Islam Rising: Christianity Waning in Europe and the USA

Islam Rising

Christianity Waning in Europe and the USA

Orlean Koehle

Copyright © 2019 by Orlean Koehle

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.

—John 8:32, Holy Bible

In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.

—George Orwell

Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth. If people all over the world would do this, it would change the earth.

—William Faulkner

The cover of the book depicts the rise of Islam as tens of thousands of mosques are being built throughout Europe and the USA, while more and more Christian churches are in decline, in disrepair. Many are losing their crosses as their buildings are being sold to become mosques. The symbol of Islam, the moon, is now perched on the steeple of many former Christian churches where the cross once stood.

Endorsements for Islam Rising

"Islam Rising is a thoroughly documented work which sounds the alarm. It convincingly conveys the reality of the disastrous results on European soil of refugees and migrants flooding into their nations. If America does not learn from Europe’s example, we will become another Muslim influenced and ultimately dominated country. Author Orlean Koehle explains what constitutes a good Muslim and traces Islam’s spread into the USA. She shows us what Americans must do to retain our constitutional freedoms."

—Eunie Smith, national president of Eagle Forum

"Orlean Koehle has an incredible way of turning her real-life experiences into a warning to America. She grasps this last stage of world domination by Islam and documents the subterfuge and evil rapidly moving throughout our beloved Republic. All wonderful Americans who love freedom, family, and Christ need to read Islam Rising, put on the full armor of God, and assemble their community to wake up or else freedom, family, and Christianity will go underground. Yet Jesus reminds us that with God, all things are possible to those who believe (Mark 9:23)."

—Donna Hearne, Reagan presidential appointee, U.S. Department of Education

Now serving as president of the Constitution Coalition in St. Louis, Missouri

"Islam Rising has captured the true nature of the refugee resettlement program and its underlying agenda. Orlean Koehle has shown us the true history and character of Islam and how the media cover-up has distorted Islam’s immediate and future goals. She has shown how the enslavement of millions has been deleted from our public school curriculum and from the PBS timeline. She uncovers what the politically correct news media has left out and clarifies Islamic history in extremely interesting and well-documented style. Islam Rising is captivating because of all the true stories illustrating what is happening in the world today and what has happened to lead us to the present crisis. I recommend this book to everyone and especially to Muslims who have been kept from the truth."

—Dr. J. David Lehman, author, cult, and world religion expert

"Orlean Koehle, in her well-written book Islam Rising, offers a comprehensive explanation of the serious Islamic threat to our American freedoms and to Christianity worldwide. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in preserving their liberties and religion."

—Anne Schlafly Cori, CEO of the National Eagle Forum

Daughter of the late Phyllis Schlafly

"Parents don’t really know what’s going on in our schools anymore. America’s Judeo-Christian values are being challenged and replaced, and our history is being revised. Orlean Koehle understands the cultural battle we face, which she reveals very clearly in her latest book Islam Rising: Christianity Waning."

—Sam Sorbo, radio host, actress, home school mom, and author of They’re Your Kids: An Inspirational Journey from Self-Doubter to Home School Activist; Sam stars in the movie Let There Be Light

"Orlean Koehle has long held distinction as an authoritative and insightful scholar. Now in Islam Rising, she unmasks the stark reality of the great lie that is the pagan cult of Islam, revealing the shocking penetration of its renewed existential threat to Western Civilization and Christianity—right down to the decimal point. In the present waning chapter of collectivist globalism, the author reveals how proxy Islam has been deliberately unleashed to destabilize and unman the West, in an unholy alliance with cultural Marxists, that is something right out of Proverbs chapter 1. For those still clinging to the canard that Islam is a ‘religion of peace’ or even a religion at all, Mrs. Koehle drives home the central truth that Islam is a political system, intent on global domination through violence, conquest, cultural subversion, and deceit. This book is powerful!"

—Double XX, Christian radio host serving with Pastor Earnie Sanders on many Christian stations

"I have been doing book reviews for more than forty years. In all that time, I have read many books on the history and current threats to our freedom and survival by Islam. Islam Rising by Orlean Koehle should be read by every law enforcement officer, by every state and national representative, and everyone else who holds their freedom and their lives precious and threatened by the dark evil called Sharia law. It’s all in her book. Islam has attacked America without firing a shot! It seeks to destroy our Judeo-Christian heritage and uses fear, intimidation, and sheer numbers to gain control of our political system. Muslims are skilled in using our own laws against us in order to bring in a barbaric and violent Sharia law into our country. Sharia law defies coexistence with any other laws or culture.

