The Olympia Stadium in what was then West Berlin was the site of one convention attended by Witnesses from many nations, including eastern Germany. It is estimated that of the 44,532 in attendance, some 30,000 were from eastern Germany. The newspaper Berliner Morgenpost reported that 1,017 new Witnesses were baptized in the Olympic swimming pool, using total immersion in water, the method by which “the participants closely stick to the pattern of the primitive Christians.”

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Religious Freedom At Last!

The following are comments by Witnesses from former East Germany who attended the “Pure Language” Convention in Berlin, July 1990.

“My name is Lydia. I am eight years old, and I come from the GDR [German Democratic Republic]. I am very happy to be attending this district convention because a year ago, the borders were not open. We had to celebrate the Memorial secretly. This time free! When everyone starts singing, the tears come. I am so excited I will just have to tell about it at school!”

“We are filled with gratefulness and appreciation for being Jehovah’s guests here in Berlin amid an international brotherhood.”​—Bernd.

“That GDR brothers were also on the program points up a special aspect: Jehovah trains and qualifies his people even when they are under ban.”​—Gottfried.

“The applause and the singing showed that everyone was happy. It was a roaring sound that inwardly swept a person off his feet. How Jehovah must have rejoiced!”​—Egon.

“After my baptism some of the brothers asked if the water had been very cold. I could only answer that I didn’t know. The blessing of Jehovah was so warm that I hardly noticed the temperature of the water.”​—Heidrun.

“The atmosphere in the dormitory accommodations was indescribable! From Denmark, Mozambique, England, California, southern Germany, Spain, GDR​—all of us sang together, all of us were speaking the ‘pure language.’”​—Jutta.

“We always related to our children the memories of the 1958 and 1960 Berlin conventions, the last we were able to attend. But what we now experienced surpassed all our memories and expectations.”​—Wolfgang.

“What impressed us most was when thousands stood up to sing and praise Jehovah, especially during the closing song and prayer. We could no longer hold back our tears.”​—Monika and Reinhard.

taking notes, Berlin;

family with “Mankind’s Search for God” book in Berlin;