AUSTRIA
The Rise of Jorg Haider
February 2000
1835 Minutes
V/O:Austria is a country that clings to its old imperial traditions but its also a country haunted by its past.
When the troops of the Third Reich marched into the streets of Vienna this was the only country to applaud - indeed to join them
Yet after Hitlers defeat Austria was allowed to waltz away from its responsibilities deemed a victim - not an accomplice - to war.
It was the beginning of the big lie
Austria's greatest post war achievement - so the old joke goes - has been to make the world believe that Beethoven was an Austrian while Hitler was a German. In fact of course its the other way round. But a big enough lie, told often enough can sometimes hide an unwanted truth
The truth about Austrian politics is that for 45 years they have been interminably dull. A stuffy coalition relying on the wealth of the country to stay in power.
With the entry of Joerg Haiders far-right Freedom Party to government in Austria - a political crisis is engulfing not just Vienna but the European Union
HAIDER: We had been attacked as xenophobic and fascist movements - I think there is no reasoning behind it Its only the question of having a strong battle in Austria ..between a block of two powerful parties which do n0ot want to lose this power. And we have been too successful in the past and therefore they use all arguments they can put on the table to attack us
V/O: The son of two committed Nazis Joerg Haider grew up in northern Austria - but his power base is in the south - in the picturesque province of Corinthia.
In this mountain fortress, far from Vienna, Haider served his political apprenticeship. 5.46From young party apparatchik in the mid 70s to leader in the mid 80s to governor of the province. 5.54But the rise and rise of Joerg Haider has not been without setbacks.
It was here in corinthia - the heartland of the freedom party - where Joerg Haider made the first of three statements which were to haunt his political career. During debate in 1991 he praised the sound employment policies of the third reich and in the upropar that followed was forced to resign as Governor./A couple of years later addressing a reunion of Waffen SS veterans Haider described them as decent men of character And a few years after that in 1995 he called Nazi concentration camps punishment camps which was taken to imply that the people in them were criminals who deserved to be thereHaiders supporters painted his statements as mere slips of the tongue But for his critics, the real slip was in allowing his true views to emerge
Haider: I think its not necessary to discuss historical situations because the history is clear and you do not have to do any interpretation about it.
Question: youve apologised and expressed regret about some of your statements in the past....I think its fair by a politician to apologise and say I made a mistake because if you are in policy during 20 years time you will make some mistakes. Can it be left behind do you thimnk you will be allowed to leave that behind?
Haider: Yes I think you have to apologise if you make a mistake and then its over
V/O: Joerg Haider is the ultimate politician - a master at reading the peoples mood.That mood is one of intense nationalism, and xenophobia - especially among the young.
Freedom Party won 40 per cent support from the under-30s at the last election.Under the National Socialists there was Hitler Youth now, theres Haider Youth. The president - who worked on the partys Vienna campaign - is Andreas Trammer.
Trammer: He is very charismatic person and he laso has the touch of the young man he is I guess thirty years in politics but he still has the aura of a young one a dynamic one a man who makes sports and is very fit.He is their Fuehrer, they devotedly follow his lead.
I would say you could show what he said in two words - Austria first CUT ...we want to solve first the problems of Austrians - of our own people
V/O: Austria is symbolic of the new Fortress Europe - determined to defend itself against a massive influx of refugees and illegal immigrants
To the South of Europe lies ravaged Africa - to the east the war torn Balkans - The disposessed are seeking refuge
V/O : In a massive operation, both police and military are used to control the border - 1250 kilometres which mark not just the easternmost point of Austria, but to all the countries of Europe beyond.The heavy and expensive burden of policing this historic corridor is a condition of Austrias membership of the European Union.The border is at the edge of the graveyard.
Day and night along this cold frontier the military capture foreigners desperately seeking freedom.
Though they talk about fortress Europe the reality is a lot less formidable in fact this is Austria and this is Hungary - and 42000 people made this crossing and were apprehended last year alone.
No one really knows how many make it through illegally.
