• Russia
    2008 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • EXILED TO SIBERIA

      Despite cruel opposition from the authorities, the Witnesses zealously continued to preach the good news of Jehovah’s Kingdom. This irritated the central government in Moscow. It especially irritated the KGB. A memo dated February 19, 1951, from the KGB to Stalin read: “To suppress any further anti-Soviet activities of the underground Jehovists, the MGB [Ministry of State Security, later the KGB] of the USSR considers it necessary to exile known Jehovists and their families to Irkutsk and Tomsk oblasts.” The KGB knew those who were Witnesses, and they asked Stalin for permission to exile 8,576 people from six republics of the Soviet Union to Siberia. This permission was granted.

      Magdalina Beloshitskaya recalls: “At two in the morning on Sunday, April 8, 1951, we were awakened by a loud banging on the door. Mama sprang up and ran to the door. An officer stood before us. ‘You are being exiled to Siberia for believing in God,’ he declared formally. ‘You have two hours to pack your things. You may take anything in the room. However, grain, flour, and cereal are not permitted. Furniture, wooden items, and sewing machines may not be taken either. You may not take anything from the yard. Bring your bedding, clothes, and bags, and come out.’

      “We had earlier read in our publications that there was a lot of work that needed to be done in the east. Now we understood that the time had come to do that work.

      “None of us wailed or sobbed. The officer was surprised and said, ‘Not one little tear has fallen from your eyes.’ We told him that we had been expecting this since 1948. We asked permission to take at least one live chicken for the journey, but he denied it. The officers divided up our livestock among themselves. They distributed the chickens before our very eyes​—one took five, another six, someone else got three or four. When only two chickens were left in the coop, the officer gave orders to slaughter them and give them to us.

      “My eight-month-old daughter was lying in a wooden cradle. We asked if we could take the cradle with us, but the officer ordered that it be taken apart. Then he gave us only the part that could hold the baby.

      “Soon our neighbors learned that we were being exiled. Someone brought a small bag of bread crisps, and when we were being driven away in a cart, he threw the bag into the cart. The soldier guarding us noticed and threw the bag back out. There were six of us​—me, Mama, my two brothers, my husband, and our eight-month-old daughter. Beyond the village, we were bundled into a car and driven to the regional center, where our documents were filled out. Then we were taken by truck to the railway station.

      “It was Sunday, a fine sunny day. The station was full of people​—those being exiled and those who came to watch. Our truck pulled right up to a railway car where our brothers already were. When the train was full, the soldiers checked all by their last names. There were 52 people in our railway car. Before the departure, those seeing us off began to cry and even to sob. It was amazing to watch, since we didn’t even know who some of those people were. But they knew that we were Jehovah’s Witnesses and that we were being exiled to Siberia. The steam engine gave a mighty whistle. Then our brothers began to sing a song in Ukrainian: ‘Let the love of Christ be with you. Giving glory to Jesus Christ, we will meet again in his Kingdom.’ Most of us were full of hope and faith that Jehovah would not abandon us. We sang several verses. It was so touching that some of the soldiers began to weep. Then the train went on its way.”

      “JUST THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT WAS EXPECTED”

      Dr. N. S. Gordienko, a professor at Herzen University in St. Petersburg, described in his book what the persecutors accomplished. He wrote: “The results were just the opposite of what was expected; they wanted to weaken the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the USSR, but in fact they only strengthened it. In new settlements where no one had heard of their religious confession, Jehovah’s Witnesses ‘infected’ the locals by their faith and their loyalty to it.”

      Many Witnesses quickly adapted to their new circumstances. Small congregations were organized, and territory was assigned. Nikolai Kalibaba says: “There was a time in Siberia when we did preach from house to house or, more accurately, from one house to another house two or three houses down. But this was risky. How did we do it? After the first visit, we tried to make a return visit in about a month. We started out by asking people, ‘Are you selling any chickens, goats, or cows?’ Then we gradually turned the conversation to the Kingdom. After a while, the KGB learned about this, and soon an article was published in the newspaper warning the local population against talking with Jehovah’s Witnesses. The article said that the Witnesses went from house to house asking people for goats, cows, and chickens​—but what we really wanted were sheep!”

      Gavriil Livy relates: “The brothers tried to participate in the ministry even though they were closely watched by the KGB. The attitude of the Soviet people was such that if they suspected that someone was attempting to talk to them about a religious topic, they immediately sounded the alarm for the police to come. Despite this, we continued to preach, although without any visible results at first. However, over time the truth began to change some of the local people. One of them was a Russian man who drank heavily. Upon learning the truth, he brought his life into harmony with Bible principles and became an active Witness. Later, a KGB officer called him and said: ‘Whom are you spending your time with? Those Witnesses are all Ukrainians.’

      “The brother replied: ‘When I was a drunkard and wallowing in the gutter, you paid me no attention. Now that I’ve become a normal person and a citizen, you decide that you don’t like it. Many Ukrainians are leaving Siberia, but they will leave behind local Siberians whom God is teaching how to live.’”

      After a few years, an official from Irkutsk wrote to Moscow: “Several local workers have declared that all of these [Jehovah’s Witnesses] should be sent to one area in the north somewhere so that they would be cut off from all contact with the population and be re-educated.” Neither Siberia nor Moscow knew what could be done to silence Jehovah’s Witnesses.