Jehovah's Witnesses Association of Romania

[4] In particular, two emigrants who in 1911 returned from the United States to their hometown of Târgu Mureș (Marosvásárhely) managed to convert local Hungarians to their creed.

[5] Following a leadership dispute in the Bible Student movement in the United States, those who remained associated with the Watch Tower Society became known as Jehovah's witnesses in 1931.

[6] A number of Witnesses from Northern Transylvania were interned in a prison camp in the Serbian town of Bor, alongside Jews and Adventists.

[10] The group presented forthright critiques of ecclesiastical, social and political institutions, as well as apocalyptic pronouncements that were considered subversive by the Communist regime.

Even more than their radical millenarianism, their opposition to military service and what officials understood as the Witnesses' attitude to the Romanian state were also considered unacceptable.

Stories claiming that Jehovah's Witnesses were prepared to become personally involved in overcoming the powers of darkness and to bring to a consummation the climactic eschatological moment were circulated, increasing pressure on the group.

A number of leaders, as well as ordinary faithful, were imprisoned on charges including public instigation, distribution of banned material and conspiracy against the social order, as well as draft evasion.

[10] Officials maintained close surveillance of the Witness community, subjected its members to intense harassment and discrimination, and deprived them of their civil rights on various occasions.

One method involved members traveling in pairs by train, starting a conversation on religious topics and beginning to proselytize after gaining the interest of others in their compartment.

[5] According to British political scientist Tom Gallagher, by the 1980s, one source of converts to the Witnesses, as well as to Protestant denominations, was the new working class housed in urban high-rise settlements, as the Orthodox hierarchy was reluctant to take care of this group's religious needs.

They received suspended prison sentences, drawing condemnation from Amnesty International, but these were subsequently annulled by the Supreme Court of Justice.

[5] Pursuant to a ruling by the same court in 2000, the Culture Ministry granted the group official recognition in 2003,[2] making it the first denomination to be recognised since the aftermath of the Revolution.