Brother Aleksandr Ursu, then 78 years old, stepped outside his home in Dzhankoy, Crimea, to greet his son, Viktor, in the driveway. It was the evening of November 15, 2018. Aleksandr was startled by a light just beyond his front gate. He cautiously walked toward the light. Suddenly, he heard someone yell: “Stop! Police!”

Aleksandr thought it was some brothers playing a joke on him, but he quickly learned that this was no joke. A masked man grabbed Aleksandr’s arms and painfully wrenched them behind his back. Another masked man punched Aleksandr in the jaw. Six Federal Security Service (FSB) agents armed with machine guns performed a physical search of Aleksandr and Viktor before storming the house.

Aleksandr’s wife, Nina, was in the kitchen when the officers stormed in. An agent snatched her mobile device and asked her what she was watching. The agents searched the home for hours but found no literature that was on Russia’s list of extremist materials.

Our dear elderly brother was not arrested. Yet, Aleksandr and all other Witnesses in Russia and Crimea live each day knowing that the police can raid their home and arrest them at any moment. To cope with this unsettling reality, Aleksandr meditates on his rich spiritual heritage as well as the experiences he had while enduring persecution during Soviet rule.

On July 6, 1949, when Aleksandr was nine years old, Soviet soldiers forced their way into his family’s home in the dead of the night and ransacked the place. They threw the family’s possessions into the middle of the floor and told them to start packing. Aleksandr recalls, “When the soldiers weren’t looking, my mother hid Bible literature among our things, including the book The Harp of God.” The soldiers took the whole family to the train station.

Unbowed, Aleksandr’s family, along with the other Witnesses on their train, sang Kingdom songs as they headed for their new home, Siberia. They were among the thousands of brothers and sisters deported to Siberia between 1949 and 1951.

During the 1950’s in Siberia, the brothers would secretly gather on farms to hold meetings. Some families walked up to 20 kilometers (13 mi) to get to the meetings.

Aleksandr benefited from a rich spiritual heritage. His paternal great-grandfather, Makar; grandfather, Maksim; great uncle, Vladimir; and father, Pyotr, were all stalwart examples of loyal endurance.

Aleksandr’s father was sentenced to ten years in prison for refusing military service in 1944. He came home after serving three years because a spinal fracture left him paralyzed. Aleksandr recalls his father telling Bible stories about David, Goliath, and David’s friendship with Jonathan.

“My uncle Vladimir,” recalls Aleksandr, “faithfully listened to WBBR and received Bible literature. It was illegal to possess a radio in those days, so my uncle built a bunker where he and interested ones could safely listen to WBBR radio broadcasts.”

Sometime in the 1940’s, an “interested person” revealed the location of the bunker. Aleksandr’s uncle and grandfather were arrested and imprisoned in Khotyn, in western Ukraine, some 80 kilometers (50 mi) from their home village.

“My grandmother would walk to the prison to visit them. She told us their faith was keeping them cheerful, yet she could tell they were getting beaten.” Unfortunately, Aleksandr’s uncle and grandfather died in the prison.

“What happened to them, how they were treated, how they died, and where they were buried, we still do not know,” Aleksandr relates. “But we were encouraged to know that they remained faithful to Jehovah until death.”

Aleksandr’s spiritual heritage and his own experience in Siberia prepared him for the current persecution. He says: “I have become used to the searches because they have been taking place since I was a child. Jehovah took care of us then, and I know he will continue to do so.”

“Other things that sustain me,” Aleksandr explains, “are daily Bible study and meditation, regular meeting attendance, and communication with other brothers and sisters.”

He also regularly reads about the trials of other persecuted brothers and draws strength from their courage. “I read what some of the brothers said in court during their concluding comments,” he says. “Their bold testimony fulfills the prophetic words of Jesus: ‘You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a witness to them and the nations.’”—Matthew 10:18.

Our brothers and sisters endure and even thrive under persecution, thanks to the loving support of our God, Jehovah. They are living proof of the truthfulness of David’s inspired words: “All those who take refuge in [Jehovah] will rejoice; they will always shout joyfully.”—Psalm 5:11.