Joel C. Rosenberg Quotes & Sayings

What do you mean?" his father said. Jacob heard Avi get up, followed by the sound of the shades being drawn. "I think we need to leave Germany." "Not this again. That's ludicrous." "No, it's not. We need to leave soon - now, before this gets any worse." The argument that ensued that night was as intense as any Jacob had ever heard between his father and uncle. At one point, it got so heated that Dr. Weisz ordered Jacob to go up to his room, a cozy little nook in the attic. — Joel C. Rosenberg

In that instant, Gogolov feared death. He could feel himself falling through the dark void of space. He was flailing and terrified and utterly alone. He braced for impact, but it never came. He cried for mercy he would never see. He felt the searing heat and the demons ripping at his eyes and face with claws like razors. And then, in a terrifying flash of clarity, he realized it would never end. — Joel C. Rosenberg

The question shouldn't be "Why are you, a Christian, here in a death camp, condemned for trying to save Jews?' The real question is "Why aren't all the Christians here? — Joel C. Rosenberg

In damages to the families of the American victims. Yet — Joel C. Rosenberg

Whereas Micah was the leader and Henri was the professor, Jacques was the class clown. Mischievous and full of life, he was always playing pranks yet narrowly escaping getting caught by teachers and other authorities. And though he was no more Jewish than Henri, he, too, was very fond of the Kahn family and their Jewish friends. He abhorred the Nazi goose-steppers and the ugly anti-Semitism of the times. In Avi's and Jacob's eyes, these three young men were ideal recruits for the Resistance. They proved to be fast studies, hard workers, and exceedingly brave. — Joel C. Rosenberg

they kept moving all night, stopping only occasionally to scoop some water from a stream or listen to see if anyone was following them or near them at all. As dawn came, Jacob was exhausted. But the two men did not stop moving. They were not running now. They were walking, but Avi set a brisk and steady pace. Jacob wanted to stop. He wanted to ask Avi if they could rest, even for a little while. But he had been told not to say a word, and Jacob knew their very lives depended on his obeying. At least the pain in his feet and in his belly from lack of food and the fatigue permeating every fiber of his being kept his mind off the fact that he would never see his parents or his sister again. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Why, Uncle?" Jacob asked. "Why are they doing this?" Abruptly, Avi pulled the Adler around a corner onto a street that, for the moment at least, was as quiet as it was deserted. Avi slammed on the brakes and shut down the engine. Then he turned sharply and stared into Jacob's eyes. "Because he's a Jew," Avi whispered. "They're killing him because he's a Jew. — Joel C. Rosenberg

The world must never know the things we do here,colonel. Never. Do i make myself clear? — Joel C. Rosenberg

Lord Jesus, I need you. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank you for rising from the dead. I believe you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I believe you are the only way to heaven, the only way to the Father. And right now, as an act of the will, by faith, I open the door of my life and receive you as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for forgiving my sins. Thank you for giving me eternal life. Have mercy on me, Lord. Show me your will. Teach me your Word. Guide me by your Holy Spirit. Take the throne of my life, Lord Jesus, and make me the kind of person you want me to be. In your holy and precious Name I pray, amen. — Joel C. Rosenberg

I'm not saying I was scared. Okay, I was scared. He had an MP5. I had a Nikon. — Joel C. Rosenberg

It's not for us to choose our times, Jacob. But we must be ready when they come. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Now, I'm a failed political consultant. But sometimes fiction has a way of capturing people's imagination in a way that non-fiction doesn't. Conservatives typically haven't written much fiction - specifically political thrillers - over the years to educate, inspire and mobilize people on issues of great import, but we ought to. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Maybe it's time to go back 2,000 years for a spiritual renaissance. If not, our days may be numbered and a terrible implosion is coming. There is no more middle ground. It is one or the other. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Just then he spotted a German Messerschmitt in the sky ahead of them. It was firing its machine guns and seemed to be aiming right for them. He ordered everyone to dive into the alleyway beside them, and they all took cover just as the fighter roared by, killing all those who remained in its path. Then came another explosion, just behind them. Luc pressed his body down on Monique and Jacqueline, doing everything he could to protect them. But he knew they couldn't stay pinned down. He could hear the German tanks rumbling up the road from the east. The Nazis were approaching far more quickly than he'd expected. They had to keep moving. — Joel C. Rosenberg

