Arbeit macht frei: - Fredrick Töben

chambers. That is good news all round. Why would anyone find this
offensive? We are celebrating the living who were thought dead. How can
this be an offence - unless it offends those who have their snout in the
trough which Jewish academic, Dr Frank Knopfelmacher called, “the
Holocaust racket”.
If there is to be a mission statement from Adelaide Institute, then it is best
summed up in a letter which appeared in The Australian on 22 nd
February,
1996. Written by John Buchner of Camden of NSW, nine days before
the 2 nd
March federal election:
OPEN SEASON ON GERMANS
Phillip Adams referred in a recent column of Review, 13 th
- 14 th
January
1996, to a number of foreign situations, which are dealt with in a jocular
fashion, but he refers to the German people in a contemporary sense as
“Nazi swine”. Many people from a German background have settled in
Australia and made a significant contribution to it, including serving in its
armed forces against the Nazi regime. Their memory is vilified by Mr
Adams´ reference. During my school years here, I endured continual
vilification because of my German origins and countless “Hitler Salutes”.
However, my complaint to you is not motivated by a chip on the
shoulder because of these events. Like most Australians, I can take it
and abhor the treatment other national groups have received. My
concern is that there seems to be a perpetual open season on all
Germans, as though all Germans must forever bear the guilt and shame
of the Nazi regime. I can bear references to “Nazi Swine”, albeit without
amusement. But what of my children? Are my children to be forever
classed “Nazi Swine” in this country?
John Buchner, Camden, NSW
Interestingly, a climate of political correctness pervaded the run-up
period to the 2nd of March federal elections, with Liberal and National
candidates coming in for some sharp rebukes from their Labor
colleagues over publicly-made alleged racist statements. For example,
there was Bob Katter who lashed out at “enviro-Nazis”, “femi-Nazis”
and “slant-eyed ideologues”. Only the latter statement created an uproar.
The “Nazi” word has been used by a number of politicians from all
parties because it still has a sting to it. After all, everything done by the
Germans prior to and after World War II is eclipsed by what is alleged
to have happened at Auschwitz concentration camp. The argument is
always “from Mozart, Beethoven and Wagner to the homicidal gas
chambers at Auschwitz”. That's the card pulled out by anyone who is
faced with competition from a German-born Australian or Australian of
German descent.
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