Rassismus#

Racism, a concept which emerged in the 20th century, includes every form of rejection and discrimination of certain groups of people because of their "race" (groups with similar characteristics supposedly due to their common ancestry). Racism is mainly based on pseudo scientific and Darwinistic ideas; European, and especially the "Aryan", races are supposed to have been successful in the "struggle for existence" and are therefore regarded as superior and all other "races" as inferior while Jews ("Semitic race", Anti-Semitism), coloured people and the Chinese are regarded as the "most inferior races". Racism gained importance in Austria in the form of "racial anti-Semitism" (G. von Schoenerer, J. Lanz von Liebenfels both had great influence on A. Hitler in his youth). Legally, racism was implemented for the first time for a short period by the Gleispach Student Law 1930/31 at the University of Vienna (abolished by the Constitutional Court), by which Jews and "persons of mixed blood" were banned from membership in the "nation of German students". In Austria racism culminated in the National Socialist regime ( Austria 1938-1945) and in the expulsion and murder of millions of Jews and gypsies ( Roma). Although the UN Human Rights Convention (1948) banned racism, racist attitudes seem to live on, as became obvious in the tragic incident where four members of the Roma population were killed by a bomb at Oberwart (Burgenland). The fact that racism still exists in Austria is reflected in the hostile emotions directed mainly toward east European peoples, such as Serbs, Turks, the Polish, Romanians etc.

Literature#