For Immediate Release
December 14, 1999

Siberian residents and exiles to commemorate triumph over repression

CHITA, SIBERIA—On Wednesday, local residents and Jehovah's Witnesses will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the exile of members of this Christian group to Siberia and Zabaikal. The commemoration program, "Lessons From the Repressions," will focus on the unique history of Chita and its exiles.

In 1949, some 500 of Jehovah's Witnesses from the republics of the former Soviet Union were deported to the Chita district. At first, local residents looked on the exiled Witnesses with suspicion. But gradually fear turned to respect. In turn, Jehovah's Witnesses overcame the difficult conditions of their exile, and many chose to remain in Chita even after they were exonerated and given the freedom to leave.

"This conference will open up some previously unknown pages of history," said Aleksei Nazarychev, spokesperson for Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. "But it will also show how important it is for everyone during our difficult times to display civil courage and to never allow the rebirth of suspicion and hate."

The exile to Chita in 1949 was the precursor of a larger mass deportation in 1951. Eventually thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses were deported to Siberia.

After decades of persecution, Jehovah's Witnesses were legally registered as a religion in Russia in 1991 and were reregistered in April 1999. While Jehovah's Witnesses have gained the respect of officials in Siberia, members of this faith continue to suffer harassment in other parts of Russia, most notably in Moscow.

"The residents of Chita have come to know Jehovah's Witnesses, not from rumors, but from living, working, and associating with them for half a century," Nazarychev said. "The idea to hold a conference became something logical in the history of local Jehovah's Witnesses, many of whom chose to remain in the district."

Jehovah's Witnesses have been present in Russia for more than a century.

The program, which is open to the public, will begin at noon at the Center of National Art. A news conference will be held at the end of the program.

Contact: Aleksei Nazarychev, Administrative Center for Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, St. Petersburg, telephone: 011-7-812-434-3850