75 years after the Anschluss, poll shows many Austrians still living in the past

[Tender Branson]

New Market poll for the "Standard" newspaper out today for the 75th anniversary of the Anschluss (annexation) of Austria to Nazi-Germany:

"If there was no Verbotsgesetz (current Austrian law banning Nazi glorification), do you think the Nazis with their ideology would have a chance in modern-day Austrian elections ?"

54% Yes

(Young voters and people with higher education are more likely to say yes, while ÖVP and Stronach voters are more likely to say No)

"Do you think the Verbotsgesetz is ..."

13% too tough
50% about right
37% not tough enough

"Do you want a strong man on top of Austrian politics ?"

61% Yes

(Old people are more likely to say "Yes", while Green voters are strongly opposed.)

"Do you think that state benefits should only be available for the own Volk (people) ?"

57% Yes

("almost all FPÖ-voters", according to the article, say Yes)

"What about Hitler ?"

42% under Hitler not everything was bad
57% under Hitler there was nothing good

(people who want a "strong man" strongly agree with option A)

"Do you think the Anschluss of Austria was voluntary or do you think Austria was a victim ?"

53% voluntary
46% victim

"Regarding riots against Jews after the Anschluss ..."

56% such riots would still be possible today
44% such riots wouldn't be possible anymore today

"Do you think the Austrian Nazi-era has been debated/studied enough today or should it still be debated/studied ?"

61% Yes, studies/debated enough
39% continue it

"Do you think Nazi victims today have been compensated enough, or should there be done more ?"

57% have been compensated enough
42% more should be done

"Do you think Austria should have resisted the Anschluss with military means ?"

15% yes - such a fight would have been worth it
42% no - such a fight would have made the situation worse
43% it would have made no difference

http://derstandard.at/1362107918471/Umfrage-42-Prozent-sagen-Unter-Hitler-war-nicht-alles-schlecht

[Hash]

In other news, the sky is blue and Austria is still a horrible troll country.

[Lief 🗽]

Did denazification happen in Austria as well, or just Germany?

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Denazification as compared to those conducted in Germany? Hardly.

"Do you think the Anschluss of Austria was voluntary or do you think Austria was a victim ?"

53% voluntary
46% victim

That's a tricky one. While Hitler bullied the Austrian government into submission, Anschluss meet with an overwhelming public support.

[RogueBeaver]

*Shudders*

[Beet]

In other news, the sky is blue and Austria is still a horrible troll country.

^^^

[DC Al Fine]

"What about Hitler ?"

42% under Hitler not everything was bad
57% under Hitler there was nothing good

(people who want a "strong man" strongly agree with option A)

This one aggravates me because virtually every evil SOB dictator did something good for the country, which boils down the options to looking like a Nazi or saying pious nonsense.

[Antonio the Sixth]

"What about Hitler ?"

42% under Hitler not everything was bad
57% under Hitler there was nothing good

(people who want a "strong man" strongly agree with option A)

This one aggravates me because virtually every evil SOB dictator did something good for the country, which boils down the options to looking like a Nazi or saying pious nonsense.

Yeah, the question in itself is stupid. But interestingly, the people who give the technically correct answer tend to do it for the wrong reasons and are generally awful people.

[Frodo]

Did denazification happen in Austria as well, or just Germany?

According to Wiki, the victorious Allies focused their postwar de-nazification efforts on Germany as well as Austria.  Apparently they fell short in Austria.  

[DC Al Fine]

Branson, could you answer this?

If the Nazis weren't banned, how well do you think they'd do in elections? Would they just take the FPO/BZO vote, or somewhat more/less?

[Tender Branson]

Branson, could you answer this?

If the Nazis weren't banned, how well do you think they'd do in elections? Would they just take the FPO/BZO vote, or somewhat more/less?

They would get about 15% these days.

Mostly from FPÖ/BZÖ/Stronach, yep.

[Franzl]

LOL. Doesn't surprise me though.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Did denazification happen in Austria as well, or just Germany?

According to Wiki, the victorious Allies focused their postwar de-nazification efforts on Germany as well as Austria.  Apparently they fell short in Austria.  

Austrian society created some very careful national myths to get around responsibility for all that nasty stuff: the 'first victims' bollocks.

[Tender Branson]

There were more than 3000 replies in the Standard Forum to that article.

Of course, this poll result is really shocking in a few ways, but mostly because the questions are formulated in a hyper-sensationalist way with many different ways to interprete them.

Also, even though the pollster "market" is a pretty good one (was the best Carinthia pollster), polls for "derStandard" (a leftist newspaper) often overstate Nazi-support and activities to gain more readers and attention.

For example, previous polls for the Austrian Values Study about 1 year ago, only showed 20% support for a "strong man". Here it is 60%.

http://derstandard.at/1244460578904/Wertestudie-Studie-Sehnsucht-nach-dem-starken-Mann

I also don't see how it is a sign of being pro-Nazis, if a high percentage even of higher-educated voters think that the Nazis would have a chance these days in national elections - since many associate the FPÖ with being Neo-Nazis and they ARE competetive in national elections. (-> see 1999)

...

