Year Book of Jehovah's Witnesses - Watchtower Archive

Yearbook 141
the details on how our brethren are being treated.
But despite all hardships and ill-treatment, the work
goes on and will continue to the honor and glory of
Jehovah's name and word. The people of good will
in Czechoslovakia will be found and blessed with the
word of truth.
Jehovah's witnesses in Czechoslovakia are deprived of
the freedom to proclaim the Word of God by holding pubUc
lectures. They are not allowed to meet for the study of
Bible literature. It has been made impossible for them to
publish magazines or other printed matter explaining the
Bible, or to import from abroad, and all their literature
was confiscated. They are not allowed to visit the people in
their homes in order to acquaint them with the good news
of the theocratic kingdom. Solely they are permitted, no,
ordered to work for this old world and to participate actively
in its reconstruction. Daily they are faced with the decision
as to whether they want to persevere in their integrity before
God or to make compromises that might, it is true, ease
their present situation, but by which they would burden
their consciences and lose favor with God. It is a daily fight
to keep one's heart pure before the Lord, a fight which requires
strong nerves, and above all sincere faith and perfect
devotion.
The viewpoint of the government regarding our work was
expressed by the minister of the interior, V. Nosek, in his
speech to the Committee for Armaments and Security of the
National Assembly, on March 23, 1950, in which he said,
among other things:
"I must also mention the activity of the so-called 'missionaries'.
From the West they send various missionaries
such as ... Bible Students, witnesses of Jehovah, and
suchlike. Formerly we could read that missionaries spread
their faith among colonial peoples where Christianity has
not yet penetrated.
"IndoneSia, Viet Nam, Malaya, and other colonial countries,
in which national revolutionary fights are in progress,
are, it is true, no fit place today for the activity of such
missionaries. The spreading of their false Christianity in
Asia, Africa and Australia has not been successful.
"These miSSionaries, who have not been schooled in the
study of the gospel of Christ, but have been trained in
American army and navy academies or by special spy
courses, have for this reason come to our country. Hence
their activity has absolutely nothing in COmmon with preaching
the gospel of Christ, and so we have no other choice