Historical Recruiting: The 70s & 80s

[Peter Daley]

April, 2014: Marie Zivna Faithful Pioneer (Juraj Lajda/True Parents)

Marie Zivna was one of the first members of the Unification Church in Czechoslovakia -- she joined in 1972. She was a student of art at the university in the city of Brno. Michal Glonda, a brother who studied at the same university, invited Marie for a three-day seminar and explained the Divine Principle to her. Marie later mentioned that it was clear to her on the very first day that that this was the truth, but she did not say that until the seminar ended. Afterward she announced that she would join our church and started to work as a full-time member. She stopped studying, though she was in her final year and had been preparing for her thesis and final exams.

While there is no cause given for the accident, it is not inconceivable that sleep deprivation played a role:

On Christmas day, 1972, she had a very bad car accident. Four other sisters were with her in the car including Betka. That nobody died was a miracle. Marie suffered a light brain shock and lost consciousness. Betka's spinal cowl was severed, paralyzing het Marie was always thinking of her. During the entire period that Betka was in the hospital and afterward, Marie took care of her as if she were Betka's loving mother. She forgot about her own pain in order to care for Betka. Later, while in prison when she met Betka in the corridor by chance, Marie's first question was, "Do you have warm clothes, Betka?"

Marie was arrested in late autumn 1973. With other brothers and sisters she was awaiting trial in Bratislava Prison. The trial began July 2, 1974 and lasted until July 19. On Easter Thursday, April 16, 1974, Marie died under suspicious circumstances in prison. The prison police sent a telegram to her parents stating that their daughter was dead. ...

In 1976 a brother had a dream about Marie. She looked very nice and healthy and had a round face. There was another girl with her in the dream. Marie said, "Why do my parents think I am dead? I live, in reality."

Related:
Jan. 1 2010: As A Peace-Loving Global Citizen by Sun-myung Moon (Pages 166-167 - Washington Times Foundation/True Parents)

One member, Marie Zivna, lost her life while in prison at the young age of twenty-four. She was the first martyr who died while conducting missionary work in a communist country ...

People who went as missionaries to communist countries could not even tell their parents where they were going. The parents knew well the dangers of going to such countries and would never give permission for their children to go ...

I asked myself, "Is my life worth so much that it could be exchanged for theirs? How am I going to take on the responsibility for the evangelization of the communist bloc that they were bearing in my place?" I could not speak. I fell into a sorrow that seemed to have no end, as if I had been thrown into deep water. I saw Marie Zivna before me in the form of a yellow butterfly. The yellow butterfly that had escaped Czechoslovakia's prison fluttered its wings as if to tell me to be strong and to stand up. By carrying on her missionary activities at the risk of her life, Marie truly had been transformed from being a caterpillar to being a beautiful butterfly.

[Peter Daley]

A much longer and skeptical account. I should go through this and post excerpts. Undated, circa 1970s.

A Testimony by Peter from New Zealand: My Time with the Oakland Family

[Peter Daley]

Oct. 25, 1979: The Heavenly Deception (Francine du Plessix Gray for The New York Review)

He'd just graduated from Yale with straight A's in philosophy but his girl-friend left him for an Iraqi Marxist. His career at college was academically brilliant and emotionally arid. He was "searching desperately for community." Walking through the streets of Berkeley in the summer of 1975, Chris Edwards was approached by a young man his age who invited him to have dinner with "the family" he lived with, "a very loving, very idealistic group of young people." He went to dinner. He was a little perplexed by his hosts' affectionate, constant smiling; but their passionate interest in him seemed like an oasis after "the verbal jousts, the endless mocking and scorning" of his Ivy League life. He was touched by the affectionate way they piled brownies on his plate. They called themselves the Family. They had a country place in Boonville, ninety miles north of SanFrancisco.

"Since you enjoyed this evening so much, Chris, why don't you join us for the weekend?" ...

There is more at the link, but the complete piece is behind a paywall... well, it's only $1.

A much more detail account:

Nov. 2010: Escape from the Unification Church (Paul Morantz)

On Sunday, January 21 (1979) Moonies approached Molko as he waited at a SF bus stop and said they were socially conscious people living in an "international community" in order to discuss important issues. They invited Molko to come to dinner. Molko asked if they had a "religious connection." They said "no" and did not reveal to Molko that they were members of the Unification Church, or that their purpose was to recruit him into the Church.

Molko attended the dinner, which included a number of other targets. He was kept apart from the other guests, and held in constant conversation with group members. After dinner there was a lecture on general social problems, followed by a slide show on "Boonville" — a "farm" a few hours to the north, owned by the group at the house. The slide show depicted Boonville as a rural getaway where people from the house went for relaxation and pleasure. When the presentation was concluded, all the targets were invited to visit. The group members assured Molko they would provide for all his needs. Impressed by this hospitality and enthusiasm, Molko agreed to go, not knowing his destination was an indoctrination facility for the Unification Church.

Molko was given a sleeping bag and a shelter where others were already sleeping. He awoke the next morning finding more than just the 12 from the van were sleeping in the room. When he walked to the bathroom, a group member arose and walked with him. Wherever he went, a group member attached.

Molko day's schedule left him no individual time. There were group calisthenics, then group breakfast, then a group lecture on moral and ethics. After lunch was, more exercise and more lectures. After dinner, there were"testimonials," group singing and more group discussion. At the end of the day Molko was exhausted.

Molko asked the name of the group, and was told it was the "Creative Community Project." He was told it associated with no religious organizations. By the end of Tuesday, Molko, tired amd uncomfortable, informed he desired to return to San Francisco. They told him he was free to leave but the bus departed at three o'clock in the morning. They strongly urged him to stay and hear the important information that would be discussed. Molko agreed to stay a little longer.

The days that followed were the same: lectures were repeated verbatim. They spoke of brotherly love and social problems, and included references to God and prayer. On Wednesday, Molko was informed the group's teachings derived from many philosophical sources, including Aristotle, Jefferson, and Reverend Sun Myung Moon. It was not disclosed that Reverend Moon was the group's spiritual leader.

On Friday night, Molko was told the group was about to leave Boonville for "Camp K" — another group-owned retreat used on weekends. Molko said he wanted to return to San Francisco, but again was urged to give the group a few more days. He agreed and made the trip to Camp K, still oblivious of his involvement with the Unification Church.

A weekend of exercises and -lectures continued at Camp K and then he was back at Boonville, during which Molko became increasingly disoriented and despairing of his future. On his 12th day of continuous group activity Molko was told for the first time the group was part of the Unification Church. While confused he was told the deception was necessary because of all the bad stories about the Church. He agreed to stay and try to work out his confusion.