Orlean Koehle shows that the Muslim refugee immigration plan is a cleverly designed farce to invade and take over western countries. This book is a must read. We must wake up now!"

—Pastor Ernie Sanders has been an outspoken radio pastor for forty-six years

Known as the voice of the Christian resistance

Introduction

As the picture on the cover shows, Islam is having enormous success as it is rising in numbers both because of converts and children being born and Christianity is waning, many of its churches no longer being used, looking run down, in disrepair, the crosses removed or fallen on the ground. This is happening throughout most of the countries of Europe, with a few holdouts in Eastern Europe. Islam is also rising in many major cities in the United States, such as the following top ten with rapidly growing Muslim populations: Detroit, Washington, DC, Cedar Rapids, Philadelphia, New York, Atlanta, Peoria, Illinois, San Francisco, Houston, and Chicago.

My interest in the subject of Islam: As a substitute teacher back in 2002, I had to teach a two-week unit on Islam in the public schools in a seventh-grade world history course. This was at Healdsburg Middle School in Healdsburg, Northern California. The course is now three weeks and is taught in every state throughout our nation. Much of it is now intertwined in other parts of history. I was shocked at what the suggestions were that I was supposed to teach and also have the students do as extra activities, which I considered pure propaganda promoting Islam, not just as a culture but as a religion.

Students were to take a Muslim name, dress as a Muslim, make a prayer rug, memorize scriptures from the Qur’an (also spelled Koran), and memorize the five pillars of Islam. I thought, Whatever happened to separation of church and state—the Supreme Court ruling of 1962? I thought teachers were not allowed to teach or promote a certain religion in our state-run public schools? Isn’t that why all Bible reading, prayers, nativity programs, Christmas carols that mention Christ, and even the word Christmas itself have been removed from our schools? Christmas is now called winter holiday, and Easter is called spring break. One will also notice that in most modern history textbooks, many authors have even removed BC (before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini, Latin for in the year of our Lord) and replaced them with the politically correct terms BCE (before Central Era) and CE (Central Era).

Yet in spite of the separation of church and state and the cleansing of our schools from any Christian influences, suddenly, it was now all right for teachers to promote and teach the beliefs of one certain religion, Islam, which just happens to be very anti-Christian. I was told this was okay because teachers weren’t teaching a religion; they were teaching about a religion—it was more a cultural thing, part of multiculturalism.

I also noticed the pro-Islam slant and whitewashed history of Islam in the textbook from which I was supposed to teach. The textbook was called Across the Centuries, first published by Houghton Mifflin, 1994. Not one negative word was written against Islam, yet many negative things were written about Christianity.

What did I as a teacher do? I will keep you in suspense. You’ll have to read chapter 16 to find out. I tell of my experience, but I also tell of what I have since learned about the pro-Islam indoctrination is going on in public schools across our nation and throughout the world. This is part of Common Core (or whatever the curriculum is being called today), and it is international.

Trip to Europe in July 2016: My interest in Islam was especially renewed during the month of July 2016 when my husband and two of our children experienced a twelve-day trip to Europe where we visited five different countries: Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Germany.

We saw some breathtaking sights, historical building, castles, and cathedrals. The trip would have been perfect had it not been tainted with four acts of Islamic terrorism going on at the same time in France and Germany, some very close to where we were, and one in a city we had just been in the day before. These terrorist attacks continued throughout the rest of the month of July after we arrived home in California. With the exception of one, they were all performed by newly arrived Muslim refugees who had recently been brought into France and Germany. The one exception was still done by a Muslim but one who had lived in the country a long time. The radical Muslim terrorist group, ISIS, took credit for all the attacks.

Christians are no longer attending church. We also noticed a change in what used to be considered Christian nations. Very few of the beautiful cathedrals are now actually being used for religious services. Some have been transformed to museums or concert halls, and thousands have been sold to the only religious group wanting them—they are now Muslim mosques.

How could this happen? It has happened because Christians, for the most part, are no longer interested in religion. Their lives are too busy; they have no time for such things. Prayer and scripture reading or even mentioning religion are no longer a big part of their lives. The sad thing is we see the same apathy about religion also happening in the United States as it is in Europe, especially among the youth.