But the number is growing and so is the resentment against them -- especially if they look or act differently to real Austrians. Multiculturalism? Joerg haider dismisses the very idea as fiction
Haider: Some one who comes to us has to accept our way of life - has to accept our traditions has to accept our language and has to be open to be integrated in our society and thats an invitation because we have to make an Austrian citizen of them. We are an open society - we invite people to be Austrian but they cannot refuse to be Austrian.
V/O: Many foreigners - whether they be legitimate refugees or apprehended illegal immigrants apply for asylumMost failThey end up in a place like this - a detention centre.
Police: they come from everywhereThey come from all round the world - the one thing they have in common is that they will all be deported.
Man in detention centre: We come from Afghanistan by train by car - three months ago.
V/O:And why did you come?
Man: To escape the fighting
V/O:
25 year old Fari-Sharif has failed in his bid for safe asylum - he sees a return to Kabul as being a death sentence.
V/O: IF you must go back to Afghanistan what will happen to you?
Dixon: If I go to Afghanistan there I under arrest Taliban catch me -(crosses his throat).
V/O: They will kill you?
Dixon: Yes.
Dixon is from Nigeria. His story is a complex one. Hes legally married to an Austrian woman and has a child here. But the marriage has broken down.His wife no longer wants him - and nor does the country.
Dixon: Many Austrians feel they should sort out their own problems before attending to the concerns of strangers like Dixon. Its a sentiment that Haider and his Freedom party have exploited with considerable skill
Haider:
You have to provide housing conditions for them You have to organise a school system where they can speak their traditional language - the mother language. We have to provide working places we have to provide jobs for them. And if we have an increasing unemployment rate in Austria I think its not responsible to accept so many ref - so many immigrants.
Q: well the last figure I saw written was a 4 pc unemployment figure that seems pretty low.We have about 7.3 by the European measure we have about 4.5.
V/O: This fudging of figures is vintage Haider. He also regularly overstates the number of foreigners flooding into Austria.
Haider: Thats like a river, the water is going down the river and sometimes you have to build a cataract to slow the waternew arrivals in Austria should be held to zero until a later time - like a cataract - Yes.
Doran: The thing is he knows very well that people vote for him only because of his racist motives and this is his policy - his policy is to strengthn the problems of every day life to make out of social problems ethnic problems.
V/O: Doran Rabinovic is a writer and a Jew. His community has reported a ten fold increase in harrassment and abuse since the election, and he rejects Haiders apologies and backtracks on the issue of race as a political ploy.
Rabinovic: it would mean that it was possible and it would stay possible for the future too to make racist opposition policy and then when you come near to power to get more rational so this means that racists standpoints get more acceptedWhat it means is that you can get away with itYes and this is a lesson that the Austrians have had all the time I mean think about what Austria got away with - and Germany didnt. But after 45 Austria got away with it
V/O:
The largest welfare organisation in Austria is Caritas. Across the country they give refuge to foreigners seeking asylum In shelters like this the growing antagonism to foreigners is keenly felt.
Barbara: You can express in public now that you dont like foreigners that you prefer Austrian culture.
V/O: Caritas director Barbara Greinocker has seen a shift in public perception of her work with refugees.
Barbara: Well in the beginning when I started in 91 it was like oh youre helping people. It was the Mother Teresa theme . It changed towards - oh do you think this is the right thing to do nowadays...to bring in so many foreigners
Hava: Caritas took me in - they are my only family - breaks down crying.
V?O: Hava is a Kosovar - she has not only suffered the horrors of the Balkan war but has been cruelly mistreated by her Croatian husband and his family.Asylum in Austria is her only hope But even if she is successful she may find further conflict on the streets Of Vienna.
Barbara:
In my district where I live there are foreigners and I hear in the street when I go to the shop people complaining about those Turkish people come to that apartment and the new Yugoslav cafe over there and why is there no Austrian cafe any more and stuff like that
Barbara: Let me ask you something really brutal - are Austrians interinsically racist?No we are not - some of us might be a bit blind....isnt that what they said during world war 2 we were blind we didnt know we didnt see Yes the same thing is happening but it doesnt mean a person really is a racist they might be stupid they nmight be narrow minded and its wrong its completely wrong.But it is so hard to wake up people who are asleep and so hard to make blind people see.
