Jehovah Changes Times and Seasons in Romania
WINDS of change swept through Eastern Europe in 1989. In a matter of months, governments that once stood like invincible fortresses toppled like dominoes. Along with political transformation came social, economic, and, of greatest interest to Jehovah’s Witnesses, religious changes. In country after country, Jehovah’s Witnesses were given official recognition, and freedom to carry on their religious activity was restored to them.
But it appeared that things would be different in Romania. The government had such a tight grip on the people that it seemed that the winds of change would have little effect. As Jehovah’s Witnesses there heard of what was taking place in the other Eastern European countries, they asked themselves, ‘Will we ever be able to enjoy freedom of worship before Armageddon?’ Their hearts longed for the time when they could assemble at Christian meetings with their spiritual brothers and sisters, preach the good news publicly, and study their Bible publications openly, without having to hide them all the time. All of that seemed like just a dream.
Then the dream came true! It happened in December 1989. To everyone’s surprise, Ceauşescu’s regime fell overnight. Suddenly those Christians found relief. On April 9, 1990, Jehovah’s Witnesses were legally recognized as a religious organization in Romania. Jehovah had changed times and seasons for the 17,000 active Witnesses there.—Compare Daniel 2:21.
A Long History
In 1911, Carol Szabo and Josif Kiss returned to Romania from the United States, where they had learned the Bible’s truth and had dedicated their lives to Jehovah to do his will. They wanted to share the good news with their countrymen. Once in Romania, they immediately started to preach. When World War I broke out, they were arrested for what they were doing. Still, the Kingdom seeds they had sown began to produce results. By 1920, when the work was reorganized, there were about 1,800 Kingdom publishers in Romania.
By that time the revolutionary spirit that blazed in the Balkans was being felt more and more in Romania, and disturbances were rampant. Despite the difficult times, our spiritual brothers continued the work. In 1924 the Watch Tower Society opened an office at 26 Regina Maria Street in Cluj-Napoca to look after the work in Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Albania.
The political situation grew very tense, though, and besides troubles from the authorities, there was trouble within the organization. The 1930 Year Book reports: “Because of the unfaithfulness of the one whom the Society sent there, the friends have been scattered and their confidence greatly shaken. The Society has been watching for some opportunity to again revive the work in that land, but the local authorities forbid everything, and we must wait until the Lord opens a more favorable way.” Then, in 1930, Martin Magyarosi, a Romanian Witness baptized in 1922, was appointed as the new branch servant, and the office was later moved to 33 Crişana Street, Bucharest. After a long struggle, the Society was finally registered as a legal corporation in Romania in 1933.
Difficulties Continued
Severe trials continued to come upon the Witnesses in Romania. The 1936 Year Book reports: “Doubtless in no part of the earth do the brethren work with greater difficulties than in Rumania.” Despite all the adversity, the 1937 service reports mentioned 75 congregations with 856 publishers in Romania. At the Memorial, there were 2,608 present.
As World War II got under way, Romania did not remain unaffected. In September 1940, General Ion Antonescu seized power in the government and began a rule similar to Hitler’s. Acts of terror were the order of the day. Hundreds of our brothers were arrested, beaten, and tortured. Brother Magyarosi was arrested in September 1942, but he was still able to coordinate the work for Transylvania from prison.
Persecution continued when Hitler’s troops swept through the country in 1944. A report from Bucharest described conditions under the Nazi regime: “Jehovah’s Witnesses in this country were terribly persecuted. Bound in fetters with Communists, accused by the Hitlerite clergy as being worse than Communists, many of us were sentenced either to 25 years imprisonment, to life sentences, or to death.”
Finally the war ended, and on June 1, 1945, the office of the Society in Bucharest resumed activity. Despite difficulties in obtaining paper, devoted workers printed over 860,000 booklets and over 85,000 copies of The Watchtower in Romanian and Hungarian. Jehovah richly blessed their hard work. By 1946 some 1,630 new ones had been baptized. A highlight of that year was the national convention held in Bucharest on September 28 and 29. The clergy tried their best to interfere and to stop this convention, but they did not succeed, and about 15,000 people attended the public talk. It was the first time the brothers in Romania were able to have such a convention.
The Society sent Brother Alfred Rütimann from the Swiss branch to Romania. In August 1947 he was able to speak to upwards of 4,500 brothers in 16 locations, building them up for what was ahead. Soon pressures were again to come upon the Witnesses, this time from the Communist regime. In February 1948 the authorities prohibited our printing and preaching activity. Then, in August 1949, the office at 38 Alion Street was raided. Subsequently many brothers, including Brother Magyarosi, were arrested. This time, accused of being imperialists, they were sent to prisons or labor camps. For the next 40 years, the work was banned, and Jehovah’s Witnesses suffered greatly. Enemy-instigated troubles within the organization added to the distress. Finally, Ceauşescu’s regime toppled in 1989, and they were free! What would they now do with their freedom?
Preaching Publicly Again
The Witnesses did not waste any time. They immediately started preaching from house to house. But this was not easy for ones who for years had courageously carried on the work underground by informal witnessing. They were nervous now that they could preach publicly. Most of them had never done this before, and the last time any of them had preached from house to house was in the late 1940’s. What kind of results are they having? Let us see.