The glue that kept the consumer market together the last few years was the wealth effect from the housing boom. — Joel C. Rosenberg

At first the team's primary goal was helping Jewish families escape the Third Reich. Together, they helped more than three hundred families pass through Belgium. Some went to England, and some made it to Canada. Jacob and his new friends provided safe houses, basic provisions, clothes, and false documents along the way. Once the invasion occurred, however, Maurice Tulek redirected them from rescuing Jews to other tasks considered more vital to the Allies. — Joel C. Rosenberg

It was now clear that the little town of Sedan - with a population of less than eighteen thousand people - was one of the Germans' first targets. How long would it take them to overrun and consume the town? How long would it be until everyone was dead or a prisoner of war? Once the Nazis controlled the bridges across the Meuse River, they could pour their forces into France, annihilate her armies, and march on Paris. How long would it take them to occupy and enslave the entire country? — Joel C. Rosenberg

What an honor to be chosen to care for God's chosen people." Luc reflected on that for the next few days. He hadn't really thought about it as an honor. It just seemed the right thing to do. The Bible commanded him to love his neighbors. Weren't these his neighbors, even if they didn't believe the same things he believed? — Joel C. Rosenberg

The northern end of the Maginot Line was many kilometers away. The bulk of the French forces were positioned along that line, waiting for a frontal German attack that Luc now realized would never come. The Nazis had achieved what the generals and politicians in Paris said was impossible. They had carefully navigated their way through the Ardennes. They had used the trees as cover to keep French reconnaissance planes from spotting them. And now they were launching a devilishly clever sneak attack. They were outflanking the French forces. They were about to skirt right around them and attack them from behind. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Many Americans genuinely fear that God is preparing to remove his hand of protection and blessing from our country, or perhaps already has. — Joel C. Rosenberg

With Herr Hitler's consent, he just passed a new ordinance," the man said. "It's a law called the Regulations against Jews' Possession of Weapons. Effective immediately, no Jew in Germany has the right to own, possess, or carry a gun. All weapons and ammunition in the possession of Jews must be turned over forthwith. Any Jews caught with a handgun or rifle will be imprisoned and fined." "And?" Dr. Weisz asked. "I'm no sportsman. Are you?" "No, I'm not," the man from Dresden said. "But don't you see? These attacks on our communities are just the beginning. Now Hitler is disarming us, and when we are completely defenseless, he will come for us, for all of us. Mark my words. — Joel C. Rosenberg

father owned the building where your brother and his family rented a flat. When my father passed away a few years ago, he left the building to me. I became your brother's landlord. We've known the family for years. But when rumors of the Nazi invasion began several weeks ago, we made preparations to flee. We begged Philippe and Muriel to come with us. They are, I must say, our dearest Gentile friends. But they did not think Hitler would really do it. We pleaded with them, 'Come with us. There is no more time.' But they refused. I'm afraid we could not wait any longer. Last Tuesday we fled the city. It broke our hearts to leave our friends and our home, but we simply couldn't take a chance on being captured by the Germans. We hear they are sending Jews to work camps all over Europe. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Don't you get it, Claire? Khomeini's thugs have the entire embassy. They have the vaults. They have the files. They know who I am, and they're going to want information I can give them. Right now they're taking a roll call of every employee. When they find we're missing, they're going to look up our address. If it's been destroyed, they're going to put a gun to the head of Liz Swift. If she doesn't give us up, they're going to kill her in front of everyone else. Then they're going to ask Mike Metrinko. If he doesn't give us up, they're going to kill him. Then they're going to turn to John Limbert. And they're going to keep killing people until someone breaks. I don't know who it will be. But someone's going to give them our address, and then they're coming for us. — Joel C. Rosenberg

