10% Want New Hitler?

Do Germans Want Another Hitler?
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The majority of Germans, however, vehemently disagree with their president.

“Mr. President, why are you sucking up to Islam?” demanded the headline of Bild, Germany’s largest daily newspaper. In the article, Bild published the results of a poll revealing that 66 percent of Germans reject Wulff’s view of Islam.

The dichotomy between German politicians and the German populace on this issue is telling for two reasons. First, it shows that behind the politically correct platitudes of leaders like Wulff, Germany is a nation festering with anti-immigrant, anti-Islam inclinations. Second, the atmosphere of mass frustration is conducive to the emergence of a bold, decisive leader willing to confront the Muslim question.

Despite routine remarks like Wulff’s, there is little doubt that Germany, like much of the rest of Europe, is being engulfed by a wave of anti-immigrant, anti-Islam sentiment. A recent poll by the Allensbach Institute revealed that 55 percent of Germans consider Muslims a burden and that they “have cost much more socially and financially than they have contributed economically.”

Yesterday, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, a think tank linked to the Social Democrats, released study results confirming that far-right ideology is deeply ingrained throughout Germany. In the nationwide survey of some 2,500 people, more than a third of Germans agreed with the statement “Germany is in serious danger of being overrun by foreigners.”

Meanwhile, 30 percent agreed that immigrants ought to be deported if there were not enough jobs. On the issue of Muslims specifically, more than 55 percent said the practice of Islam ought to be restricted in Germany, even though such a restriction would violate Germany’s constitution. In east Germany, three quarters of respondents felt the practice of Islam should be restricted.

“We’ve detected a rise in decidedly anti-democratic and racist attitudes in 2010,” said the researchers. When the same survey was conducted two years ago, results showed a decrease in anti-democratic tendencies, nationalism and xenophobia. Moreover, despite what the term far right suggests, as Der Spiegel reported, survey results show that “right-wing extremist attitudes don’t only exist on the fringes of politics, but are also found in the political center, ‘in all social groups and in all age groups, regardless of employment status, educational level or gender” (emphasis mine throughout).

In another question, participants were asked if they would like another “führer”—a word deliberately intended to invoke images of Adolf Hitler—to rule Germany “with a firm hand” for the benefit of all.

Despite the chilling images invoked by the term führer, more than 10 percent replied in the affirmative!

These results are sobering. As tension intensifies between Germans and Muslims, incidents of persecution and violence will increase, especially if the government tightens laws and policies pertaining to immigration. And surely it won’t be long before radical Islam, never shy about confrontation, will conduct successful attacks on German soil. But the consequences could go way beyond internal strife or violence inside Germany.

The mass frustration with Muslims is intensifying the urge among Germans for a stronger, more decisive, more confrontational German leadership!

Soon, the hostility that many Germans feel toward immigrants will be vented on Germany’s politicians, whom they consider to be primarily responsible for the crisis in the first place. It is evident, particularly within the tanking popularity numbers of Germany’s ruling political parties, that Germans are unhappy and frustrated with the bulk of their leaders. The survey performed by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation found that 90 percent of Germans, in both east and west Germany, feel it is useless to become involved in politics.

The rise in anti-Muslim hostility, combined with the latent dissatisfaction with the government, has primed Germany for political change!

Last month, when controversial banker Thilo Sarrazin voiced his concerns about Islam’s destructive presence in Germany, a survey by Allensbach found that 60 percent of Germans believed Sarrazin said “many things that are correct.” Only 13 percent disagreed with Sarrazin. Another poll found that if a “Sarrazin party” formed, it would get 18 percent of the national vote.

Some politicians are already attempting to win votes by tapping into anti-Muslim attitudes. This week, Horst Seehofer, premier of the conservative southern German state of Bavaria, stated that Germany ought to begin recruiting workers from places other than Turkey and Arab countries. “It’s clear that immigrants from other cultural circles like Turkey and Arab countries have more difficulties. From that I draw the conclusion that we don’t need any additional foreign workers from other cultures,” he said.

Those are combative words—and they resonate with the German populace.

Watch German politics. If a politician is crafty and ambitious, and willing to shirk postwar tradition and confront the issue of immigration, then the swelling frustration and anger inside Germany, especially toward Islam, is a tremendous opportunity!

Here’s something else to consider. In the Guardian this week, Ian Buruma noted that although “European populism focuses on Islam and immigration … it may be mobilizing a wider rage against elites expressed by people who feel unrepresented, or fear being left behind economically. They share a feeling of being dispossessed by foreigners, of losing their sense of national, social, or religious belonging.” The widespread rage and frustration against incumbent leaders and governments is priming much of Europe for the emergence of extremist governments and leaders.

Haven’t we seen this scenario before?

Adolf Hitler exploited similar public sentiment to take the reins of Germany!

In the early 1930s, after years of economic uncertainty and being let down by mainstream politicians, the German people began investing their hope in far-right and far-left political parties. In federal elections in 1932, Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers Party won the majority of seats in the Reichstag. A few months later, in January 1933, Hitler was made chancellor with the mandate to use whatever means necessary to fix the ailing economy, to restore strong government to Germany and to resurrect German national pride, which meant addressing the role of certain minorities, particularly Jews, in Germany.

With the throne of Germany indisputably his, Hitler immediately set about fulfilling his promises—especially his despicable ambitions for Jews!

Stay tuned to the ongoing debate in Germany about immigration and Islam. As anti-Muslim sentiment grows, tensions will intensify. A radical terrorist attack on Germany would hardly be surprising. If an attack occurs, it will only deepen the animosity of Germans toward Muslims, and heighten the urge inside Germany for stronger, more confrontational, leadership. Soon, very soon, Germany will get its biblically prophesied führer!