A good place to start is in the capital, Bucharest, which has 2.5 million inhabitants. Two years ago, there were just four congregations in the city. Now there are ten congregations, and over 2,100 came to the 1992 Memorial celebration. With many progressive home Bible studies being conducted, some new congregations may soon be formed.
Craiova is a city with about 300,000 inhabitants, in the southwestern part of the country. Up till 1990, there were only about 80 Witnesses in the entire city. Then the pioneer spirit caught on, and the work surged ahead. In 1992 alone, 74 persons were baptized, and over 150 Bible studies are being conducted. With over 200 publishers, they are eagerly looking for a suitable place for a Kingdom Hall.
In Tirgu-Mures, a Witness sister and two brothers went to the Orthodox priest to have her name taken off the church rolls. Upon learning the purpose of their visit, the priest invited them in, and they had a fine discussion. The priest then said: “I envy you but not in a bad way. We should be doing the work that you are doing. It’s too bad that the Orthodox Church is a sleeping giant”! He accepted the brochure Should You Believe in the Trinity? and a copy of The Watchtower. The sister is happy that she no longer belongs to the “sleeping giant.”—Revelation 18:4.
It is significant that the majority of those learning the truth today are young people. Why? Apparently they expected much from the change in government, but they were disillusioned. They are happy to learn that only Jehovah’s Kingdom can bring a lasting solution to our problems.—Psalm 146:3-5.
Big Things Happening in Small Places
Ocoliş is a small village in northern Romania. In 1920 a man by the name of Pintea Moise returned from the Russian front, where he had been taken as a prisoner of war. He had once been a Catholic, but before his return he had become a Baptist. Three weeks later, the Bible Students, as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then known, called on him. After that visit, he declared: “Now I’ve found the truth about God!” By 1924 there was a group of 35 in Ocoliş.
Today, among a local population of 473, there are 170 Kingdom publishers there. Each publisher has about two houses assigned as his territory, and they also work the surrounding villages. Still, they are optimistic. They just built a beautiful Kingdom Hall that seats 400. All the work was done by the local Witnesses.
Valea Largă is where Brothers Szabo and Kiss had settled in 1914. In 1991, among its 3,700 inhabitants, there were eight congregations and 582 Kingdom publishers. At the 1992 Memorial, there were 1,082 present—nearly 1 out of 3 persons in this valley.
Special Pioneers Pave the Way
Special pioneers play a large role in taking the good news to people in the more remote areas. As soon as freedom to preach was granted, Ionel Alban started to work in two cities, spending two days each week in Orşova and five days in Turnu-Severin.
There were no Witnesses in Orşova when Ionel arrived. The first week, he started a Bible study with a 14-year-old boy. The lad made so many changes in two months that a friend and a neighbor also began to study. The neighbor, Roland, who was a Catholic, made amazing progress. After only a month and a half, he accompanied Ionel in the preaching work, and in five months he was baptized. He entered the full-time service right away. His mother also began to study and was baptized at the 1992 “Light Bearers” District Convention. Now there are ten publishers in Orşova, and they conduct 30 home Bible studies.
The first one to accept the truth in Turnu-Severin was a receptionist at the hotel where Ionel stayed. After two months the man became an unbaptized publisher, and in three months he was baptized. Now he is one of 32 publishers there who conduct a total of 84 home Bible studies.
Another special pioneer, Gabriela Geica, served as a regular pioneer even when our work was under ban. Her desire was to work where the need was greater. She was assigned a vast territory. Sometimes she traveled from 60 to 100 miles [100 to 160 km] to call on interested persons. One city where she worked was Motru, where there were just four Witnesses. “Because of the increased activity in Motru, the priests and other religious groups started opposing us,” she relates. “They influenced the mayor and the police to put pressure on the families that gave me accommodations. They threw me out, so just about every other month, I had to look for a place to stay.”
Gabriela started a study with an atheist in Orşova, who said that she was not interested in religion or the Bible. But after just four months of study, the woman started defending the Bible. Although her husband locked her out at night and threatened to divorce or kill her, she maintained her integrity. Even before she was baptized, she conducted ten Bible studies.
Marvelous Prospects Ahead
In August 1992, Romania reached a peak of 24,752 publishers in 286 congregations. The Memorial attendance was over 66,000. At the small branch office in Bucharest, 17 workers are doing their best to look after the spiritual needs of their brothers. They are looking forward shortly to starting construction on a bigger branch.
Jehovah’s Witnesses in Romania cannot help but be amazed by all the rapid changes in the last few years. They are grateful to Jehovah God that they are a part of the international congregation that bears his name and guides people to accurate knowledge of him and his unchangeable purpose. After so many years of hardship and persecution, how thankful they are to Jehovah that he has indeed changed times and seasons in Romania!
[Map on page 23]
(For fully formatted text, see publication)
HUNGARY
ROMANIA
Bucharest
Cluj-Napoca
Craiova
Tirgu-Mures
Orşova
Turnu-Severin
Motru
Turda
BULGARIA
[Pictures on page 24, 25]
1. About 700 Witnesses gathered in the woods in 1947
2. Handbill for a public talk in 1946
3. A recent assembly in Romania
4. Witnessing in Cluj-Napoca today
5. Kingdom Hall near Turda
6. Bethel family in Bucharest