Thilo Sarrazin

Sarrazin at the presentation of his book Deutschland schafft sich ab, 30 August 2010. Credit: Richard Hebstreit

Thilo Sarrazin is a German politician and writer. He is a former SPD senator of finance for the State of Berlin (2002-2009) and served on the executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank (2009 - 2010), until his controversial remarks on Jewish genetics and alleged lack of integration of Muslim immigrants in Germany in an interview lead to a media backlash that resulted in his resignation.

On his political stance, Der Spiegel wrote that, despite his official 'center-left' affiliation, he 'appears to be aiming to push the highly divisive debate over immigration and integration closer to that of right-wing populists elsewhere in Europe, like Geert Wilders in the Netherlands.'

Career

He had already sparked controversy as senator of finance for the State of Berlin by making 'disparaging comments about German welfare recipients'

Sarrazin was appointed Finance Senator to the Senate of Berlin in January 2002. He adhered to financial policy based on strict savings and a single-entry bookkeeping system for the management of local authorities. As a result of his remarks on Berlin's social and educational reputation some consider Sarrazin being an agitator. His proposals for cutting social benefits were often accompanied by protests.

In the political controversy surrounding the Berlin event center Tempodrom he was accused of having awarded state funds irregularly. The preliminary investigation was also against two other SPD-CDU politicians, three companies and two accountants. The investigating prosecutor filed an informal appeal against Sarrazin, but in December 2004 the Berlin district court rejected a trial because the prosecution was seen as ineffective.[11]

In August 2009, Berlin's public prosecutor conducted an investigation of Sarrazin for embezzlement. According to the office of the prosecutor, he favored the Berlin-Wannsee Golf and Country Club, leasing a golf course to them at a reduced rate.[12] Sarrazin dismissed the accusations on the grounds that he saw no financial loss for the city.[13]

After the release of his 2010 book, the party leadership of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) announced in August 2010 that it will investigate whether to terminate Sarrazin's membership, because allegedly his theses are diametrical to basic social-democratic values.[19] An arbitration committee, meeting in Berlin on 21 April 2011, decided that Sarrazin could remain a member of the party. The formal accusation that he had damaged the party with his theories could not be upheld, in particular because Sarrazin read a statement in which he said he had never intended to depart from social democratic values and that he had never intended to suggest that social-Darwinist theories should be implemented in political practice.[20] This in turn led to dissatisfaction among many SPD party leaders.[21]

While senator of finance in Berlin, he had repeatedly commented on non-white immigration:

'I did not make up my opinion about Kreuzberg by going there and saying, ah, another headscarf or another pram. I looked at the Berlin statistics. As senator of finance, of course I thought to myself: how are we to pay for all this?'

Books

Germany abolishes itself

In his 2010 book Deutschland schafft such ab (Germany abolishes itself), he denounces the failure of Germany's post-war immigration policy, sparking a nationwide controversy about the costs and benefits of multiculturalism. 'Sarrazin makes abundantly clear, that demise comes as a result of immigration.'

Reactions

Der Spiegel writes:

'Criticism bordering on revulsion dominated the first wave of the reaction. Politicians and opinion leaders condemned Sarrazin almost unanimously. But then it slowly became apparent that many citizens agreed with Sarrazin. The publisher announced that, due to high demand, it was going to increase the book's initial printing to 250,000 copies. Furthermore, Internet forums and political events made it clear that Sarrazin [...] had broad public support.'

And later in the article, describing the 'third wave' of reactions:

'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." '

Sarrazin sold over 1.3 million copies of this book.

Europe doesn't need the euro

In 2012 another book by Sarrazin was published, Europa braucht den Euro niche (Europe doesn't need the euro). The book argues that the introduction of a single currency in Europe was a bad idea and should be overturned. In it, he controversially argues that Germany is being pressured to bail out the euro zone because it perpetrated the Holocaust. For him, supporters of euro bonds in Germany 'are driven by that very German reflex, that we can only finally atone for the Holocaust and World War II when we have put all our interests and money into European hands'. Der Spiegel claims 'his phrasing chimes with the line of argument often cited by far-right politicians of the National Democratic Party -- that Germany is being cowed by its Holocaust guilt, and that it has done enough atoning'.

He says it was a mistake to launch the currency before Europe had a common fiscal policy, and that it was wrong to let countries like Greece join because their economies weren't ready. He particularly uses terms such as "culture" and "mentality" to explain the lack of budget discipline and economic weakness in southern member states of the euro zone. Sarazzin's book concludes that Europe can only get out of its mess if if transforms into a looser formation.

Such ideas around the Euro and the EU are close to the German, British and French far-right parties, respectively AfD, UKIP and the Front National.

Reactions

The leader of the opposition Greens, Jürgen Trittin, told Die Welt that Sarrazin was engaging in 'deutsche mark chauvinism', and Carsten Schneider, a budget policy spokesman for the SPD, said: 'Sarrazin is once again trying out the usual provocation. His criticism of the euro is nationalist and reactionary.'

The NPD issued a statement praising Sarrazin and criticizing Germany's 'psychopathological guilt complex that makes it fulfil almost every wish of self-interested foreign countries even 67 years after the end of the war.'

