What happens when a government tries to erase God from society? On The Drew Mariani Show, Drew welcomes University of Dallas historian Dr. Susan Hanssen to revisit the Cold War, a period when the struggle between communism and the west shaped nations, threatened religious freedom, and brought the world dangerously close to nuclear war.
Dr. Hanssen begins with the remarkable story of Hungarian Cistercian monks who fled their homeland after Soviet forces crushed the 1956 Hungarian uprising. Finding refuge in Texas, they helped establish the University of Dallas, where their Catholic legacy continues today. Their story serves as a powerful reminder of the courage required to preserve faith under persecution.
But Hungary was only one chapter in a much larger struggle. Throughout the 1960s, communist regimes continued suppressing freedom across the globe. In Czechoslovakia, Soviet forces crushed the Prague Spring, ending a brief period of political reform. In China, Mao Zedong’s government punished citizens who dared to criticize communist rule.
Meanwhile, Americans faced their own terrifying reality during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the threat of nuclear war brought the Cold War frighteningly close to home.
For Dr. Hanssen, these events reveal something deeper than political rivalry. The Cold War represented a fundamental conflict between atheistic communism, which rejected humanity’s supernatural destiny, and a Christian understanding of the human person as possessing freedom, dignity, and an eternal purpose.
Her message is a timely reminder that history isn’t simply about remembering the past. It’s about recognizing the importance of defending faith, freedom, and human dignity in our own time.
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