Europeans are no longer having children. The birth rate is no longer enough to replace their populations. This has been cited as the major reason that the chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel is bringing such a huge influx of Muslim refugees into Germany so they can have enough workers to keep their economy alive. However, the majority of these people are refusing to work and are totally untrained and unskilled. They want all the benefits of a socialistic society but without contributing to it. Many consider the free welfare as the jizya (pronounced jis-i-a) tax that Mohammad had taught Muslims were to receive from Christians and Jews, proof of Muslim’s superiority to infidels.

My husband is Swiss-German, born and raised in Southern Germany near the Swiss border. We lived in Germany for three years when we were first married. After returning to America, we used to travel back to both countries every summer to visit his parents and other relatives. Through the years, we have noticed more Muslims in the cities, but it was never this bad. There was already a large population of Muslims from Turkey. Now, added to that, is the increase from refugees or migrants, close to 2 million in two years—1.1 million brought in during 2015 and another 800,000 in 2016. With Muslim men having more than one wife, thus having many children, and Germans having very few children, by 2050, the estimated ratio of Muslims in Germany is expected to rise from 6 percent to 20 percent.¹ That is a low estimate. Some think it will be much higher and much sooner.

Conditions similar to communism and its tyranny and terrorism are returning to Europe. In this book, I write a brief history of Communism in Germany and tell of my personal observations from trips through East Germany in 1970 and 1990 of what Communism did to the country, how East Germany went backward, while West Germany became a flourishing, progressive country with all the advantages of a modern-free-enterprise state. I describe the beautiful and good things that we saw on our trip to Europe in 2016 of the parts of Europe that are now under a free-enterprise system where they used to be under the control of Communism. However, I tell of major concerns as I see conditions similar to Communism returning with the huge rise in Muslim refugees flooding into Europe with the accompanying rise in Islamic terrorism, rape, sexual assaults, disregard and disrespect for the laws of their new countries, and the police being told to be lenient on the refugees instead of upholding the law. I tell how the media is being told to whitewash or not report many of the acts of terrorism and especially the huge rise in sexual molestations and rape that is going on.

This book also tells of cultural or civilization jihad called hijra that is taking place in Germany and many former Eastern Bloc countries that have allowed in a large number of Muslims and the incremental chipping away of the culture and civilization of these countries, followed by pockets of Sharia law, Islam’s ultimate goal for the entire world. When this happens, the same tyranny begins to appear that these countries experienced during forty-five years of Communism: the same lack of freedoms, the same lack of religious liberty, the same fear to step foot out of one’s home, the same restrictions on freedom of speech, and the same death and slaughter of people who would not submit to the new belief system.

Some courageous European leaders are finally speaking out about the transformation they see happening to their countries, their culture, their religion, and their traditions. They are asking for a halt to this constant influx of Muslim refugees, and they give solutions, but is it too late? Have their countries already been so transformed that there is no turning back?

Take heed, America! The last section of the book is about what is also happening in the United States with our huge rise in Muslim refugees. Europe is a direct warning for the United States and all countries that are allowing uncontrolled, unchecked migration of people with a totally different religion, culture (or lack thereof) and belief system who, for the most part, do not want to assimilate into the culture and traditions of their new home, nor respect the laws of that land. In fact, the Qur’an tells them to do exactly that: to not assimilate and to not show respect to any other law but Sharia law.

Christian deception: We, who profess to be Christians, have been taught to follow the example of Christ and be loving, caring, and generous, especially to those who are less fortunate than ourselves. That is why many Christians are being so kind to the refugees coming into their countries. In some cases, where these people are truly genuine refugees, fleeing from religious persecution, that help is warranted. But as government officials are finding out in Europe and the USA, only a small percentage (2.65 percent) of the people flooding into their countries are genuine refugees.² Others are seeking a better economical life, and they like the idea of free welfare. Many are coming with the main purpose of immigration jihad, which they believe they are commanded to do: to immigrate to help spread their religion and convert the whole world to Islam and to Sharia law, which would be a total theocracy, a political system and religion all combined.

