BY DANIEL SAENZ
Last semester, I remember going to dinner with Sara Ben, a Moroccan-Spanish classmate of mine, as well as another classmate, Hiba, after my International Security class one day during my study abroad in Morocco. During our discussion, I was ranting about the misconception that Europeans are so civilized and peaceful while people in the Middle East and North Africa are so violent and uncivilized.
This struck a chord with both Sara and Hiba — Sarah particularly — who could not wait to vent about her awful experience in Hungary. Hiba went on to describe racism against Arabs in places such as France and Austria; however, Sara, was unfortunate enough to experience this racism first hand.
“Hungary was easily my worst travel experience ever,” Sarah said. “The people always scowled at me because I was obviously an Arab and would be rude to me for not speaking their language. It was also not safe at night to ride the trains because Neo-Nazi thugs were always running around.”
Unfortunately, Sara’s experience cannot be waved aside as one bad encounter. There are numerous modern examples of how the racist spirit of fascism from World War II hangs over not only Hungary, but Austria as well
Just recently, the Hungarian government, led by anti-immigrant Viktor Orban has announced that it would levy a 25 percent tax on all aid groups that support immigration. In the newly dubbed Stop Soros Bill, aid groups or individuals who help illegal immigrants find asylum will also face jail time.
The name of the bill is rooted in Viktor Orban’s ongoing feud with George Soros, a Jewish billionaire who supports a wide variety of causes. Orban, along with many other far-right figures in Europe, charges that Soros is intentionally supporting mass migration in order to fundamentally undermine the cultural identity of Europe.
The classic charge brought against Jewish Europeans back in the old days was that they were rich and scheming to bring about Europe’s downfall by introducing overly liberal or communist ideas. So, the implied meaning behind Orban’s accusations is rather obvious to anyone who understands European anti-semitism: the billionaire from the long-maligned Jewish community is secretly plotting against Europe and sponsoring “cultural Marxism”.
There was also a rather disgraceful story that broke when the crisis in Syria broke out. In now infamous footage from a Hungarian news channel, a reporter was caught tripping one of the refugees as he was making a run for the Hungarian border.
In Austria, Sebastian Kurz, the new chancellor of Austria and leader of the far-right freedom party, has capitalized on the racist, anti-immigrant sentiment in the country. He has proposed shutting down the Balkan route from Greece that immigrants use to find their way into Europe, limiting refugee arrival to Austria, and ultimately cutting state support for migrants and focusing most of its resources on native Austrians. Also, his government is also proposing that Jewish Austrians who want kosher meat be made, be entered into a national database (a common practice that the Nazis used on European Jews before and during World War II).
All of this has a subtle root: World War II. During Hitler’s occupation of both Austria and Hungary, he had years to spread his propaganda. People living under Hitler were told day in day out about how the multiculturalism, immigrants, and equality were destroying ravaging Europe. They were also convinced that rich Jews that were behind it all.
This was all made possible by a man known as Admiral Miklos Horthy. Horthy was a well-known Nazi collaborator during World War II and during the 1920s, the Hungarian government was the first European government to pass laws against Jewish people. He also handed Hungary over to Hitler making his propaganda efforts against Jewish people easier.
During the Holocaust, Horthy did put an end to the deportation of the Jews only because Red Cross, the King of Sweden, and the Allied governments specifically stated that he would be held accountable and tried for war crimes otherwise. This would then allow Horthy to escape in exile and to rehabilitate his image.
Generations later, Orban has portrayed him as a national hero who was an innocent victim of Russian communism. The Hungarian people and de facto Orban have allowed statues of this rabid racist and anti-semite to be constructed all across the country.
In Austria, the ruling Freedom Party was started immediately after World War II by a former Nazi SS official. And, they have been able to express the opinion that Austria should never be ashamed of its World War II history because it was the Germans who killed the Jews, (nevermind the fact that the Austrians actively collaborated during this time).
Given the anti-minority rhetoric being spewed by politicians in these two countries and the fact that they have not owned up to their history with Nazism, it is clear that these countries have not recovered one bit from their past with fascism. Furthermore, these forces have actively been trying to undermine the European Union, the very fabric holding Europe together following the Marshall Plan, in which the United States helped to repair Europe at the end of World War II. If these forces were to succeed and eventually drive Europe back into chaos, the United States could be pulled into Europe once again.