:en:Germany Abolishes Itself
{{short description|2010 non-fiction book by Thilo Sarrazin}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Germany Abolishes Itself: How We're Putting Our Country in Jeopardy
| image = Thilo Sarrazin - Deutschland schafft sich ab. Cover.svg
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| caption = German-language book cover
| author = Thilo Sarrazin
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| title_orig = Deutschland schafft sich ab: Wie wir unser Land aufs Spiel setzen
| orig_lang_code = de
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| country = Germany
| language = German
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| subject = Dysgenics
Cultural criticism
Opposition to immigration
| genre = Non-fiction
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| publisher = Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt
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| pub_date = 2010
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| isbn = 978-3-421-04430-3
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}}{{Conservatism in Germany}}
Germany Abolishes Itself: How We're Putting Our Country in Jeopardy (German title: Deutschland schafft sich ab: Wie wir unser Land aufs Spiel setzen) is a 2010 book by Thilo Sarrazin. The book deals with the impacts on Germany that, in the view of Sarrazin, an economist and SPD politician, will result from the combination of declining birth rates, a growing underclass, and immigration from predominantly Muslim countries.{{Cite web |last=Geyer |first=Steven |date=2025-02-12 |title=Thilo Sarrazins "Deutschland schafft sich ab" wird 15 Jahre: Angst essen Deutschland auf |url=https://www.rnd.de/politik/thilo-sarrazins-deutschland-schafft-sich-ab-wird-15-jahre-angst-essen-deutschland-auf-VOXUKH4SCNEGRCYGV6VA6JN5UE.html |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=www.rnd.de |language=de}} Following its publication Sarrazin left his position at the Deutsche Bundesbank and was eventually expelled from the SDP in 2020.{{Cite news |date=2020-07-31 |title=Bundesschiedsgericht bestätigt Parteiausschluss von Thilo Sarrazin |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/thilo-sarrazin-spd-schiedskommission-bestaetigt-parteiausschluss-a-5cae0d42-2e2b-4a7c-99f7-ddc4d920932a |access-date=2025-04-08 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}}{{Cite web |last=LTO |title=Nach umstrittenen Thesen: Sarrazin verlässt die Bundesbank freiwillig |url=https://www.lto.de/recht/nachrichten/n/nach-umstrittenen-thesen-sarrazin-verlaesst-die-bundesbank-freiwillig |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Legal Tribune Online |language=de}}
Themes
According to the American journalist John Judis, Sarrazin argued for restricting Muslim immigration to Germany on the grounds that Muslims who had immigrated to Germany from Turkey and other Muslim countries had failed to assimilate into German society, lived culturally separate lives in densely Muslim neighborhoods, and that two thirds of Germany's Muslim immigrants were on welfare.{{cite book |last1=Judis |first1=John |title=The Nationalist Revival; Trade Immigration, and the Revolt Against Gobalization |date=2018 |publisher=Columbia Global Reports |isbn=9780999745403 |page=99}}
Sarrazin argued that if immigration continued, Germany would, over time, become a predominantly Muslim country.
