2017-12-16
Chris Johansen
Germany has been a fairly constant theme through my life, from my very beginning. Thus, I took particular interest in the recent German general election, not only to see how the German Greens (Die Grünen) fared but also to view the entire political landscape and compare it with what it was like when I lived there, during 1971-3. I was rather disturbed to learn that a right-wing ultra-nationalist political party, the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland), had secured 12.6% of the vote. This by far surpassed the 5% needed to get seats in the German parliament; the first time that an ultra-right-wing party had done that since WW2.
So, lets start with WW2, when it all began for me at least. My father was a Norwegian merchant seaman when Hitlers Germany invaded Norway in 1940. Apparently, my father lost his ambition to return home then and when his ship docked in Fremantle he jumped ship. Thus, in contemporary terminology, he was an “illegal boat arrival” – which, again considering contemporary events, makes me feel rather proud (i.e. to be advocating for todays “illegal boat arrivals”). However, my father was not banished to a concentration camp in the Pacific, but immediately inducted into the Australian Navy, as they were desperately short of experienced sailors at that time.
Im not exactly familiar with my fathers happenings immediately after that but the main, and most important, result was that I was born, indeed while Hitler was still alive. Through school, I learned about the history of WW2, and that preceding it, but could never quite understand how humans could sink to such base levels of behaviour as particularly exhibited by the Nazis in WW2. It thus became one of my lifes basic ambitions, and challenges, to try and understand this.
It is therefore not surprising, that my choice of where to take up a post-doctoral fellowship was Germany. But that was not the only reason I chose to 'emigrate from Australia on completing my university studies. I had been worn down over the previous 7 years in my 'disagreement with the Australian Government about being conscripted for the purpose of going to kill Vietnamese in their own country. Thus I left Australia with the feeling that I was indeed a 'refugee, escaping oppression. Rather ironic that my father fled from German-occupied Norway to Australia for refuge and I was fleeing from Australia to Germany for refuge. But, actually I was not really a refugee as I had secured a rather prestigious international fellowship to conduct research in Germany – I just felt like a refugee.
On arriving in Germany in 1971, my first journey overseas, everything did seem wonderful, but my impressions were perhaps coloured by my previous 'unpleasant experiences in Australia. Everyone I met seemed most hospitable and helpful, especially so as my total German vocabulary on arrival consisted of not much more than 'ja, 'nein and 'guten tag. And early on my supervisor offered to move me from the quite adequate emolument of my fellowship onto a local job position with higher emoluments, comprehensive insurance, etc.
I was at the Technical University in Darmstadt, located in central West Germany. It seemed to be a highly organized, well laid out city with excellent public transport services – I really didnt need a car but got one anyway to drive around Germany. My landlord told me that the original Darmstadt was almost totally destroyed by bombing in WW2, where he and his family survived by living in a cellar. Australian pilots were among those dropping bombs in that part of Germany but I felt no ill feeling towards me in that regard during my time in Germany. And most of the other cities that I visited in Germany were similarly destroyed and rebuilt.
At the time of my stay the Social Democrats (SPD), under Willy Brandt, were the dominant political party in West Germany and the social system was most impressive. There was full employment to the extent the country had to bring in 'guest workers to fill the jobs available. Salaries were sufficient to give employees a 'good life. Old age and disability pensions seemed adequate and medical coverage was complete and seemingly universal. I dont recall seeing any beggars or homeless people. If someone did lose their job they were paid, by the Government, something like 80% of what they were getting as salary which scaled down over time; but most such people didnt remain unemployed for long due to the abundance of jobs.
A majority of the guest workers were from Turkey and they seemed to be assimilating satisfactorily – many stayed on to become German citizens. There was no sign of the racial tensions now regularly reported from Germany and elsewhere in Europe, and currently contributing to the rise of right-wing parties like the AfD. And, as per my own experience, no resentment against nationals of countries who fought Germany in WW2, or WW1 for that matter.
Back then there was also obvious environmental consciousness. For example, in my German language class attended soon after my arrival, a main theme for discussion was the pros and cons of nuclear power, with a strong emphasis on the cons. Particularly in the Ruhr, I saw examples of parks and forests created over what were once open cut coal mines. So, the rise and increasing influence of Die Grünen during the 80s and 90s was of little surprise to me. In fact, I was aware of the German Green movement long before I had even heard about an Australian one, as I only returned to live in Australia in 2006.
But on leaving Germany at the end of 1973, I was no closer to achieving my major life goal of understanding how humans could sink to the depths they did during WW2. I left with the impression of a socialist paradise with the inhabitants being an open society and expressing goodwill to all. I was thus somewhat surprised and disappointed to hear of the rise of ultra-nationalist sentiments in Germany, as manifesting in the rise of the AfD, and in other countries in Europe, in recent years.
Angela Merkels humane decision of a few years ago to allow an influx of Syrian refugees into Germany seemingly accelerated these sentiments. Fears grew about refugees generally that they are taking local jobs and/or were a drain on social welfare. This was in addition to increasing terrorism fears throughout the world particularly since 9/11. This provided fodder for right-wing groups to induce fear of 'the other, a phenomenon that we in Australia are well familiar with.
However, on examining the distribution of AfD votes across Germany, most of their support was from the former East Germany, with that support declining towards the west. It seems that attempts to integrate East Germany into West Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 have not been as successful as they could/should have been, with continuing economic depression in the east. Thus the propensity to blame competition from immigrants/refugees for their economic woes, opening up opportunities for promotion of xenophobia.
Indeed, this is how WW2 came about. Severe reparations were imposed on Germany after WW1, with, by the way, Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes the prime advocate of those reparations. This, understandably, lead to severely adverse economic circumstances in Germany through the 20s and into the 30s, causing hyperinflation and inducing widescale poverty. This was fertile ground for the Nazis who could cultivate fear of 'the other, primarily the Jewish community.
The understanding that I get from all of this is that the antidote to xenophobia and its potentially devastating consequences is to reduce economic disparities and inequalities in society. It is not just an esoteric nicety to advocate for a more equal sharing of national wealth and opportunity but a necessity to ward off slippery slopes that could lead to consequences like WW2.
Header photo: Luisenplatz Darmstadt, the centre of the city in Germany where I used to live during 1971-3, but a photo taken some 41 years later, by Alexander Schneider. Still familiar, especially the public transport system.