982, was imprisoned from 1978 to 1981 in the Magdalena military prison in the province of Buenos Aires. He was there for refusing to wear a military uniform. This prison was made up of several pavilions, with 20 cells that faced the same corridor, each cell seven by ten feet [2 x 3 m] in size. The imprisoned Witnesses used the three cells at the end of the hallway for their meetings. Only 10 or 12 could meet together at one time, so there were often 8 to 14 meetings each week.

The brothers arranged for one of them to watch through the peephole and alert the group if anyone approached. They devised several signals to warn the group. Sometimes the watchman simply knocked on the wall. At other times a thread was tied between the watchman and someone in the audience. At the sign of danger, the watchman pulled the thread, and the one at the other end alerted the group. Another way was to utter a statement having a password in it. For example, the watchman might shout: “Does anyone have an envelope?” Upon hearing the password “envelope,” the brothers took cover. Each had an assigned place to hide—under the bed, behind the door—wherever they would not be visible to the guard who might look through the peephole. All of this flurry of activity took place silently in seconds. They had to be well organized!

Once during a meeting, the brothers quickly hid after they were warned that a stranger was entering the pavilion. A prisoner who was not one of Jehovah’s Witnesses opened the door and put something on the table. As he was going out, he turned around and asked, “Why are all of you hiding?” At that very moment, a guard was blowing a whistle, looking for volunteers to do some cleaning. So the brothers replied, “We are hiding from him.” The visitor readily sympathized and quickly departed. The brothers finished their meeting without further interruption.

“We held all the congregation meetings in prison,” continues Brother Domínguez. “In fact, I gave my first public talk there.” Imprisoned Witnesses even presented full-costume Bible dramas, something that was made possible by bringing in personal items during family visits. Guards did not suspect how the sandals, togas, and the like would be used.