The Man Who United Germany

Home » blogging » The Man Who United Germany

The Man Who United Germany

Friday, September 10th, 2010 | blogging

Spiegel describes Thilo Sarrazin as the man who divided Germany, yet just about everything in the article has it the other way around: Sarrazin has been the object of enormous amounts of support. His book is currently sold out.

Sarrazin’s theories meet with widespread approval in large segments of the German population. His book quickly sold out and is currently difficult to obtain. “We hope to have new copies on Wednesday,” says Wilfried Weber, 69, manager of the Felix Jud bookstore in Hamburg. “There are diehards who show up every day, hoping that I might just have a copy left.”

There is a weekly market in Hamburg’s Eppendorf neighborhood. The customers arrive in large SUVs and push their babies around in expensive strollers. Rainer Schaefer, 67, and his wife Barbara are regulars. When asked how he feels about Sarrazin’s theories, Schaefer promptly replies: “I agree with him completely. He was just went too far on the genetic issue. Nevertheless, we shouldn’t stifle the man. Rather, we should address the problems of integration instead.” In general, says Schaefer, “those who come to this country ought to like us and be willing to integrate.” Then, his wife Barbara chimes in: “But if we’re honest, we too have sometimes said that it was getting to be a bit much with the foreigners.”

Sarrazin even has some supporters among immigrants in Germany. On the third floor of the Emil Krause Gymnasium in Hamburg, German teacher Manfred Jäger is asking the class to quiet down. His students are between 17 and 19 and hope to graduate this year. Most of them support Sarrazin and his ideas. “He′s right about many of the things he says,” says Depak, who is from Afghanistan, noting that many immigrants are criminals and take advantage of the social welfare system.

The Sarrazin mania has, according to Spiegel, gone through three stages: denunciation by the political elite, an outpouring of support from the German people, and “politicians have begun demanding that the political elite cease ignoring the fact that many in Germany support Sarrazin”.

Peter Hauk, head of the Christian Democratic Union’s parliamentary group in the southern state of Baden-Württemberg, says: “Even if I don’t share some of his views, he does address issues that our citizens are concerned about.”

It appears that many who support Sarrazin are concerned about getting tarred with the racist brush that has been applied to him, so far not too successfully. Most statements I’ve read in support of him start with a reservation or two, and follow with the assertion that ultimately he′s right.

It’s difficult for someone at this distance and with little knowledge of German politics to know the extent of the significance of the Sarrazin phenomenon. But it looks huge he′s already being called the German Geert Wilders, though it appears to me that he′s more popular than Wilders. One can only hope that this is the start of an awakening in Europe.

(Thanks to Fjordman for the link.)