Why did communism cause a massive decline of Christianity in some Eastern European countries, like West Germany, but Christianity remained very strong in others, like Poland?

by confusedguyyo
nelliemcnervous

A similar question was asked a few months ago and I posted a response linking to some other responses here. This issue comes up fairly often. Briefly: Communist rule isn't the only reason for the different rates of reported religious belief in different Eastern and Central European countries.