During the Christmas season, thousands of citizens throughout the world travel to Europe. Many stop and visit Germany. But the question these days has one asking others, "Are you prepared?"

Just a year ago, there was a Terrorist Attack in Berlin at the Berlin Christmas market, in which 12 citizens were murdered and Justice Minister Heiko Maas has come out on Tuesday and stated, of what many already knew, was that the German government was not prepared. Worse yet, they were not prepared for the consequences of such a terrorist attack as that attacks still resonates today.

Maas penned an opinion editorial in the Tagesspiegel newspaper and said in part, “It remains a never-ending task of politics in a democratic constitutional state to learn from mistakes and to assume our responsibility towards the victims of terror."

Has Germany or other European governments not learned from the past?

In January of 2017, I wrote an op-ed on another website titled, “Has Germany, U.S., forgotten past dealings with terrorism?” As one can imagine, many never paid attention to what I wrote which is unnerving because if we have learned anything from the history of the past, the past can and does repeat itself if we continue to be ignorant.

In the 1980s, as a United States Air Force veteran, I was stationed in Germany where terrorism, mostly from Palestinian terrorists, which also included the Red Army Faction, the internal radical German terrorist group, was always a threat and a concern.

And here 30 years later, Germany continues to downplay any and all threats of terrorism and those posing as migrants have a hidden agenda, and yet, the German government state that they were not prepared for the consequences… well, wouldn’t one think that the consequences of the past would have been a learning lesson by now?

Naturally, not all refugees are terrorists, but the point of the matter is… who are they or who do you trust if you travel to Germany or Europe this Christmas?

Several of American Christmas traditions and elements have come from Germany and Europe such as the song, “Silent Night” which was composed in Austria in 1818.

As with other parts of Europe who are in the Christmas spirit, the United Kingdom magazine prints a hilarious Christmas issue while a heartbreaking letter to Santa goes viral by a young boy in Texas.

German and American Christmas Traditions

The Advent or as known as the Christmas calendar is actually a German tradition that has become ever more popular in the United State and visiting Germany this time of year, to experience such traditions, is an experience that you will enjoy and will never forget.

Hopefully this year’s Christmas celebration in Germany or in any part of Europe will go off without any terrorist activities, however, if an attack does occur, it will prove once again, the German and other European governments still continue to learn lessons of the past the hard way and this Christmas season would be no exception.
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