There are people in our world today and unfortunately in our political system, they do not believe in evil. They have the modern, western, secular mind set. They don't believe evil exists. They are exactly the ones who are in danger of getting blindsided by evil. Because they're not prepared for it. — Joel C. Rosenberg

God is not a vending machine where if you put in enough prayer quarters we get a Reese's Pieces bag that pops out. — Joel C. Rosenberg

God has not given us Bible prophecy to Scare us but to Prepare us. — Joel C. Rosenberg

They were also natives of Belgium, and this Avi prized above all. They knew Brussels in particular, inside and out, and they not only had excellent contacts throughout the country but seemed to excel at making new contacts that proved equally valuable. Jacob had never had friends like this in Siegen. His friends were not as interesting, not as well-read, and not nearly as committed to a common goal against a common foe. But here, in the danger-drenched climate of Nazi-controlled Europe, it was a combination that quickly bonded these four young men to each other and to Avi. — Joel C. Rosenberg

What if these events the Bible says will happen, happens in our lifetime? — Joel C. Rosenberg

Uncle Avi were there. He would understand. But it was clear that his father did not see the seriousness of the threat, even after Ruth's death. Dr. Weisz grieved over his daughter, to be sure, but he absolutely refused to believe it represented the policy of the Third Reich. Jacob found himself deeply troubled by the news but even more so by the realization that his father still seemed so unwilling to face up to the dangers Hitler posed to the Jewish people - not just in Germany but throughout Europe. He still seemed to think this was a brief anomaly, not the beginning of a far greater evil. — Joel C. Rosenberg

For the next several years, they gathered critical intelligence on German troop movements, blew up fuel depots, stole Nazi uniforms, and sabotaged lorries. Once, Avi and Jacob were ordered to attack a police station and grab any uniforms they could. They captured two police uniforms, two pistols, a small box of ammunition, and a money box with over ten thousand francs inside. What's more, they escaped with a bonus neither of them had expected - a stash of six thousand food-ration coupons, which they promptly gave to Morry to distribute among the various Jewish Resistance members scattered throughout the country. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Was that possible? The whole notion of State Department and CIA personnel being inside a country whose language they didn't speak seemed ludicrous to Charlie. How could one government understand another - much less build a healthy, positive, long-lasting relationship - without at least being able to talk in the other's heart language? It couldn't, Charlie knew, and now Washington was about to pay the piper. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Prophecy is an intercept from the mind of an all-knowing and all-seeing and all-powerful God. — Joel C. Rosenberg

The Resistance needs you. I need you. What do you say?" Jacob suddenly stood. He did not answer but rather cleared their dishes and washed them in the sink. "Your father doesn't see what we see," Avi said after a long silence, as if he knew exactly what Jacob was thinking. "You know that. You've heard us arguing. You've heard what he's said. He doesn't see it. That breaks my heart. But there's nothing more I can do about it. If he won't save himself, we're going to have to take matters into our own hands." "But if I join you, what will happen to them?" "I can't give you answers, Jacob," Avi replied. "I can't promise you they'll be safe. I hope they will be. But I don't really know. All I can do is tell you the truth, which is this: the moment of reckoning is at hand. I've made my choice. Now you must make yours. — Joel C. Rosenberg

The Nazi invasion didn't happen by the end of 1939 after all. The German seizure of the Low Countries - Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg - didn't occur until May of 1940, and Jacob was grateful for the extra months of training and conditioning. Maurice, Avi, and Jacob used the time to recruit and assemble the rest of their team of young Jewish insurgents. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Don't you see, Brother?" Avi pleaded. "They do not want us here. We are not safe." "Nonsense - we're Germans," Dr. Weisz shot back, fuming but careful not to let himself be heard by the neighbors. "Faithful, proud, loyal citizens of the Fatherland." "That's not how Herr Hitler sees it." "His days are numbered." "They're not," Avi said. "His power is growing. He's gained full control of the army. There are rumors he wants to seize Czechoslovakia and maybe all of Poland. He's already grabbed the Rhineland and the Sudetenland. Who's going to stop him now? — Joel C. Rosenberg

