Thilo Sarrazin | |
|---|---|
 Sarrazin in 2009 | |
| Berlin Senator of Finance | |
| In office 17 January 2002 – 30 April 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Christiane Krajewski |
| Succeeded by | Ulrich Nußbaum |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1945-02-12)12 February 1945 (age 80) |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party | SPD (until 2020) |
| Spouse | Ursula (née Breit) |
| Alma mater | University of Bonn |
| Profession | Economist, politician, writer |
Thilo Sarrazin (born 12 February 1945) is a German politician and former member of theSPD, writer, senator of finance for theState of Berlin from January 2002 until April 2009, former member of the Executive Board of theDeutsche Bundesbank until 2010.[1][2][3]
He became well known after publishing a controversial book about Muslim immigrants in Germany in 2010.[4] In his bookDeutschland schafft sich ab (Germany Abolishes Itself),[5] he denounces what he sees as the failure of Germany's post-warimmigration policy, sparking a nationwide controversy about the costs and benefits ofmulticulturalism. As a result, he is no longer a member of the SPD as of 31 July 2020.[6]
Sarrazin was born inGera,Germany. His father was a doctor and his mother was the daughter of aWest Prussian landowner. His paternal ancestors were FrenchHuguenots who originated inBurgundy, while his grandmother was English and another ancestor was Italian.[7] He has explained that his name meansSaracen (i.e. Muslim) and is common inSouthern France: "It is derived from the Arab pirates that were called 'Saracens' in the Middle Ages". He has referred to himself as "a European mongrel".[8]
He grew up inRecklinghausen where hegraduated from the localgymnasium after which he did his military service. From 1967 to 1971, he studied economics at theUniversity of Bonn, earning his doctorate. From November 1973 to December 1974 he worked for theFriedrich Ebert Foundation and became active in the SPD.
In 1975 Sarrazin began working in theFederal Ministry of Finance. Until 1981 he served as a department head in theMinistry of Labour and Social Affairs and from 1981 he returned to the Federal Ministry of Finance. From October 1981 he served as bureau chief and was a close collaborator of Federal Finance MinisterHans Matthöfer and his successorManfred Lahnstein. Even after the end of the socialist-liberalcoalition in October 1982, Sarrazin remained in the Finance Ministry, where he was director of several units, including (from 1989 to 1990) the "Innerdeutsche Beziehungen," which prepared the German monetary, economic and social union. During his time as Head of the Federal Ministry of Finance, he was partly responsible forGerman railways.[9]
From 1990 to 1991 Sarrazin worked for theTreuhand. Up to 1997, he wasState Secretary in the Ministry of Finance inRhineland-Palatinate. Subsequently, he was chief executive of TLG Immobilien (TLG).
Between spring 2000 and December 2001 he was employed by theDeutsche Bahn, the German national railway. During his first four months he served as head of internal auditing; from 1 September 2000 he was on the board ofDB Netz, responsible for planning and investment.
Sarrazin is considered a key developer of the people's share model of the German railway, which provides for the issue of non-votingpreferred stock to limit the influence of privateinvestors. He claims to have made this proposal to thwart the model of capitalprivatization of Deutsche Bahn. He is regarded as an explicit supporter of orienting the Deutsche Bahn on the principles ofefficiency under acost-effectiveness analysis. His relationship with the former CEO of Deutsche Bahn AG,Hartmut Mehdorn, is characterized as hostile.
Sarrazin's dismissal from the board of DB Netz AG was followed by legal disputes. He drew his salary for a transitional period during which the details of the separation procedures were regulated. According to Hartmut Mehdorn, Sarrazin broke his contract with the company, which stated that secondary activities are not allowed. The employment contract was subsequently terminated without notice by the DB. Sarrazin sued, but the case was dismissed by theFederal Court.
Sarrazin was appointed Finance Senator to theSenate of Berlin in January 2002. He adhered to financial policy based on strict savings and asingle-entry bookkeeping system for the management of local authorities.
As a result of his remarks on Berlin's social and educational reputation some consider Sarrazin being anagitator. His proposals for cutting social benefits were often accompanied by protests. In 2008 he made suggestions, such as that a beneficiary ofALG II could eat for less than €4 per day. In 2009 he said of unemployed persons' management of energy: "First, Hartz IV receivers are more at home, second, they like it warm, and thirdly, many regulate the temperature with the window," in light of the fact that in Germany, the unemployed do not pay for rent and heating themselves. Sarrazin called pension increases "completely senseless action", but instead recommended that the government prepare older citizens for a "long term decline to the level of subsistence."[10]
In the political controversy surrounding the Berlin event centerTempodrom he was accused of having awarded state funds irregularly. The preliminary investigation was also against two other SPD-CDU politicians, three companies and two accountants. The investigating prosecutor filed an informal appeal against Sarrazin, but in December 2004 the Berlin district court rejected a trial because the prosecution was seen as ineffective.[11]
In August 2009, Berlin's publicprosecutor conducted an investigation of Sarrazin forembezzlement. According to the office of the prosecutor, he favored theBerlin-WannseeGolf and Country Club, leasing agolf course to them at a reduced rate.[12] Sarrazin dismissed the accusations on the grounds that he saw no financial loss for the city.[13]
On April 30, 2009, Sarrazin resigned from his position as senator as he was appointed to join the executive board of theBundesbank.[14] From May 1, 2010 until September 1, 2010, his responsibilities at the Bundesbank included information technology, risk monitoring and review.[15] On September 2, 2010, he was released from specific responsibilities in a move by the other board members to have him removed as executive board member following a controversial statement made by Sarrazin about Jewishgenetics.[16][17] Whether Sarrazin should keep his job at the Bundesbank or be dismissed was to be reviewed by thenFederal PresidentChristian Wulff. However, on September 9, 2010, Sarrazin asked the President to relieve him of his duties as a board member.[18][19]
