!!!Rassismus

Racism, a concept which emerged in the 20%%sup th/%  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
W. Daim, Der Mann, der Hitler die Ideen gab, 
%%sup 2/%1985; Handbuch des oesterreichischen Rechtsextremismus, 
%%sup 2/%1993.


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[Back to the Austrian Version|AEIOU/Rassismus|class='wikipage austrian']
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