The possibility of somebody emerging as a nuclear power or events happening that surprise us on the nuclear age is still a possibility. It always will be because there's an awful lot going on behind the scenes. Our intelligence just has to get better on that score. Peter Goss — Joel C. Rosenberg

9:12 P.M. - GROUND ZERO, WASHINGTON, D.C. Without warning, the capital of the United States was obliterated. At precisely 9:12 p.m. Eastern, in a millisecond of time, in a blinding flash of light, the White House simply ceased to exist, as did everything and everyone else for miles in every direction. No sooner had the first missile detonated in Lafayette Park than temperatures soared into the millions of degrees. The firestorm and blast wave that followed consumed everything in its path. Gone was the Treasury building, and with it the headquarters of the United States Secret Service. Gone was the FBI building, and the National Archives, and the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Capitol and all of its surrounding buildings. Wiped away was every monument, every museum, every restaurant, every hotel, every hospital, every library and landmark of any kind, every sign of civilization. — Joel C. Rosenberg

We are, in many respects, in a moral and spiritual free-fall in our country, and we are paying a terrible price. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Adolf Hitler and his Brownshirts had surged to power. Now they held Germany by the throat. The Gestapo was rapidly creating a cruel and brutal police state that treated all but true Aryans like dogs and swine. That was certainly true for Jews like the Weisz family. In just the last few years, they and all of the Jewish families in Germany had been stripped of their citizenship and denied many of their most basic rights. Jacob's father, an esteemed professor of German history, had been summarily fired from his prestigious post at Frederick William University in Berlin. The Weisz family had been forced out of their beautiful, spacious home in the suburbs of the capital. They'd had a big red J stamped on their official papers and had been denied permission to leave the country. So they had left Berlin and made a new home in Siegen. — Joel C. Rosenberg

You will remember this number. you will memorize it. you will answer when it is called. you have no name any longer. just a number. any prisoner who forgets his number or doesn't respond when his number is called will be shot. do you understand? — Joel C. Rosenberg

Evil, unchecked, is the prelude to genocide. - Anonymous — Joel C. Rosenberg

The Lord may very well have removed His blessing from America the moment America stopped blessing us. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Is there a point at which we hit a tipping point and all of this economic, cultural and moral trouble sends us into a death spiral we can't get out of? — Joel C. Rosenberg

John 1:12 says, 'As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.' And the apostle Paul told us in Ephesians, 'By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. — Joel C. Rosenberg

she saw all those who were in the pickup truck with her husband. Their clothes were torn. Their hands and faces were covered in blood and dust. They looked as shell-shocked as they felt. What's more, they were hungry and thirsty and exhausted and grieving their families and friends and the town they had left behind. "I heard, on the wireless," Claire said without missing a beat. "It's all anyone is talking about. Thank God you're okay. Come in. All of you, please come in. We will get you something to eat and give you a place to sleep and a hot bath. Come in; don't be shy. You're with friends here. — Joel C. Rosenberg

U.S. government infrastructure. I am concerned about the growing number of Americans who have been recruited to Islam. They are usually angry young men with a sense of hopelessness. Even if they are not suicidal, they may very well be genocidal as well as eager to seek revenge for what they see as injustice. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Jacob remembered it distinctly because it was his twenty-second birthday, and he was annoyed at being awakened by his uncle at 1:17 in the morning. But Avi had no time to be sentimental. He ordered Jacob to hightail it with him through a bone-chilling winter night to get to some safe house they'd never been to before and make it there by the top of the hour. Jacob had been hoping to sleep in a little and maybe eat a half-decent meal before sitting down to plan the sabotage of a radio tower near Antwerp, an operation scheduled for the coming weekend. But none of that was to be. — Joel C. Rosenberg

What type of car do I get?" David asked.
"As we like to say in the Middle East," Zalinsky said, "We'll blow up that bridge when we get to it. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Religion was dangerous, anti-intellectual, a crutch for the masses, and a game for the foolish, the poor, and the hypocrites. (Jacques Miroux) — Joel C. Rosenberg