Haider:
I could play an easy role - I could say we are for open borders.Everybody can come and settle in Austria and nobody would make a demonstration against me and nobody would discuss in a bad way about the FP But we are responsible for our people And we take this responsibility amd we know its better to have a Austrian....thatn to close the eyes and to accept the rising of problems.
V/O:
While foreigners are the enemy within, his constituents also hear much from Joerg Haider about the enemy without which threatens their very nationhood - its called the European Union.
Haider: this is my philosphy the f p is against centralisation. the fp is against anti democratic institutions and bureaucratic monsters. thats clear. and therefore we are fighting against this fortress of bureaucracy in europe. we want to bring the power back to the people
Pelinka: Well of course its a typical populist cult - I am the man of the people and the others are not men and women of the people.
V/O:
Politics professor and Historian Anton Pelinka believes there are connections between Haider and Hitler - but its more a matter of method than mindset.
Pelinka: We all know Adolf Hitler used hatred of the jews to fuel his rise - are we seeing something similarYes and no Maybe the no is more important It;s not - Europe has changed Austria has changed and Hitler bielieved in his racist anti senmitic xenophobic agenda. I think theres no one - not Haider especially who believes in such an agendaBut as a parallel certain negative stereotypes which had been used by the Nazis are once more used.
Pelinka: So we have these cases but I think that Haider pf course is not a second Hitler - not even a second Hitler in disguiseHes a first Haider?Hes a first Haider I would say hes the successful version of the new type of right wing policy
Not just a successful version - a contagious one. As the giants of Europes old right such as West Germanys Helmut Kohl falter and fail a new European right is making its debutIn Switzerland which went to the polls just a few weeks after Austria a party of ultra nationalists recorded stunning gainsIn Belgium in Italy in Germany - the same story and the same agenda. Anti immigrant - anti European Union with a distinct whiff of neo fascism.
V/O:The cold war may be over - but there is a new chill in the air. Europes condemnation of the Freedom Partys success has merely increased Haiders popularity.
Austria is now isolated from its European partners. Its a very dangerous situation.
Haider: Do you believe by the next election you will be chancellorOh Im sure that it will happen.
Q: Youre sure?
Haider: Im sure
The Rise of Jorg Haider
February 2000
1835 Minutes
V/O:Austria is a country that clings to its old imperial traditions but its also a country haunted by its past.
When the troops of the Third Reich marched into the streets of Vienna this was the only country to applaud - indeed to join them
Yet after Hitlers defeat Austria was allowed to waltz away from its responsibilities deemed a victim - not an accomplice - to war.
It was the beginning of the big lie
Austria's greatest post war achievement - so the old joke goes - has been to make the world believe that Beethoven was an Austrian while Hitler was a German. In fact of course its the other way round. But a big enough lie, told often enough can sometimes hide an unwanted truth
The truth about Austrian politics is that for 45 years they have been interminably dull. A stuffy coalition relying on the wealth of the country to stay in power.
With the entry of Joerg Haiders far-right Freedom Party to government in Austria - a political crisis is engulfing not just Vienna but the European Union
HAIDER: We had been attacked as xenophobic and fascist movements - I think there is no reasoning behind it Its only the question of having a strong battle in Austria ..between a block of two powerful parties which do n0ot want to lose this power. And we have been too successful in the past and therefore they use all arguments they can put on the table to attack us
V/O: The son of two committed Nazis Joerg Haider grew up in northern Austria - but his power base is in the south - in the picturesque province of Corinthia.
In this mountain fortress, far from Vienna, Haider served his political apprenticeship. 5.46From young party apparatchik in the mid 70s to leader in the mid 80s to governor of the province. 5.54But the rise and rise of Joerg Haider has not been without setbacks.
It was here in corinthia - the heartland of the freedom party - where Joerg Haider made the first of three statements which were to haunt his political career. During debate in 1991 he praised the sound employment policies of the third reich and in the upropar that followed was forced to resign as Governor./A couple of years later addressing a reunion of Waffen SS veterans Haider described them as decent men of character And a few years after that in 1995 he called Nazi concentration camps punishment camps which was taken to imply that the people in them were criminals who deserved to be thereHaiders supporters painted his statements as mere slips of the tongue But for his critics, the real slip was in allowing his true views to emerge
Haider: I think its not necessary to discuss historical situations because the history is clear and you do not have to do any interpretation about it.
