Harry Waibel

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Harry Waibel (2015)

Harry Waibel (born June 20, 1946 in Lörrach ) is a German historian . His main topics are neo-Nazism , right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism in the GDR as well as racism in Germany from 1945 to the present.

Life

Harry Waibel comes from a working-class family, he graduated from secondary school in 1962 and then an apprenticeship as an industrial clerk. After his discharge from the Bundeswehr , he worked in various companies as a commercial clerk. He participated in by its own account in Loerrach in the Republican Club and Basel to actions of the non-parliamentary opposition and was in 1969 against since 1968 in the state parliament of Baden-Wuerttemberg selected NPD active.

About the second chance he began at the Freiburg University , a teaching degree . As a member of the Offenbach Socialist Office and the South Baden Socialist Federation , he was politically active in Freiburg , including for squatting . Harry Waibel wrote "Sumpfblüte" and "Links unten" for the newspapers .

He continued his studies at the Free University of Berlin and graduated as a qualified pedagogue . In 1993 he was at Wolfgang Benz at the Center for Research on Antisemitism of the Technical University of Berlin with a study of neo-Nazism , anti-Semitism and racism in East Germany under the title of right-wing extremists in the GDR until 1989 to Dr. phil. PhD. According to the company, both courses and the doctorate were financially supported by the union's own Hans Böckler Foundation .

Harry Waibel conducts research in the archives of the Federal Commissioner for the Documents of the Ministry for State Security and in the Federal Archives (SAPMO) on racism in the GDR .

He lives and works as a freelance journalist and historian in Berlin .

Working and reception

In his book Right-Wing Extremists in the GDR until 1989 , Waibel argues, among other things, that the authoritarian structure of the GDR was particularly effective against young people and that it was an essential prerequisite for young people to adopt xenophobic and pro-fascist attitudes. Bureaucratism and centralism were the ideal breeding ground for right-wing extremist attitudes. The GDR leadership created an authoritarian state that made it easy for right-wing extremists to find points of contact in society.

In 2011 Harry Waibel published the book Servants of Many Masters . In it he put together 1,500 short biographies of people born between 1880 and 1925 who were "active both for Nazi Germany and in the Soviet Zone / GDR" in important socio-political professions, such as politicians, soldiers and police officers, doctors, physicians, scientists, managers, Protestant theologians and pastors, artists and athletes had been active. To do this, he evaluated personal reference works and compared them with the records of the Berlin Document Center .

Publications

Monographs

Articles in edited volumes

Articles in magazines (selection)

  • Neo-fascism in East Germany. In: East-West counter information, quarterly. No. 4/1996, dossier.
  • Right-wing extremism in the GDR. In: German teacher newspaper (DLZ). March 28, 1996, issue 13, p. 7.
  • Criticism of anti-Semitism in the GDR. In: Social.History. Issue 3/2006 ( online )
  • Criticism of anti-fascism in the GDR. In: Sozial.geschichte.extra. December 3, 2007 ( PDF ).
  • Denial repression. Racists in the GDR and the consequences to this day. In: Critique Network - Journal for Critical Theory of Society . 2013 ( PDF ).
  • Reflections on the discussion culture of the left in Germany. In: Journal of anti-racist groups (ZAG). Number 64/2013, Berlin, p. 18.
  • Anti-fascism crisis. In: Journal of anti-racist groups (ZAG). Number 66/2014.
  • Racism in the GDR. About the failed anti-fascism of the SED. In: Gerbergasse 18. Thuringian quarterly journal for contemporary history and politics . Edition 2/2015. Issue 75, Jena, p. 41.
  • The failed anti-fascism of the SED . In: Critique Network - Journal for Critical Theory of Society. 2015 ( PDF, 232 kB ).
  • Racism in the GDR. In: Journal of the SED State Research Association. Issue No. 39/2016, p. 111.
  • Review by Claudia Pawlowitsch: The brown seed. Anti-Semitism and Neo-Nazism in the GDR . New Archive for Saxon History 90 (2019) Reviews, pp. 373–375

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ a b biography on: harrywaibel.de
  2. ^ Gesis database
  3. ↑ Harry Waibel: A German Misery? Author's website, PDF
  4. ↑ Steffen Kailitz : Political Extremism in the Federal Republic of Germany. An introduction. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2004, ISBN 3-531-14193-7 , p. 203.
  5. ^ Christoph Butterwegge : Right-wing extremism. Herder Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3-451-05229-6 , p. 88.
  6. ↑ Critics note that the early entry of young people into the NSDAP does not allow any conclusions to be drawn about their actual later attitudes. See also http://www.verfassungen.de/de/de33-45/wehr35.htm
  7. ↑ Complete title of the dissertation: Right-wing extremists in the GDR until 1989. Neo-fascist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic attitudes and acts of violence by young people with special consideration of the GDR-specific historical, political and ideological conditions and causes. Quoted in: Wulf D. Hund , Christian Koller, Moshe Zimmermann : Racisms Made in Germany. LIT Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-643-90125-5 , pp. 29 and 39.
  8. ↑ Interview with Harry Waibel about racists in Germany. Freie-radios.net December 7, 2012, audio file
  9. ↑ Review by Armin Pfahl-Traughber in: Humanistischer Pressedienst . June 14, 2013, online
  10. ↑ Riccardo Altieri: Review , by: Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung , November 20, 2017
  11. ↑ Henrike Voigtländer, Harry Waibel: The brown seed. Anti-Semitism and Neo-Nazism in the GDR . In: Work Movement History. Journal of Historical Studies . tape 2018 / II , May 2018, p. 225-228 .
personal data
SURNAME Waibel, Harry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian and social researcher
DATE OF BIRTH June 20, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Loerrach