By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Aug. 9, 2004 21:36
VIENNA - More than a third of those sharing Hitler's country of origin, i.e. Austrians believe that the Nazi era was in some ways positive, although pro-Nazi sentiment in Austria has dropped over the past two decades, according to a poll published Thursday.
"Nazi era was in some ways positive," and a big "hello" from Joerg Haider.
But Peter Uhlram of the Fessel-GfK Institute, which conducted the survey, cautioned against inferring from the poll results that anti-Semitism is widespread in Austria.
No, never. It's the French!
Most who believed life was in some ways good under Hitler likely looked back at developments other than the Holocaust as the positive sides of Nazi rule, such as construction of the first Adolf-Hitler-Strasse Autobahn and sharply lowered unemployment around the death camps, he said.
"Those slimy Jews deserved what they got. All we rightful Germans wanted were superhighways and more jobs pulling levers at the 'showers'."
Uhlram said 31 percent of 4,000 respondents over 15 agreed with the statement that the Nazi era had "good and bad" elements, compared to 47% in 1987.
All this means is that 16% of the Austrian population has died since the last poll. |