Muslims are taught that it is perfectly fine to lie for the cause of Allah. They have been taught that Christians are naïve and gullible and easily persuaded to believe their lies, since Christians, for the most part, tend to look for the good in the world and in their fellowmen. That is why Christians need to be knowledgeable about Islam and what Muslims truly believe. They need to read the Qur’an themselves and read about the life of Mohammad and the true history of the spread of Islam and the Muslim mode of operation as Muslims try to achieve their goals for a worldwide caliphate and Sharia law.

Religion of peace: This is the mantra that most people hear about Islam, and many who are uninformed fall for it. However, the truth is that Muslims believe Islam will be a religion of peace only after everyone on the earth has been converted to Islam or killed for not doing so. But as you will notice, even in the countries that are 100 percent Muslim, there is no peace. Different Muslim tribes are constantly fighting and killing each other. Look at Syria that has had an inner war going on for how many years? For the majority of Muslims, fighting is their way of life. They cannot live with peace themselves because there is no inner peace in their hearts. It is a religion where they have been taught to hate from the time they were small children—to hate Jews, Christians, the infidels, and to hate each other if you belong to the wrong tribe of Muslims.

Christians need to pray for discernment. We need to know what the truth is about these people whom we have been asked to help and with whom we are now supposed to coexist, people who, if they are active Muslims, have been taught to harm us. As you will see in the last chapter, someone designed a T-shirt with the logo on it: I refuse to coexist with people who want to behead me!³

Be wise watchmen on the wall. Christ taught us to be Gentle as doves, but wise as serpents (Mathew 10:16). We are to be aware that there are wolves who come in sheep’s clothing (Mathew 7:15) to deceive us. We are told to be watchmen on the walls and to not be silent (Isaiah 62:6), to warn others of the truth and dangers as we become aware of them, thus the purpose of this book.

Importance of knowledge and truth to keep us from being enslaved and in bondage: I recently discovered this quote by Benjamin Franklin that I think is very apropos: A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins.⁴

Chapter 1

The Good and Beautiful

The Good and Beautiful: A Brief History of How Europe Had Moved from the Darkness of Socialism and Communism to the Light of the Free Enterprise System and Freedom

My husband and two of our children had a ten-day trip to Europe during the month of July 2016. Our daughter had just completed a wonderful five-week experience from June to July teaching at a special school in Switzerland. She is fluent in German and can also understand a little Swiss German, which helped. The students loved her as she did them. Her experience included a few days camping with the faculty and students in the beautiful Swiss Alps.

When her five weeks were over, she rented a car, and my husband, son, and I joined her for a vacation blitzkrieg trip driving through five countries, starting with Switzerland. We spent the nights in lovely bed and breakfasts or hotels near Innsbruck and Vienna, Austria; Budapest, Hungary; Prague; the Czech Republic; Berlin; and back to the apartment we rented in Engen, Germany.

Budapest and Prague: What a contrast to see these two beautiful cities today compared to what they were like when I had first seen them in 1990 after fifty-five years of Communist control.

Budapest: We crossed the bridge over the beautiful Danube River and saw some amazing churches, buildings, and castles and especially the parliament building that is so famous. Here is a picture of its lights reflecting in the Danube.

Prague: We saw the Buda Castle all lit up at night with the Vitava River reflecting its lights.

We arrived just in time for a concert in a beautiful old church called the Mirror Church, in a section of Prague called the Klementinum, that was built back in AD 1232. The church itself was built in 1725 and is where Mozart performed his first organ concert as a young boy. The concert started out with a string quartet playing some beautiful pieces by Dvorak and other composers. The quartet was then joined by another violinist and a harpsichord player, and they spent the rest of the concert playing the entire composition by Vivaldi, The Four Seasons. It was so beautiful and especially performed in such a historical church.

I noticed how the church no longer had pews but nice concert hall chairs. I found out that it is because it is no longer used for worshiping but has been sold for a concert hall, as I discovered has happened to many churches throughout Europe. Why? As you will read in later chapters, the vast majority of people in Europe are no longer attending church.

The Prague Castle: We climbed up a tower and took pictures and then later walked across the Charles Bridge and saw close-ups of other churches, beautiful buildings, and the Prague Castle up on the hill. Below is a side view of the bridge with the castle shown at the top, all lit up.

What was especially good, going from darkness to light: I think the reason I loved seeing these cities all lit up and looking so beautiful is because it was such a contrast from my first visit to them when they were under Communism. It shows that freedom and the free enterprise system are alive and well in former Soviet bloc countries, and what a difference freedom has made!