Wishful Thinking

His newest book (April 2016) titled Wunschdenken (Wishful Thinking), builds on the controversy surrounding his 2010 book, Deutschland schafft sich ab. He dedicated the book to a list of reasons why Germany's government is failing to address key issues, alleging that 'Germany's future is highly contingent upon hot topics like immigration, demographic changes and education - but not equality, gender politics or any debate on climate change.'

Sarrazin points to Chancellor Angela Merkel as the main perpetrator behind the waste of German wealth and education he observes. He refers to her 'crude refugee and immigration policy' as the 'biggest mistake in German politics since the end of World War II'. Such a view could be understood by the fact that he takes particular issue with the increasing number of Muslim migrants arriving in Germany. He assumes the majority of asylum seekers arrived from the Middle East and Africa with a low standard of education, and adds:

'Their cultural and cognitive profiles are similar to those of the Muslims who already are in Europe. Therefore, it is to be expected that their development in terms of education, integration into the work force, dependency on government assistance, criminality and susceptibility to fundamentalism will follow similar patterns as those who are already here.'

And so, for him, 'gaining back full control over our borders (…) will become an existential issue for our culture and the survival of our society'.

Sarrazin tries to apply scientific methods to defend his position: His introduction counts 160 pages, explaining his theoretical approach.

Reactions

Der Spiegel accused Sarrazin of being egocentric and spreading 'cold aggression with a scientific veneer'.

Views

On his political stance, Der Spiegel wrote that, despite his official 'center-left' affiliation, he 'appears to be aiming to push the highly divisive debate over immigration and integration closer to that of right-wing populists elsewhere in Europe, like Geert Wilders in the Netherlands.'

In the same vein, the Central Council of Jews in Germany suggested that Sarrazin join the extreme right-wing party, the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD). 'That would at least make it clearer where he stands in the debate and would unburden the SPD.'

In a press release on the party's website, Jürgen Gansel, an NPD parliamentarian in the eastern German state of Saxony, praised Sarrazin, saying his 'comments on foreigners thoroughly breathes the spirit of national democratic concerns about being overrun by foreigners.'

On Immigration

• He was interviewed by the tabloid Bild and, in reference to the relative lack of success that immigrants have had in German schools and the country's low birth rates, claimed: 'we are simply accepting that Germany is becoming smaller and dumber.' Months before, Sarrazin had made headlines by saying 'we are becoming ... on average dumber' and by linking that claim with immigration 'from Turkey, the Middle East and Africa.'

• For him, the only solution against the 'downfall' of the German nation is putting a stop to immigration and dissolving 'foreign' cultures, making them disappear in order for immigrant populations to 'assimilate'.

Interview with Lettre International

The interview he held with the culture magazine Lettre International was the one that sparked the media frenzy which eventually led to his resignation from the Bundesbank. In it, he claimed that Turks with low IQs and high birthrates were 'conquering Germany in the same way the Kosovars conquered Kosovo: by using higher birth-rates' :

'Forty per cent of all births occur in the underclasses. Our educated population is becoming stupider from generation to generation. What's more, they cultivate an aggressive and atavistic mentality. It's a scandal that Turkish boys won't listen to female teachers because that is what their culture tells them'

And

'A large number of Arabs and Turks in [Berlin] [...] have no productive function other than in the fruit and vegetable trade'

He even added 'I'd rather have East European Jews with an IQ that is 15pc higher than the German population', later clarifying his statement by claiming 'Jews' all have a similar gene dictating their intelligence levels.

On Islam and Muslims

• In excerpts of his 2010 book Sarrazin writes that Germany's Muslim immigrant families have profited from social welfare payments to a far greater degree than they have contributed to German prosperity. He also has raised the spectre of the country's Muslim population, due to what he claims are much higher birth rates among immigrants, soon overtaking that of the country's 'autochthonous' population.

'If the fertility rate of German autochthons remains at the level it has been at for the past 40 years, then in the course of the next three or four generations, the number of the Germans will sink to 20 million. And, incidentally, it is absolutely realistic that the Muslim population, through a combination of a higher birth rate and continuation of immigration, could grow by 2100 to 35 million.'

'I don't want the country of my grandchildren and great grandchildren to be largely Muslim, or that Turkish or Arabic will be spoken in large areas, that women will wear headscarves and the daily rhythm is set by the call of the muezzin. If I want to experience that, I can just take a vacation in the Orient.'

In another passage, Sarrazin seems to suggest that Muslim immigrants would rather work under the table than legally.

Christian Geyer from Courrier International claims that all of Sarrazin's appreciations of 'culture' stem from biology and genetics. When speaking of immigrant and Muslim populations, he attributes their 'lesser intelligence' to genetic features, especially that caused by 'more numerous intra-family weddings' and subsequent 'hereditary diseases'. For Geyer, his entire 2010 book is an attempt to mount a 'biological and genetic case' against immigrant, Turkish, Arab and Muslim populations.

On welfare recipients

In 2008, he suggested that Germany's welfare recipients could live healthily on just €3.76 per day and suggested that benefits providing €4.25 per day for food were too high, comments which caused controversy

In 2009 he said of unemployed persons' management of energy: "First, Hartz IV receivers are more at home, second, they like it warm, and thirdly, many regulate the temperature with the window," in light of the fact that in Germany, the unemployed do not pay for rent and heating themselves. Sarrazin called pension increases "completely senseless action", but instead recommended that the government prepare older citizens for a "long term decline to the level of subsistence."[10]