Austrian Neo-Nazi Chieftain Killed In Car Accident

Jörg Haider, born a Nazi, died a Nazi

If Sarah Palin lived in Austria her political inclinations would surely have led her to Jörg Haider's far right political party, the Alliance for Austria's Future (Bündnis Zukunft Österreich). Haider, a typical far right bombastic bully, virulent anti-Semite and racist, died on Saturday, age 58, in a car accident involving no other vehicle. He was speeding to a birthday party for his 90 year old fascist mother.

His father was a Nazi fanatic and his mother was also a prominent Nazi activist. After the war they brought their children up as Nazis. He inherited an estate in Carinthia stolen from a Jewish family during World War II and that helped him in his election as governor of Carinthia, the most backward part of Austria, something like a cross between Alaska, Alabama and Utah. He ran for office as a vicious xenophobe, preaching anti-immigrant palaver that would sound comfortingly familiar to many Republicans. Haider's anti-Semitism led him to cultivate ties with Arab politicians bent on the destruction of Israel. There are rumors in Austria that the Mossad was behind Saturday's accident.

His death was mourned by Austrians across the political spectrum, primarily because they were not punished after World War II but were treated as though they were liberated instead of defeated. I lived there for a while in 1969 and in 1972 and found it-- at least outside Vienna, to be a country where fascism is deeply rooted in the souls of the backward, bigoted people. Unfortunately Haider's death is not expected to substantively halt the rise of fascism in his country.