Question: youve apologised and expressed regret about some of your statements in the past....I think its fair by a politician to apologise and say I made a mistake because if you are in policy during 20 years time you will make some mistakes. Can it be left behind do you thimnk you will be allowed to leave that behind?
Haider: Yes I think you have to apologise if you make a mistake and then its over
V/O: Joerg Haider is the ultimate politician - a master at reading the peoples mood.That mood is one of intense nationalism, and xenophobia - especially among the young.
Freedom Party won 40 per cent support from the under-30s at the last election.Under the National Socialists there was Hitler Youth now, theres Haider Youth. The president - who worked on the partys Vienna campaign - is Andreas Trammer.
Trammer: He is very charismatic person and he laso has the touch of the young man he is I guess thirty years in politics but he still has the aura of a young one a dynamic one a man who makes sports and is very fit.He is their Fuehrer, they devotedly follow his lead.
I would say you could show what he said in two words - Austria first CUT ...we want to solve first the problems of Austrians - of our own people
V/O: Austria is symbolic of the new Fortress Europe - determined to defend itself against a massive influx of refugees and illegal immigrants
To the South of Europe lies ravaged Africa - to the east the war torn Balkans - The disposessed are seeking refuge
V/O : In a massive operation, both police and military are used to control the border - 1250 kilometres which mark not just the easternmost point of Austria, but to all the countries of Europe beyond.The heavy and expensive burden of policing this historic corridor is a condition of Austrias membership of the European Union.The border is at the edge of the graveyard.
Day and night along this cold frontier the military capture foreigners desperately seeking freedom.
Though they talk about fortress Europe the reality is a lot less formidable in fact this is Austria and this is Hungary - and 42000 people made this crossing and were apprehended last year alone.
No one really knows how many make it through illegally.
But the number is growing and so is the resentment against them -- especially if they look or act differently to real Austrians. Multiculturalism? Joerg haider dismisses the very idea as fiction
Haider: Some one who comes to us has to accept our way of life - has to accept our traditions has to accept our language and has to be open to be integrated in our society and thats an invitation because we have to make an Austrian citizen of them. We are an open society - we invite people to be Austrian but they cannot refuse to be Austrian.
V/O: Many foreigners - whether they be legitimate refugees or apprehended illegal immigrants apply for asylumMost failThey end up in a place like this - a detention centre.
Police: they come from everywhereThey come from all round the world - the one thing they have in common is that they will all be deported.
Man in detention centre: We come from Afghanistan by train by car - three months ago.
V/O:And why did you come?
Man: To escape the fighting
V/O:
25 year old Fari-Sharif has failed in his bid for safe asylum - he sees a return to Kabul as being a death sentence.
V/O: IF you must go back to Afghanistan what will happen to you?
Dixon: If I go to Afghanistan there I under arrest Taliban catch me -(crosses his throat).
V/O: They will kill you?
Dixon: Yes.
Dixon is from Nigeria. His story is a complex one. Hes legally married to an Austrian woman and has a child here. But the marriage has broken down.His wife no longer wants him - and nor does the country.
Dixon: Many Austrians feel they should sort out their own problems before attending to the concerns of strangers like Dixon. Its a sentiment that Haider and his Freedom party have exploited with considerable skill
Haider:
You have to provide housing conditions for them You have to organise a school system where they can speak their traditional language - the mother language. We have to provide working places we have to provide jobs for them. And if we have an increasing unemployment rate in Austria I think its not responsible to accept so many ref - so many immigrants.
Q: well the last figure I saw written was a 4 pc unemployment figure that seems pretty low.We have about 7.3 by the European measure we have about 4.5.
V/O: This fudging of figures is vintage Haider. He also regularly overstates the number of foreigners flooding into Austria.
Haider: Thats like a river, the water is going down the river and sometimes you have to build a cataract to slow the waternew arrivals in Austria should be held to zero until a later time - like a cataract - Yes.
Doran: The thing is he knows very well that people vote for him only because of his racist motives and this is his policy - his policy is to strengthn the problems of every day life to make out of social problems ethnic problems.