A brief history of Europe from when Communism first took over in 1949 to its end in 1989: My first glimpse of the realities of what Communism—a totalitarian form of government—does to a country was back in 1970 when my husband and I were tour guides for fifty-five American students and ten adults and had to lead our group on an East German train crossing from Denmark through East Germany to Berlin.

Before we could board the train, all our luggage was searched, and if there were any American magazines or literature, even scriptures, they were taken. The East German police did not want us spreading American propaganda among the East Germans. I was expecting our first child, and I strapped my Bible on top of my tummy with my husband’s belt under my smock. Fortunately, the police did not pat us down, and I was able to smuggle my Bible into East Germany. Each compartment of the train had a German soldier standing with a rifle looking very stern.

Going from West Germany to East Germany was like going from light to darkness; it was such a contrast. As we looked out the window of the train, we saw no paint on the houses; most of the houses in disrepair; old rusted farming equipment; rows and rows of large cement apartment buildings, all looking the same; very few cars; dark polluted skies from factories with their tall smoke stacks pumping black smoke into the air; and dark, somber clothes worn by the people. It costs more money to have dyes for bright colors, a luxury these people could not afford. I remember how sad they were in the expression on their faces. No one smiled. Their faces matched the darkness of their clothes.

West and East Berlin: We arrived at midnight in West Berlin and immediately were taken by a bus to our hotel by the guide who met us. We all breathed a sigh of relief. It was so good to be back in a place that was once more under the control of a free government. It looked like an American city with lots of modern looking buildings, lights, bright colors, happy-looking people. It was like a little island of light surrounded by the darkness of East Germany. But that was only half of the city. East Berlin was left as part of the darkness.

How did Germany and Berlin become divided? After the Second World War, Germany had been left divided into four zones, each under control of one of the four countries that had been part of the Allied powers who won the war: England, France, USA, and Russia. Even though Berlin was in the eastern part that was under the control of Russia, it was decided because of its importance as the capital of Germany, it should be divided up into four zones as well.

In 1949, the three western countries agreed that Germany should be allowed to go back to being self-governing. But the Soviets disagreed. They insisted on maintaining control over their part. It became known as East Germany, or officially the Democratic Republic of Germany, and became one more satellite country that had been conquered and seized by the Russians during the war. All these countries were officially known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR, and were all under the control of oppressive Communism.

Communist attempt to seize West Berlin: The USSR launched a land blockade of West Berlin in an effort to force the West to abandon the city so they could control all of it. However, a massive airlift by Britain and the United States kept West Berlin supplied with food and fuel, and in May 1949, the Soviets finally ended the defeated blockade. Berlin remained divided, with West Berlin a free city, part of West Germany, and East Berlin, part of East Germany, under tight Communist control.⁵

Mass exodus to freedom: Over the next twelve years, in search of freedom and better opportunities, East German people were fleeing to the west, some 2.5 million to 3 million. By 1961, one thousand to two thousand East Germans—including many skilled laborers, professionals, and intellectuals—were leaving every day. Their loss was having a devastating effect on the East German economy. The East German government decided drastic measures must be done to stop this mass exodus.⁶

In August 1961, Walter Ulbricht, the Communist leader of East Germany, got permission from the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to begin sealing off all access between East and West Berlin. Soldiers began the work during the night of August 12–13, first laying more than one hundred miles of barbed wire slightly inside the East Berlin border. The wire was soon replaced by a six-foot-high, ninety-six-mile-long wall of concrete blocks, complete with guard towers, machine gun posts, and searchlights. East German officers known as Volkspolizei (Volpos) patrolled the Berlin Wall day and night. Years later, another four feet was added to the wall trying to prevent people from crawling over it.⁷

Berlin Wall: This is a picture of workers building the wall in 1961. Life especially became oppressive for the East Germans when the Berlin wall was erected, which divided the city into East and West Berlin. The wall did not stop in Berlin but continued on throughout East Germany, totally separating it from the western half of what was once a united country.

Those opposed to President Trump’s efforts to build a wall along the U.S. southern border try to compare it to the Berlin Wall and its oppression. But there is a big difference. Remember, the Berlin Wall was built not to keep people from coming in but to keep the East Germans from going out.

