FRANKFURT — In an ironic twist, Germany, which in the last century twice invaded other countries, contributing to two world wars, is now being invaded by hordes of Muslims. According to Pew Research Center, there are 4,760,000 Muslims in Germany, about 5.8 percent of its population, and that number is steadily growing. The Wall Street Journal writes, “The government estimates that about 800,000 foreigners will seek asylum in Germany this year, almost four times as many as last year.”

Gatestone Institute, a think tank specializing in strategy and defense issues, cites a report from N24 television news in Germany, that up to 50 percent of the asylum seekers arriving in Germany have gone into hiding and their whereabouts are unknown by German authorities. This is especially significant given President Obama’s assurance that migrants coming to the U.S. will be thoroughly vetted. According to a poll from the Washington Post and ABC News, “52 percent of total respondents said they’re not confident in the American screening process to weed out possible terrorists.” Some 54 percent said they oppose taking in refugees at all.

A YouTube video shows a Muslim man telling a German man, “We are reproducing faster and faster. You Germans are not getting any children. In the best case you get two children. We make seven or eight children … and then we take four wives each, then we have 22 children. Maybe you Germans have one child and a dog, huh?”

What is especially disturbing is the response by politicians. In Berlin, according to Soeren Kern, a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute, “lawmakers are considering emergency legislation that would allow local authorities to seize private residences to accommodate asylum seekers.” The proposal would effectively suspend the country’s constitutional protection of private property. Chancellor Angela Merkel sees no problem with the arriving migrants. In an interview with ZDF television, she responded to critics: “The chancellor has the situation under control. I have my vision and I will fight for it.”

Like Chancellor Merkel, President Obama is either in complete denial, or deliberately ignoring the potential threat posed by admitting so many people who come from nations and a religion that hold anti-democratic views.

President Obama has repeatedly said “99.9 percent of Muslims worldwide reject terrorism,” but that is factually untrue. According to a Sun-UK poll, one in five British Muslims have sympathies for jihadis and a 2015 Mirror poll found that “1.5 million Brits see themselves as supporters of ISIS.”

In 2007, Pew found that 22 percent of German Muslims say suicide bombings are sometimes justified. The figure is higher in France (46 percent). In America, 26 percent of Muslims agree with that statement.

There are plenty more figures, information and quotations for those serious enough to do even minimal research. Denial by Western leaders that the Islamists don’t say what they mean and mean what they say will not make us safer. Bromides about how our “values” would be harmed if we don’t allow thousands of Muslim migrants into Western countries are meaningless if the chief value — freedom — is undermined.

Some have brought up President Franklin Roosevelt’s deplorable rejection of Jews fleeing Nazi Germany as a compelling reason to admit Muslim migrants now. The major difference is that Jews — then and today — are not the ones threatening the peace, pluralism and diversity Westerners celebrate. Jews uphold those values, as do Christians, who seem to be down on the priority list for admittance and protection.

The one promise President Obama will have kept when he leaves office is the one to “fundamentally transform” the country. In Germany, that transformation is proceeding rapidly. Growing numbers of citizens feel threatened, but the politicians are not listening. That attitude by political elites in the UK and America 75 years ago paved the way for World War II.

Cal Thomas is a syndicated columnist and author. Readers may email him at: tcaeditors@tribpub.com.