Germany: Raising Awareness of the CCP’s Persecution of Falun Gong during Oktoberfest

On October 4th, 2008, Falun Gong practitioners in Bavaria, Germany held activities in front of St. Michael’s Church at the centre of Munich to raise awareness about Falun Gong and expose the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s brutal persecution. The event attracted attention from the local public and foreign tourists. Many signed to support Falun Gong and condemn the CCP’s organ harvesting from living practitioners. Some Chinese people also quit the CCP and its affiliated organisations.

It was near the end of the Oktoberfest, the biggest annual folk festival in the world. Even though the weather was not ideal, the sporadic rain did not stop Falun Gong practitioners exposing the evil nature of the CCP. Practitioners distributed leaflets about the millions of withdrawals the CCP, Eutelsat’s dropping of New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV) signals under the CCP’s threats, the truth of Falun Gong and the CCP organ harvesting from live Falun Gong practitioners. Practitioners peacefully demonstrated exercises on the side, attracting a lot of passers-by to stop and watch. Many carefully read the information boards. Some also asked why the CCP persecutes Falun Gong and what Falun Gong is exactly.

A real estate manager, Mr. Christian Parchulek, brought two neighbour’s boys to the Oktoberfest. At St. Michael Church, they noticed practitioners exercising and stood there to watch. When asked whether he would like to sign to condemn the CCP, he agreed without hesitation. Later he said that they came from Leipzig in former East Germany. Having spent forty years under the Communist Party, he knew exactly what the Communist Party was about. Thus he could imagine how the CCP committed atrocious crimes. The Communist Party is capable of anything. Pointing to the two boys next to him, he said at their ages they no longer know the evil of the Communist Party. He said, “I watched the Beijing Olympics on TV and got a whiff of the CCP’s tyranny.” He stressed that he did not like it at all.

Germans, Slovakians etc with fluent Chinese also came over to sign. They had been learning Chinese for three years, one of which was spent in China. They learned the truth of the persecution in China already since many Falun Gong practitioners had spoke to them. They all knew that Falun Gong is good, which was the reason why they wanted to sign to support Falun Gong practitioners.

Many Chinese people also passed by. The older ones accepted materials relatively easily. Some youngsters, however, have been poisoned by the CCP’s lies since childhood. It was relatively more difficult for them to accept the truth. But they longed for the truth. Some looked on from far away. Some kept on snatching photos. A young girl told practitioners that her parents both came from the mainland. Growing up in Germany, she often read articles in the papers about Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted by the CCP. After signing to support Falun Gong, she wanted to know most of all what Falun Gong is and why the CCP persecutes them. Practitioners told her, Falun Gong follows the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, which forms a stark contrast with the CCP’s deceit, evilness and tyranny. The CCP also could not tolerate the rapid increase in the number of people practising Falun Gong, hence the persecution. Through nine years of persecution, however, not only did the CCP not achieve what it intended, but it also now faces disintegration. Another young girl came over from a few friends who stood far away and asked for Falun Gong materials. She told practitioners that she had declared to quit the Communist Youth League on the web. She said, “I love to read these leaflets. What you are doing is great.”