East Germans were now like prisoners—confined within a massive wall. Once the wall was erected, contact between the people of East and West Germany was very limited. They could no longer speak on the phone to relatives on the other side. Letters were opened by government agents and read before being sent and often never delivered.

Here is a 1962 picture of the Berlin Wall all completed with spikes and more barbed wire at the top. As one can see, it would be almost impossible to climb over the top to escape.

boston.com/bigpicture/2011/08/remembering_the_divide.html

In spite of all odds against them, many East Germans still tried to escape. From 1961 to 1989, a total of five thousand East Germans did make it over the wall; many more tried and failed; many dying in their attempt. About seventy-five thousand who tried and failed were caught and imprisoned.⁸ High profile shootings of some would-be defectors only intensified the western world’s hatred of the wall.

Our trip to the Berlin Wall in 1970: The tour bus drove our group of Americans to the wall shortly before 2:00 p.m. There was a platform that had been built so people could climb up and see over the wall. Our guide told us that at two o’clock every afternoon, a woman would climb up and wave to her sister on the other side. That was the only contact they had with each other. No phone calls were allowed, and very few letters were delivered, after first being opened and inspected. Sure enough, precisely at 2:00 p.m., we watched as an elderly lady climbed up the steps of the platform and waved to her sister on the other side. Many of us had tears in our eyes watching.

Bundisarchive.bild183-1987-0128-310, Foto: Hubert1. Jan.1987 cc/by-SA.30

After she left, we each took our turn climbing up the platform to look on the other side of the wall. Again, it was like looking from light into darkness. East Berlin looked so completely different from West Berlin. Many of the buildings had never been restored after the devastation of the war. There were no bright colors and again very somber, sad-looking people, very few cars, and the same huge rectangular cement block apartment buildings, row after row. They were called Plattenbau apartments made from prefabricated concrete slabs.

This is a 1987 picture of the largest area of the Plattenbau apartments in East Germany in the Neubaugebiet of the section of Berlin called Marzahn.

Most of the prewar housing was damaged and not repaired, forcing people to have to move to these giant apartment buildings.

The Communist philosophy is that people are more easily controlled and kept an eye on when they are all crowded together in communal living. Under Communist rule, there is no private ownership of property anyway, so you might as well move into an ugly apartment the same as everyone else. (More details describing East Germany under Communist rule are found in my book By Stealth and Deception.)⁹

Tear down this wall! This was the famous speech given by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on June 12, 1987, in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the entrance to the Berlin Wall. Some twenty thousand people cheered the American president’s speech challenging Gorbachev to deliver on his avowed commitment to international peace and progressive policies. His challenge was heard around the world. These were Reagan’s words: General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization—come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.¹⁰

Finally, East German leaders, themselves, fueled by the decline of the Soviet Union, began to implement a number of reforms. Emboldened by Ronald Reagan’s speech to tear down this wall, on November 9, 1989, masses of East and West Germans alike gathered at the Berlin Wall and began to do exactly that. They climbed over it and began hitting at it with picks and axes to dismantle it. It took many months of chipping away at it, but finally, it was destroyed. As this symbol of Cold War repression was gone, East and West Germany became one nation again, signing a formal treaty of unification on October 3, 1990.¹¹

A 1990 description of former Soviet bloc countries: Our next trip to East Germany and other Eastern Europe countries was in April 1990. My husband and I traveled with another couple for a ten-day trip through the former East Germany, Hungary, and what is now called the Czech Republic, just a few months after November 1989, when the final end of the Soviet Union happened, the end of the division of East and West Germany, and the Berlin Wall was being brought down.

We witnessed firsthand the terrible effects that forty-five years of Communism had had on all the countries under the control of the former Soviet Union. It was like going back in time to 1945, just after World War II ended. Places that had been bombed were still left in rubbles. The roads looked like they had never been repaired. In some places, a tree would be growing in the middle of the road. There were very few stores open and those that were had mostly empty shelves with very little to offer. The houses were without paint and many of them in disrepair.