The party leadership of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD) announced in August 2010 that it would investigate whether to terminate Sarrazin's membership, because his theses could be understood as diametrically opposed to basic social-democratic values.[20]Anarbitration committee, meeting in Berlin on 21 April 2011, decided that Sarrazin could remain a member of the party. The formal accusation that he had damaged the party with his theories could not be upheld, in particular because Sarrazin read a statement in which he said he had never intended to depart from social democratic values and that he had never intended to suggest thatsocial-Darwinist theories should be implemented in political practice.[21] This in turn led to dissatisfaction among many SPD party leaders.[22]The SPD opened a third proceeding in order to revoke Sarrazin's membership after he published his bookHostile Takeover: How Islam Impedes Progress and Threatens Society. The arbitration committee of the concerned SPD district chapter, Berlin Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, accepted the motion of the SPD leadership. Sarrazin and his lawyers stated that they did not accept and sought to appeal the decision.[23]
Sarrazin is married to Ursula Sarrazin (née Breit) and has two sons.[24] His apparent characteristic smirk is due to an operation he had in 2004 to remove a tumour on an inner ear nerve, resulting in an impairment of the right side of his face.[25]
Sarrazin advocates a restrictive immigration policy with the exception of the highly skilled and the reduction of state welfare benefits. In September 2009, his views on economic and immigration policy in Berlin were published inLettre International, a German culturalquarterly, and caused severe reactions.[citation needed] In it he described many Arab and Turkish immigrants as unwilling to integrate. He said, among other things:
Integration requires effort from those that are to be integrated. I will not show respect for anyone who is not making that effort. I do not have to acknowledge anyone who lives by welfare, denies the legitimacy of the very state that provides that welfare, refuses to care for the education of his children and constantly produces new little headscarf-girls. This holds true for 70 percent of the Turkish and 90 percent of the Arab population in Berlin.[26][27][28]
End of August 2010, Sarrazin's bookDeutschland schafft sich ab (Germany Abolishes Itself) was published, and within two months, it became the best-selling book on politics by a German-language author in a decade, with overall sales hitting 1.1 million copies[5] and the first editions sold out within a matter of hours or days. In the 13th edition Sarrazin added a foreword commenting on the nationwide debate his book has sparked.[29] As of May 2011, 1.5 million copies had been sold.[30]In 2010, he was quoted as writing regarding Islam, "No other religion in Europe makes so many demands. No immigrant group other than Muslims is so strongly connected with claims on the welfare state and crime. No group emphasizes their differences so strongly in public, especially through women's clothing. In no other religion is the transition to violence, dictatorship and terrorism so fluid."[31]
In 2010, Sarrazin's book came under criticism for claiming that Germany's immigrant Muslim population is reluctant to integrate and tends to rely more on social services than to be productive. Moreover, he calculated that their population growth may well overwhelm the German population within a couple of generations at the current rate, and that their intelligence was lower. He proposed stringent reforms for the welfare system to rectify the problems.[32][33] The first edition of his book sold out within a few days. By the end of the year, the book had become Germany's number 1 hard-cover non-fiction bestseller for the year and was still at the top of the lists.[34]
In 2010, an uproar was caused at an interview withWelt am Sonntag in which he claimed that "all Jews share a certain gene like all Basques share a certain gene that distinguishes these from other people."[35][36] He subsequently offered his regrets for the irritation caused,[28] and explained his source, for instance, in theFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,[37] referring to international media reports,[38] on a 2010study by Gil Atzmonet al. that appeared in theAmerican Journal of Human Genetics.[39]
In 2018, Sarrazin's statements were criticized by the chairman of the Interior Committee of the GermanBundestag,Sebastian Edathy (SPD), theUnited Services trade union and the political scientist Gerd Wiegel. TheCentral Council of Jews in Germany strongly criticized Sarrazin, condemning him as racist.[40][41] Sigmar Gabriel, the General Secretary of the SPD, condemned Sarrazin for his eugenic approach.[42]
ABerliner Morgenpost poll suggested that almost half of the German population agree with Sarrazin's political views and 18 percent would vote for his party if he started one.[43] In a survey conducted for theSüddeutsche Zeitung newspaper among 10,000 Sarrazin readers, an overwhelming majority was shown to be male, middle-class, middle-aged to elderly, conservatives.[44]
The German-Turkish sociologist and best-selling authorNecla Kelek, who has defended Sarrazin, introduced him at a Berlin press conference in August 2010 attended by roughly 300 journalists. While Turkish and Islamic organizations have accused Sarrazin ofracism and damaging Germany's reputation abroad, Kelek said Sarrazin addressed "bitter truths" in his book and thechattering classes judged it without reading it.[45]
The publication of his book "Deutschland schafft sich ab" provoked accusations that Sarrazin was stoking racism andxenophobia.[46] This harsh criticism inspired Sarrazin to writeDer neue Tugendterror - Über die Grenzen der Meinungsfreiheit in Deutschland (The new terror of virtue - on the limits of freedom of opinion in Germany) on the topics of the mechanics ofpolitical correctness,prejudice and the political climate in Germany, as he explains in the second chapter of this book, titled "Wie ich mit der Meinungsherrschaft in Konflikt kam: Eine Fallstudie" ("How I got into conflict with the rule of opinion: a case study"). "I had expected a controversial discussion. But nothing had prepared me for the public storm that broke loose upon publication. I was accused of advocatingbiological determinism and labelled a social Darwinist, a racist, and an enemy of the people and of social justice."[47]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Alle Juden teilen ein bestimmtes Gen, Basken haben bestimmte Gene, die sie von anderen unterscheiden.
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