V/O: Doran Rabinovic is a writer and a Jew. His community has reported a ten fold increase in harrassment and abuse since the election, and he rejects Haiders apologies and backtracks on the issue of race as a political ploy.
Rabinovic: it would mean that it was possible and it would stay possible for the future too to make racist opposition policy and then when you come near to power to get more rational so this means that racists standpoints get more acceptedWhat it means is that you can get away with itYes and this is a lesson that the Austrians have had all the time I mean think about what Austria got away with - and Germany didnt. But after 45 Austria got away with it
V/O:
The largest welfare organisation in Austria is Caritas. Across the country they give refuge to foreigners seeking asylum In shelters like this the growing antagonism to foreigners is keenly felt.
Barbara: You can express in public now that you dont like foreigners that you prefer Austrian culture.
V/O: Caritas director Barbara Greinocker has seen a shift in public perception of her work with refugees.
Barbara: Well in the beginning when I started in 91 it was like oh youre helping people. It was the Mother Teresa theme . It changed towards - oh do you think this is the right thing to do nowadays...to bring in so many foreigners
Hava: Caritas took me in - they are my only family - breaks down crying.
V?O: Hava is a Kosovar - she has not only suffered the horrors of the Balkan war but has been cruelly mistreated by her Croatian husband and his family.Asylum in Austria is her only hope But even if she is successful she may find further conflict on the streets Of Vienna.
Barbara:
In my district where I live there are foreigners and I hear in the street when I go to the shop people complaining about those Turkish people come to that apartment and the new Yugoslav cafe over there and why is there no Austrian cafe any more and stuff like that
Barbara: Let me ask you something really brutal - are Austrians interinsically racist?No we are not - some of us might be a bit blind....isnt that what they said during world war 2 we were blind we didnt know we didnt see Yes the same thing is happening but it doesnt mean a person really is a racist they might be stupid they nmight be narrow minded and its wrong its completely wrong.But it is so hard to wake up people who are asleep and so hard to make blind people see.
Haider:
I could play an easy role - I could say we are for open borders.Everybody can come and settle in Austria and nobody would make a demonstration against me and nobody would discuss in a bad way about the FP But we are responsible for our people And we take this responsibility amd we know its better to have a Austrian....thatn to close the eyes and to accept the rising of problems.
V/O:
While foreigners are the enemy within, his constituents also hear much from Joerg Haider about the enemy without which threatens their very nationhood - its called the European Union.
Haider: this is my philosphy the f p is against centralisation. the fp is against anti democratic institutions and bureaucratic monsters. thats clear. and therefore we are fighting against this fortress of bureaucracy in europe. we want to bring the power back to the people
Pelinka: Well of course its a typical populist cult - I am the man of the people and the others are not men and women of the people.
V/O:
Politics professor and Historian Anton Pelinka believes there are connections between Haider and Hitler - but its more a matter of method than mindset.
Pelinka: We all know Adolf Hitler used hatred of the jews to fuel his rise - are we seeing something similarYes and no Maybe the no is more important It;s not - Europe has changed Austria has changed and Hitler bielieved in his racist anti senmitic xenophobic agenda. I think theres no one - not Haider especially who believes in such an agendaBut as a parallel certain negative stereotypes which had been used by the Nazis are once more used.
Pelinka: So we have these cases but I think that Haider pf course is not a second Hitler - not even a second Hitler in disguiseHes a first Haider?Hes a first Haider I would say hes the successful version of the new type of right wing policy
Not just a successful version - a contagious one. As the giants of Europes old right such as West Germanys Helmut Kohl falter and fail a new European right is making its debutIn Switzerland which went to the polls just a few weeks after Austria a party of ultra nationalists recorded stunning gainsIn Belgium in Italy in Germany - the same story and the same agenda. Anti immigrant - anti European Union with a distinct whiff of neo fascism.
V/O:The cold war may be over - but there is a new chill in the air. Europes condemnation of the Freedom Partys success has merely increased Haiders popularity.
Austria is now isolated from its European partners. Its a very dangerous situation.
Haider: Do you believe by the next election you will be chancellorOh Im sure that it will happen.
Q: Youre sure?
Haider: Im sure