The Trabant car: Under Communism, there was only one car that was allowed to be manufactured—the Trabant—that looked like a tiny matchbox car, only enough room for two people in the front and two in the back. I counted twenty-four Trabants in one day broken down on the side of the road as we were traveling through East Germany back in 1990. When everything is owned by the government and there is no competition, then there is no need for excellence in manufacturing or in tools with which to repair the cars. (This picture shows a lineup of the Trabant cars driving past the Berlin wall with graffiti painted on it.)

usatoday.com/picture-gallery/money/2017/11/03

In November 2017, the cars were celebrating their sixtieth year since their manufacturing began in East Germany.¹² Following is how one website described the poorly made Trabant or Trabi, as they were nicknamed:

This is the car that gave Communism a bad name. Powered by a two-stroke pollution generator that maxed out at 18 h.p., the Trabant was a hollow lie of a car constructed of recycled worthlessness. (Actually, the body was made of a fiberglass-like Duroplast, reinforced with recycled fibers like cotton and wood.) A virtual antique when it was designed in the 1950s, the Trabant was East Germany’s answer to the VW Beetle—a people’s car, as if the people didn’t have enough to worry about. Trabants smoked like an Iraqi oil fire, when they ran at all, and often lacked even the most basic of amenities, like brake lights or turn signals.¹³

We found out that the cost of the Trabant was equivalent to the average East German’s salary for a whole year. And the people had to give the money upfront and then wait for their car, which sometimes took up to ten years, because of the production being way behind.¹⁴

East German family’s personal description of what life had been like behind the wall: When we arrived in Dresden, East Germany, we discovered there were no rooms in any hotels. Too many curious tourists were flooding in to see what these countries were like. One of the hotels gave us the name and phone number of a couple, the Wagners, who would rent rooms out in their home. So that is where we stayed. The Wagners stayed up late into the night describing for us what life had been like for them since 1949 when the Soviet Union officially took over East Germany, making it a satellite country under their rule and separating it from West Germany.

East Germany pollution: The Wagners warned us not to drink any tap water because it had all been polluted. The streams were all polluted from dumping factory refuse into them. No one went fishing any more. For the most part, all the fish were dead. I also remember the skies were always dark, mainly from the coal-burning factories that sent dark clouds of pollution into the skies and from the black smoke exhaust of the poorly made Trabant cars. The Wagners told us that under Communism, there was no incentive for the factories to clean up their pollution either in the water or the air. Who was going to force them to do so? The government? The government owned all the factories. They were causing the pollution.

People were rewarded for snitching. We also noticed how everyone in East Germany seemed to speak in low voices, like they were whispering. The Wagners told us that people were rewarded for snitching on each other if someone was speaking out against the government. Those complaining about what was going on would be arrested, and those reporting on them would be rewarded. The reward would be money, or you would not have to wait so long to get your Trabant car. Even young children were encouraged to report on their parents. So through the years, people had come to just whisper so no one could hear what they were saying.

Driving on to Hungary and Czechoslovakia: When we drove on to Hungary, we saw more of the same devastation. Actually, it was much worse. East Germany was known as the most progressive of the Soviet Union countries. I remember how Hungary looked so war-torn, with terrible roads, and the people so poor, with many people begging in the streets. Again, there was no paint on the houses, and people were dressed in dark, somber colors.

Our friends tried to buy some red rubies in Prague, which the city was famous for. However, there was only one jewelry store open, and most of the shelves were empty. The jeweler brought out a single wooden box for us that had rubies in it. Our friends did buy something from him. It was very reasonably priced.

We tried to buy some bread in a grocery store. Most of the shelves were empty and very little bread to choose from. I also remember that my friend and I went into the railroad station to use the lady’s restroom. A lady met us at the door with two pieces of toilet paper. That was our allotted amount, no more than that. And it was a tan color and very rough, almost like using sandpaper.

Chipping away at the Berlin Wall: When we arrived in Berlin, we could see people still chipping away at the Berlin wall, which was all covered with graffiti on the West Berlin side. On the East Berlin side, the people could not even get close to the wall. There were rolls of barbed wire to keep them away. Fortunately, that was all gone by the time we arrived. We joined in chipping away at the wall and got pieces of it to take home with us.

This picture shows people finally able to come out through the wall from the East German side. West Germans are standing and sitting on the wall and have gathered in mass to welcome the East Germans. One can only imagine the joy they must have had after forty-five years of oppressive communist rule and no freedom—to finally come through that wall and be free. Many of them had been separated from their loved ones ever since the wall had been built in 1961.

November, 1989, East Germans Finally able to come through the wall after 37 Years

Contrast 1970, 1990 with 2016, the blessings of freedom and the free enterprise system: I was so happy to observe on the trip in 2016 through the same former Soviet Union satellite nations that the skies and rivers are all cleared up, with no more pollution being dumped into them. The houses are repaired and painted; the roads are repaired and freeways built, with a wide variety of modern cars and car dealerships in the various towns.

