LECTURES HELPED SOME TO LEARN THE TRUTH

Lectures were used to wage ideological warfare against Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Soviet Union. Says Viktor Gutshmidt: “Our camp was regularly visited by speakers who gave lectures promoting atheism. The brothers always asked questions. Sometimes the lecturers were unable to answer the simplest questions. Usually the hall would be full, and everyone listened very attentively. People came voluntarily because they were curious about what Jehovah’s Witnesses would say at the conclusion of the lecture.

“Once, the camp was visited by a lecturer who was formerly a priest in the Russian Orthodox Church. Everyone knew that he had renounced his faith during his time in a camp and had become an atheist.

“‘Were you an atheist before you went to prison, or did you become one afterward?’ asked one of the brothers when the lecture concluded.

“‘Think about it,’ answered the lecturer. ‘A man went into space, but he didn’t see God there.’

“‘When you were a priest, did you really imagine that God would be watching people from a distance of a little more than 200 kilometers [120 miles] above the earth’s surface?’ asked the brother. The lecturer said nothing in reply. These exchanges gave many prisoners food for thought, and afterward, some began to study the Bible with us.

“At one of these lectures, a sister asked permission to say something. ‘Go ahead; you’re probably one of Jehovah’s Witnesses,’ said the lecturer.

“‘What would you call a person who stands in a field and yells, “I’ll kill you!” when there’s no one around?’ said the sister.

“‘Well, you could hardly call him smart,’ answered the lecturer.

“‘If God doesn’t exist, why fight against him? If he doesn’t exist, then there is no one to fight with.’ The audience broke into laughter.”

Brother Gutshmidt says: “Once in 1957 a lecturer came to the Palace of Culture for the miners of Inta, where 300 people had gathered. He explained the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses and how they preach. After accurately describing our preaching method, which consisted of presentations made over 15 visits, he continued: ‘If you don’t show any sign that you object, the preacher will always come again. If after the second visit you still don’t object, then the third visit will follow.’

“In two hours he covered six of such visits word for word according to our method, and from his notes, he read all the scriptures used. My wife, Polina, wrote me about this while I was serving time in a camp and described how the brothers attending the lecture could hardly believe their ears. After this lecture, the newspaper published negative comments about the Witnesses, but it did contain a complete description of the Kingdom. Furthermore, the entire lecture was aired on radio. Thanks to that, thousands of city residents heard about how Jehovah’s Witnesses preach and what they preach about.

“In 1962 a speaker from Moscow arrived to give a lecture on Jehovah’s Witnesses. After discussing their modern-day history, he said: ‘Every month millions of dollars come pouring into Brooklyn in the form of voluntary donations to develop the Witnesses’ activities in various lands. But not one of the leaders owns even a wardrobe for his clothes. They all eat at the dining hall together, both the housekeeper and the president, and there is no difference between them. All of them call one another brother and sister, as we call one another comrade.’

“For a while, silence reigned in the hall. Then he added, ‘But we will not adopt their ideology, as fine as it might appear, because we want to create all of this without God, with our own hands and heads.’

“This encouraged us greatly because for the first time, we heard the truth about Jehovah’s Witnesses from the authorities themselves. Such lectures also presented many other people with opportunities to hear the truth about Jehovah’s Witnesses from the authorities. However, people needed to see firsthand how Bible teachings could help improve their lives.”

[Box/​Picture on page 131, 132]

She Asked, “Why Are You Crying?”

POLINA GUTSHMIDT

BORN 1922

BAPTIZED 1962

PROFILE She became the wife of Viktor Gutshmidt. While in prison, Polina noticed how kind Jehovah’s Witnesses were.

I LOYALLY believed in the Communist ideal and upheld it. However, I was arrested by the Communists in May 1944 and sent to a labor camp in Vorkuta. For three years I was not told the reason for my arrest. At first, I believed that there was some mistake, and I waited to be freed. Instead, I was sentenced to ten years of camp imprisonment for making supposed anti-Soviet remarks.

Since I had a medical background, I worked in the camp hospital during my first few years of imprisonment. In 1949, I was transferred to Inta, to a camp for political prisoners. The camp regime was much stricter. An atmosphere of resentment, rudeness, immorality, apathy, and despair reigned among the prisoners. Rumors that everyone in the camp would soon be shot or sentenced to life imprisonment made the already tense situation even worse. Under the stress, several prisoners lost their sanity. The prisoners mistrusted and hated one another, since there were so many informers in the camp. People kept to themselves and adjusted as well as they could. Selfishness and greed were everywhere.

One group of about 40 female prisoners was markedly different from the rest. They always stayed together and were surprisingly pretty, neat, kind, and friendly. They were mostly younger women and even some little girls. I learned that they were religious believers, Jehovah’s Witnesses. The prisoners treated them in different ways. Some were mean and hostile. Others admired their behavior, especially their love for one another. For example, when one of the Witnesses would fall ill, the others would take turns keeping vigil at her bedside. In the camp, this was especially unusual.

I was amazed that this group of people was made up of so many nationalities, yet they were friendly to one another. By that time, I had lost all interest in life. Once when I was feeling particularly low, I sat down and cried. One of the girls came up to me and asked, “Polina, why are you crying?”

“I don’t want to live,” I answered.

The girl, Lidia Nikulina, began to comfort me. She told me about the purpose of life, how God would solve all mankind’s problems, and many other things. In July 1954, I was released. By then I had learned much from Jehovah’s Witnesses and was delighted to become one of them.

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Viktor Gutshmidt with his sister (top), daughters, and wife, Polina, about a month before he was arrested in 1957