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These programs discuss the philosophy and career of Jörg Haider, Austria’s so-called “yuppie fascist.”
Comparing himself to Newt Gingrich and calling his political agenda “the Contract with Austria,” Haider has put together a program which is xenophobic. While harping on the theme of government corruption, Haider blames immigrants for Austria’s economic problems and calls for a state crackdown on the media and political progressives.
Haider’s inappropriately named Freedom Party (created in 1949) was a repository for Austrian members of Hitler’s Nazi party, and a vehicle for their political rehabilitation. Haider has been very chummy with Austria’s burgeoning Nazi movement, employing some of them as occasional bodyguards. Alarmingly, Haider’s popularity and political success are increasing.
The series also discusses Haider’s praise for the Waffen SS, delivered at a German meeting of veterans of that organization attended by Gudrun Burwitz, the daughter of SS chief Heinrich Himmler. Burwitz has been very active with” Stille Hilfe”, an organization devoted to helping Third Reich veterans escape retribution for war crimes and to the rehabilitation of their reputations. (Recorded in the spring of 1996.)
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