The History of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia goes back to 1891 or even as far back as 1887, when some literature of Jehovah's Witnesses found it's way into Russia. In 1891, a former Russian seminarian had become a Bible Student, as Jehovah's Witnesses were then called, by the name of Semyon Kozlitsky. Mr. Kozlitsky preached boldly and without a trial Kozlitsky was arrested and exiled to Siberia. He continued preaching in Siberia until his death in 1935.

 

Of Russia in 1892, the Watchtower wrote, "In Russia the government holds an intolerably tight grip on every man in the empire, and the stranger within their gates is always to them a suspicious character. His passport must be produced at every hotel and railway station before entering or leaving a city or town. The hotel proprietor receives your passport and hands it over to the Chief of Police, who retains it until you are ready to leave, so that any stranger could be readily traced as to just when he entered or left the country. Officers and authorities are simply civil, indicating that your presence is only tolerated, and any books or papers in your possession are carefully scrutinized to make sure that nothing in them is calculated to interfere with their ideas."

 

In 1911, a couple from Germany, the Herkendells, who had become Bible Students, spent their honeymoon preaching throughout Russia to German speaking people, and they received a positive reception. A Polish Bible Student by the name of Dojczman was sent out to Russia shortly before World War I and he spent months preaching there.

 

In 1917, the 370-year rule of the Russian czars ended, and the USSR emerged. Interestingly, Vladimir Lenin, the first leader of the new republic stated concerning freedom of worship in Russia, "Everybody must be perfectly free, not only to profess whatever religion he pleases, but also to spread or change his religion. No official should have the right even to ask anyone about his religion: that is a matter for each person's conscience and no one has any right to interfere."

 

The new republic of the USSR, was, however, atheistic, referring to religion as "the opium of the people." After Lenin died in 1924 the government intensified it's attacks against religion. In 1926, the League of the Militant Godless was formed in the USSR, its goals being clearly indicated by their name, producing and distributing atheistic literature. From the 1920s until 1940, the numbers of Jehovah's Witnesses continued to grow. The Russian Orthodox Church formed an alliance with then leader Joseph Stalin. Jehovah's Witnesses in 1940-1945, from Ukraine, Moldova, and the Baltic republics were sent to labor camps during World War II, because they would not participate in the war while German Bible Students on the other side of the battle lines were in concentration camps, alongside the Jews.

 

After World War II, the Russian Orthodox Church attempted to intimidate its members stating that any who accepted Jehovah's Witnesses or their literature, would spend 10 years in labor camps. Needless to say, this created a climate of fear for some.

 

One Jehovah's Witnesses woman commented that their husbands, "were spending most of their lives in prisons and camps. We women had to endure much: Every one of us was experiencing sleepless nights, surveillance and psychological pressure from the Soviet State Security Committee (KGB), loss of employment, and other trials. The authorities tried various means to make us deviate from the way of the truth. (Isa. 30:21) We had no doubt that Satan was using the situation to try to stop the Kingdom-preaching work. But Jehovah did not abandon his people-his help was clearly evident."

 

Religious persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses continued in Russia until the late 1980s, the previous years seeing a gradual trend towards religious freedom. From the 1940s until that time, thousands had spent years in labor camps and prisons, some sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for possessing a single copy of the Watchtower.

 

The perestroika announced in 1985 in the USSR, and glasnost, a new spirit of openness, led to religious freedom, and in 1992, Jehovah's Witnesses became a legal entity in Russia after 100 years and today Jehovah's Witnesses number 150,000 there. What the future will hold for the present and future Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is yet to be seen with efforts again to ban the work of Jehovah's Witnesses. However, Jehovah's Witnesses have sown remarkable resilience, and whether or not their work is legal in Russia, they will no doubt continue in, what they believe to be is, their God-assigned work, or preaching the message that Jesus started some 2,000 years ago.

 

Information on Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs can be found at http://www.watchtower.org/e/jt/index.htm (official site) and Here - also official site

 

 

                                            

 

                          See  Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom

                  for a factual and detailed account of the history of Jehovah's Witnesses

Page updated February 10, 2010