Harald was raised behind the Iron Curtain and thoroughly indoctrinated with communist ideology, I was a card-carrying member of the Communist Party of East Germany. My belief system was shattered by the confrontation with God’s word when I met my wife, a devout Christian raised in a Christ-loving, Bible-based home. As a graduate electronic engineer, I was contracted at the Navy base Peenemünde until I was expelled for publicly declaring my faith in Jesus Christ. After a ten-year fight with the almighty State Security Police (Stasi), I was able to leave East Germany in 1985, what I call one of the largest prisons on earth. Twenty years later, I realized my lifelong dream and immigrated to the United States, only to see my American Dream begin to turn into a nightmare. I began to speak out, first among relatives and friends. I co-founded the Cincinnati Tea Party and served as its Senior Strategist for many years, and I spoke about the loss of freedom and life under oppression at events in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan. Encouraged by many people he met during that time, he started to write. Freedom’s Nightmare, the story of his life, first, because everyone said it needed to be written. I wrote that book about my life as a warning to all Americans not to lose the most extraordinary country ever created by divine intervention on earth. After the original publisher went bankrupt in 2016, I am now working on a revised 2026 edition of FREEDOM’S NIGHTMARE, with “The Seven Miracles of Socialism” and photographs from the GDR years.
The Series THAN LIVING ON MY KNEES came as an Idea at the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. That peaceful collapse of the GDR’s oppressive communist government could have ended in a similar bloodbath as that one on Tiananmen Square in Peking. It is based on a statement by the then second-in-command of the GDR communists, Egon Krenz, when he congratulated the Chinese Communists on how they handled that student uprising.
Robin McCarty (London, UK) –
An absolute page-turner from start to finish! Than Living On My Knees… (Part 1) dives deep into resilience and the human spirit, keeping me hooked with its raw honesty and compelling narrative pacing. I found myself thinking about the characters and themes long after I finished the final page. Highly recommended for anyone who loves deep, impactful storytelling!
Dustin Logan (Washington, US) –
A powerful and gripping read. The emotional depth and rich storytelling in Than Living On My Knees… (Part 1) are truly remarkable. Harald Zieger has crafted a brilliant narrative that resonates on a personal level. I’m already looking forward to seeing what happens next!
Hanna Wright (Virginia, US) –
A masterclass in character development and atmosphere. Than Living On My Knees… (Part 1) pulls you right into its world from the very first chapter and refuses to let go. The prose is sharp, evocative, and deeply moving. A stellar achievement by Harald Zieger!