• God Has Been Merciful to Me
    The Watchtower—2008 | July 1

    • God Has Been Merciful to Me

      As told by Bolfenk Moc̆nik

      “Now keep strong.” Those were the firm, urgent words of Mother as she gave me a hug. Militiamen separated us, and the trial took its course. Finally, the sentence was pronounced: five years in prison. Perhaps most people would have been devastated. In truth, though, I at last felt a deep inner peace. Let me explain.

      THE events described above unfolded in 1952 in Slovenia.a But my story really starts over two decades earlier, in 1930. That is when the Bible Students, as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then called, arranged the first group baptism in my country. My parents, Berta and Franz Moc̆nik, were among those baptized. I was six then, and my sister, Majda, was four. Our home in the city of Maribor was a center of Christian activity.

      Adolf Hitler took power in Germany in 1933 and began to persecute the Witnesses. Many German Witnesses moved to Yugoslavia to help with the preaching work. My parents were fond of having such faithful people as guests. One guest whom I remember well was Martin Poetzinger, who later spent nine years in Nazi concentration camps. Much later, from 1977 until his death in 1988, he served as a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

      When visiting us, Martin always slept in my bed, while my sister and I slept in the bedroom with our parents. He had a small, colorful pocket encyclopedia that fired my childhood imagination. I loved to leaf through that book.

      A Time of Severe Trials

      In 1936, as Hitler’s power grew, my parents attended the momentous international convention in Lucerne, Switzerland. Since Father had a pleasant baritone voice, on that occasion he was selected to make recordings of Bible sermons that were later played to householders throughout Slovenia. Not long after that memorable convention, Witnesses in Europe began to be persecuted terribly. Many suffered and died in Nazi concentration camps.

      In September of 1939, World War II began, and by April of 1941, German troops occupied parts of Yugoslavia. Slovenian schools were closed. We were forbidden to use our language in public. Because Jehovah’s Witnesses remain neutral in all political conflicts, they refused to join the war effort.b As a result, many were arrested and some were executed​—including a young man named Franc Drozg, whom I knew well. The Nazi firing squads did their work about a hundred yards from our house. I can still see Mother wrapping her ears with cloth, trying to block out the sound of the shots. The last words of Franc’s farewell letter to a close friend were, “See you in God’s Kingdom.”

      A Course I Deeply Regret

      I was then 19. Although I admired Franc for his firm stand, I was frightened. Would I die too? My faith was weak, and my relationship with Jehovah God shallow. Then I received a military call-up. My fear was stronger than my faith, so I answered the call.

      I was sent to the Russian front. Soon I saw comrades dying all around me. The war was horrifying and cruel. My conscience troubled me more and more. I begged Jehovah for forgiveness and for the strength to walk in the right way. When a heavy assault caused confusion in our company, I saw a chance to flee.

      I knew that if I was caught, I would be executed. During the next seven months, I found various hiding places. I even managed to send a postcard to Majda with the words: “I have left my employer and now work for another one.” I meant that I intended to work for God now, but it took some time before I really did so.

      In August 1945, three months after Germany surrendered to the Allies, I was able to return to Maribor. Remarkably, all of us​—my father, mother, and sister—​had survived that terrible war. By then, though, the Communists were in control, and they were persecuting Jehovah’s Witnesses. The preaching work was officially banned, but the Witnesses went underground and kept right on preaching.

      In February 1947, three faithful Witnesses​—Rudolf Kalle, Dus̆an Mikić, and Edmund Stropnik—​were sentenced to death. Later, though, the sentences were changed to 20-year prison terms. The news media covered all of this extensively, and many people thus learned about the unjust treatment of the Witnesses. Upon reading those news articles, I felt cut to the heart. I knew what I had to do.

      I Gain Spiritual Strength

      I was painfully aware that I had to take my stand for Bible truth, so I intensified my efforts to be used in our underground preaching work. As a result of serious Bible reading, I gained the spiritual strength to quit unclean habits, such as the use of tobacco.

      In 1951, I was baptized in symbol of my dedication to God, and I resumed a life course I had left nearly a decade earlier. Finally, I began to experience Jehovah as a true Father​—faithful, loyal, and unfading in his love. Although I had made unwise decisions as a young man, I was touched by the Bible’s assurance of divine forgiveness. As a loving Father, God kept drawing me “with the cords of love.”​—Hosea 11:4.

      During that difficult time, we held Christian meetings secretly in the homes of various Witnesses, and we carried on our preaching work in an informal way. Less than a year after my baptism, I was arrested. Mother saw me briefly before the trial. As mentioned at the outset, she hugged me tightly and urged me: “Now keep strong.” When the sentence of five years in prison was handed down, I remained calm and resolute.

      I was put in a tiny cell with three other prisoners, so I was able to share Bible truth with men who could not otherwise have been reached. Although I had no Bible or Bible literature, I was amazed that I was able to recall scriptures and their explanations from my hours of personal Bible study. I kept telling fellow inmates that if I had to serve in prison for five years, Jehovah would give me the strength to do so. However, he might open a door for me earlier. If he did, I reasoned, who could shut it?

      Serving Under a Measure of Freedom

      In November 1953, the government declared an amnesty; all of Jehovah’s Witnesses in prison were freed. I then learned that the ban on our preaching work had been lifted two months earlier. We immediately started to reorganize the congregations and our preaching activity. We found a meeting place in the basement of a building in the center of Maribor. We put a sign on the wall that read: “Jehovah’s Witnesses​—Maribor Congregation.” The joy of serving Jehovah in freedom filled our hearts with deep appreciation.

      Early in 1961, I began to serve in the full-time ministry as a pioneer.