Rather than inserting more Marines and engineers to harden and defend the American Embassy - thus sending an unequivocal message that such an assault against American sovereign territory in the heart of Tehran would never be tolerated again - the bureaucrats back at the White House and State Department had panicked. They'd reduced the embassy's staff from nearly a thousand to barely sixty. The Pentagon had shown a similar lack of resolve. The number of U.S. military forces in-country had been drawn down from about ten thousand active-duty troops to almost none. The only reason Charlie had been sent in - especially as green as he was - was because he happened to be one of the few men in the entire U.S. diplomatic corps who was actually fluent in Farsi. None of the three CIA guys on site even spoke the language. — Joel C. Rosenberg

To misunderstand the nature and threat of evil is to risk being blindsided by it. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Books are burned, they will, in the end, burn people, too. — Joel C. Rosenberg

I can't explain the motive of ever Christian, but for me... the answer is obvious. Our Savior was Jewish. His disciples were Jewish. They were born in Israel. They lived in the Promised Land. Jesus preached to 'the lost sheep of Israel.' He died on the cross in Jerusalem. He was raised from the dead in Jerusalem. And the Bible teaches that our Savior is coming back again to reign and rule from Jerusalem. Why shouldn't we love Jews, then? Jesus never taught us to hate anyone. He taught us to love, and he set the supreme example for us to follow. Jesus commanded us to love one another. He commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves. You're my neighbor, Jacob, If not you, then who? You're from the same family and people as my Savior. How could I hate you or do you wrong? — Joel C. Rosenberg

Iran also continues to provide seemingly "limitless support" to the Hezbollah terror organization in Lebanon. In 2006, — Joel C. Rosenberg

rebels captured that base and — Joel C. Rosenberg

I don't see, based on the evidence, economic and moral, that we can make it that much further. — Joel C. Rosenberg

We are living on the brink of the apocalypse, but the world is asleep. — Joel C. Rosenberg

2 days to the U.N. — Joel C. Rosenberg

We serve a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God, a wonder-working God!" he loved to say. "And answered prayer is one of the ways we experience him. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Everyone he loved was gone. Everything he knew was over. Where was he supposed to go now? What was he supposed to do? Just then, someone grabbed him from behind. Before he knew what was happening, a gloved hand was over his nose and mouth, and his legs were kicked out from under him. He hit the ground hard and found himself lying face-first in the mud. The gloved hand tightened its grip. He couldn't move, couldn't scream, couldn't even breathe. "Don't make a sound," someone whispered in his ear. "Just listen carefully, and do exactly what I say. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Elam is one of the ancient names of Iran, just like Persia. The passage tells us that in the last days, God will scatter the people of Iran all over the earth. For many centuries, this seemed impossible because we Persians are such a proud and nationalistic people. But as incredible as it was, this prophecy actually began to come to pass in 1979. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Collapsed into bed just after four o'clock in the morning. He knew he would have to be up soon. As soon as the sun peeked its head above the wooded hills behind their home, he and Claire would need to care for their own children as well as make breakfast for all their guests. There was so much to do, so much to decide. How long would everyone stay? They certainly couldn't go back to Sedan, but could they really stay here? Monique and Jacqueline could, of course. But how could they house and feed and care for the others? Hopefully most of them had relatives in safer parts of France and could go there. That might take some time to sort out, but at least it would be a start. But for right now, it was too late. Both Luc and Claire were physically and emotionally spent, and they needed a little shut-eye. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Even some of the most jaded D.C. types are still impressed when the leader of the free world enters the room. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Az men krigt zikh miten rov, muz men sholem zein miten shainker," Avi had said when he first put the rifle in Jacob's hands. The old Yiddish proverb could be roughly translated as, "If you're at odds with your rabbi, make peace with your bartender." His uncle offered no explanation, but as Jacob had chewed on its meaning, he had concluded that Avi meant something like, "Always be prepared" or "Have a plan B." The problem was, Jacob didn't want a plan B. He didn't want life to change. He wanted things to be the way they had always been. — Joel C. Rosenberg

Yet what choice did he have? Nothing about this war was fair. Nothing about being Jewish was fair, The only question that counted was whether he wanted to live or not, and he did. — Joel C. Rosenberg