All the closed stores are now open again with large amounts and varieties of goods and produce. Many new businesses have come in and built new buildings. There are a variety of different companies; restaurants; department stores; international franchises like IKEA, McDonalds, Burger King; cell phone companies; and modern technology companies. It was wonderful to see! It was also so good to see happy-looking, busy people dressed in bright colors and looking healthy and well and smiling. We ate lunch in Prague in an IKEA restaurant and were impressed with all the happy young families with darling children.

What has made these amazing changes possible? Getting rid of the yoke of a totalitarian government under Communism, allowing people to have freedom and private ownership of property again and the free enterprise system in which to operate—that is what has made these amazing changes happen!

Former President Obama, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Senator Bernie Sanders, all professed socialists, and all their supporters need to come to visit these formerly depressed, eastern-bloc countries for themselves. Socialism and Communism and any form of totalitarian government do not work; they never have, and they never will. Freedom, the free-enterprise system, and private ownership of property do work if people are allowed to truly be free without enormous government regulations, controls, taxes, and fees hanging over people’s heads.

Visiting with old friends and relatives: Our family spent the first Sunday of our trip in July 2016 attending church in Singen, Germany, where my husband and his parents had attended most of his growing up years. It was great for him to visit with many old friends. In the afternoon, we visited with two of his favorite cousins and caught up on their lives. That is where we got an in-depth look at how they and most Germans view U.S. politics, which I describe in chapter 2.

Our second Sunday, we attended church in Wintertur, Switzerland, one of my husband’s favorite places where he and his parents had sometimes gone. He was able to again see some old friends and find out about them and their families. We were invited to have dinner with a family afterward. That was a very enjoyable experience, and they were better informed about what was really going on in politics, both in America and in Europe. They also shared with us their concern for the alarming rise in Muslim refugees and how that was affecting and changing the nations bringing them in.

The Alps: One day of our trip, we spent climbing in the breathtaking Swiss Alps. Our son climbed all the way to the top of Mount Santi, one of the highest points of one group of Alps, and came down with the tram. The estimated time to climb the mountain we were told was three and a half hours for experienced climbers. Our son did it in two and a half hours. We were very proud of him and wondered if he had set some world record, but no one could tell us.

A view from Mt. Santi of the

valley below it

Sailing on the Bodensee: The last day of our trip, we went for a relaxing ride on board a ship on the Bodensee (Lake of Constance), an enormous lake that borders three countries: Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. We traveled from Meersburg to Constance and back. It was such a hot day and so refreshing to be on the lake.

I describe the good, the peaceful, and the beautiful about this trip through Europe—in contrast to what it once was like under Communist rule because I believe these peaceful things are going to be coming soon to an end. Many Europeans share that same fear as they see their culture, their way of life, their religion, and their traditions under attack because of the huge influx of Muslims, who do not want to assimilate to that culture.

The Bodensee or Lake of Constance, looking from our ship to the one behind us.

If Sharia law comes into effect, it will be like going back under Communism. The goals of Muslim leaders everywhere are to bring in a caliphate (like a dictator) and Sharia law. What is Sharia law? Sharia literally means a path to be followed.¹⁵ A devout Muslim believes it is divine law and cannot be changed. Islam means submission, and one must submit in every way. It is a very rigid law that governs every aspect of a person’s life, exactly like Communism. The only difference is Sharia is a theocracy with a religious caliphate in charge, while Communism is totally nonreligious and the government is in charge. The government essentially becomes the god.

Either way, there will be a totalitarian, dictatorial reign over the people, exactly like what the former East Germany, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and other Soviet-bloc countries experienced, with no tolerance for any other belief system. Under Communism, one must give total obedience to the dictator as if he were god. Under Sharia, one must worship Allah and give total obedience to the strict rules of Sharia law or pay high taxes or off with your head.

Chapter 2

The Bad and the Ugly Returning to Europe

The Bad and the Ugly Returning to Europe: Anti-Semitism and Disregard for Laws; Pro-Muslim, Anti-German Protest Marches; Acts of Islamic Terrorism on the Rise; Rapes and Sexual Violence on the Rise; Sharia Police; Disinformation