I would also rate Hungary as much more of a problem these days than Austria: They actually elected a "strong man" with Orban (50%+) and additionally elected a Nazi party with 20%.

In Hungarian student bodies, there are Neo-Nazis in the student council who keep lists of new students by ethnicity, religion and party membership. Some of them are marked with asterisks like "fat Jewish bytch", Black Homo etc.

That was a big scandal a few weeks ago, and reported in local news.

Hungary also has the Jobbik guard, which would not be possible here.

And a long list of things that would not be possible here.

[Tender Branson]

Regarding the Nazis in the student bodies in Hungary:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://derstandard.at/1361240748993/Ungarn-Skandal-um-rechtslastige-Hochschuelerschaft

[minionofmidas]

Did denazification happen in Austria as well, or just Germany?

According to Wiki, the victorious Allies focused their postwar de-nazification efforts on Germany as well as Austria.  Apparently they fell short in Austria.  

Austrian society created some very careful national myths to get around responsibility for all that nasty stuff: the 'first victims' bollocks.

Although the Germans tried that too.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

"Do you think that state benefits should only be available for the own Volk (people) ?"

57% Yes

("almost all FPÖ-voters", according to the article, say Yes)

Is this being debated? Would Volk here be interpreted as meaning ethnically German?

[Tender Branson]

"Do you think that state benefits should only be available for the own Volk (people) ?"

57% Yes

("almost all FPÖ-voters", according to the article, say Yes)

Is this being debated? Would Volk here be interpreted as meaning ethnically German?

This is exactly the problem with these questions ...

Volk could either mean ethnically Austrian in an Aryan way or it could mean Austrian citizenship vs. foreigners.

I guess most FPÖ-voters define it the first way, while almost all others define it the 2nd way.

And: This is not only debated, but also the reality in many ways, because some state benefits are only available for citizens anyway and for foreigners of other EU-countries. State benefits for other foreigners are only available after a certain time of employment in Austria.

[Mr. Morden]

Not sure what the point is of poll questions that ask people to mind read what other people would do.  "Could this party be voted in?  Could this kind of riot happen again?"  Doesn't tell you anything about whether the poll respondent would approve of such a thing happening.

[opebo]

Did denazification happen in Austria as well, or just Germany?

According to Wiki, the victorious Allies focused their postwar de-nazification efforts on Germany as well as Austria.  Apparently they fell short in Austria.  

There were de-nazification efforts?  I'm surprised on several levels, but particularly that the American government would oppose Nazis.

[GMantis]

Frankly, I don't see what's so terrible about these results. The vast majority want the Nazis banned and Austrians don't seem to believe the whole "first victim" nonsense as much as before. Yes, the 42% seems bad, but note that at least 60% of those want the Nazi party banned.

Also, it seems that those on the left-wing are quite pessimistic.

[Obamanation]

If Woodrow Wilson hadn't been such a HP, we would have had Emperor Carl and not Adolf Hitler.

[Beezer]

Austria is quite an interesting country. Crimes against foreigners (or racially motivated crimes) are far lower than in Germany yet right-wing populist parties are far stronger. Could be that they provide an outlet for that kind of sentiment while these parties have an incredibly difficult time in Germany due to being associated with Nazi sentiments. I don't see any outrageous results in these polls though; if anything it just shows what can be accomplished by asking sensationalist questions.

[Link]

"What about Hitler ?"

42% under Hitler not everything was bad
57% under Hitler there was nothing good

(people who want a "strong man" strongly agree with option A)

This one aggravates me because virtually every evil SOB dictator did something good for the country, which boils down the options to looking like a Nazi or saying pious nonsense.

I really must agree.  Only a simplistic moron would say all evil dictators never did anything good.  The Allies treated Germany like dirt after WWI.  They are just as responsible for WWII as anyone else.  And it wasn't a picnic being a Jew in America either.  The 1930s and 1940s were not great times anywhere.  Why must the Austrian people have to still publicly flog themselves for the amusement of other countries that were committing their own atrocities around the globe?



I love how Americans brought dates to those things.  Even the women joined in the fun.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

"What about Hitler ?"

42% under Hitler not everything was bad
57% under Hitler there was nothing good

(people who want a "strong man" strongly agree with option A)

This one aggravates me because virtually every evil SOB dictator did something good for the country, which boils down the options to looking like a Nazi or saying pious nonsense.

I really must agree.  Only a simplistic moron would say all evil dictators never did anything good.  The Allies treated Germany like dirt after WWI.  They are just as responsible for WWII as anyone else.  And it wasn't a picnic being a Jew in America either.  The 1930s and 1940s were not great times anywhere.  Why must the Austrian people have to still publicly flog themselves for the amusement of other countries that were committing their own atrocities around the globe?



I love how Americans brought dates to those things.  Even the women were joyed in the fun.

Are you seriously saying that simple racism is worse than or as bad as the Nazi regime?