Publication and reaction
The book was released on 30 August 2010.{{Cite web |date=2010-08-31 |title=Am Erscheinungstag vergriffen: Zwei Wochen Warten auf die Sarrazin-Lektüre |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/region-und-hessen/am-erscheinungstag-vergriffen-zwei-wochen-warten-auf-die-sarrazin-lektuere-11024930.html |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=FAZ.NET |language=de}} It "shot to the top of the bestseller list;" It held the #1 spot on the German bestseller list for 21 weeks,{{cite news |title=Books How the press reviewed Thilo Sarrazin's 'Hostile Takeover' |url=https://www.dw.com/en/how-the-press-reviewed-thilo-sarrazins-hostile-takeover/a-45330561 |accessdate=29 October 2018 |publisher=Deustche Welle |date=3 September 2018}} selling 1.5 million copies by 2012, and becoming "Germany's best selling political nonfiction book, by a German author, of the decade."{{cite news |last1=Nadine Arend |title=THILO SARRAZIN BREAKS ALL RECORDS |url=http://www.gfk-entertainment.com/news/thilo-sarrazin-sprengt-alle-rekorde.html |accessdate=29 October 2018 |work=GfK Entertainment |date=29 October 2010 |language=German |quote=Ein beispielloser Rekord: Thilo Sarrazin legt mit "Deutschland schafft sich ab" hierzulande das meistverkaufte Politik-Sachbuch eines deutschen Autors des Jahrzehnts hin.}}
The Bundesbank accused Sarrazin of repeatedly violating political moderation with his provocative and discriminatory statements on migration, damaging the institution's reputation and disrupting workplace harmony.{{Cite web |date=2010-09-02 |title=Deutsche Bundesbank - Pressenotiz |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100902013128/http://www.bundesbank.de/download/presse/pressenotizen/2010/20100830.stellungnahme.php |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=web.archive.org}} Sarrazin initially refused to resign.{{Cite web |date=2019-01-24 |title=Sarrazin will sich gegen „Schauprozess“ wehren |url=https://www.fr.de/politik/sarrazin-will-sich-gegen-schauprozess-wehren-11452576.html |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=www.fr.de |language=de}} On September 2, 2010, the Bundesbank's Executive Board requested his dismissal, and his responsibilities were immediately withdrawn. Two days later, Sarrazin warned President Wulff against a 'political show trial' and threatened legal action.
On September 9, 2010, negotiations led to the Bundesbank dropping the allegations, Sarrazin requesting his release, and the bank withdrawing its dismissal request.{{Cite news |date=2010-09-10 |title='Massive Pressure': Islam Critic Sarrazin Resigns from Bundesbank Board |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/massive-pressure-islam-critic-sarrazin-resigns-from-bundesbank-board-a-716709.html |access-date=2025-04-08 |work=Der Spiegel |language=en |issn=2195-1349}} Sarrazin received a pension as if he had served until 2014, with an additional thousand euros per month compared to the initial offer.{{Cite news |date=2010-09-11 |title=Einigung mit Bundesbank: Wulffs Amt fädelte Sarrazin-Deal ein |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/einigung-mit-bundesbank-wulffs-amt-faedelte-sarrazin-deal-ein-a-716907.html |access-date=2025-04-08 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}}
Reception
The book sparked heated debate.{{cite news |last1=Snyder |first1=Don |title=Anti-Muslim Book in Germany Continues to Tap Into Seething Anger Over Country's Minorities |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/anti-muslim-book-in-germany-continues-to-tap-into-seething-anger-over-countrys-minorities |accessdate=29 October 2018 |publisher=Fox News |date=26 January 2011}} Turkish-born social scientist Necla Kelek argued that Sarrazin's ideas on education and immigration should be debated, without condemning him, and that the political class declines to engage with his arguments.{{cite news |last1=NECLA KELEK |title=A strike for liberation |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/sarrazin/die-debatte/integrations-debatte-ein-befreiungsschlag-12189.html |accessdate=29 October 2018 |work=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung |date=30 August 2010 |language=German |quote=Die Thesen von Thilo Sarrazin zu Bildung und Zuwanderung sollte man diskutieren, nicht den Autor verteufeln. Aber die politische Klasse, der seine Kritik gilt, verweigert sich der Debatte, argumentiert die Soziologin Necla Kelek.}}
Journalist Simon Kuper has argued that, with over 1 million copies sold, Sarrazin had done more to publicize the concept of Eurabia than anybody else in Europe.{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/1c825298-d8f7-11e0-aff1-00144feabdc0|title=The end of Eurabia|work=Financial Times|author=Simon Kuper|date=September 9, 2011|author-link=Simon Kuper}}
The Abendzeitung noted that Sarrazin's theses are "not explicitly false, but statistically or verbally manipulated in such a way that the truth has at least been distorted." His claim that "the proportion of congenital disabilities among Turkish and Kurdish migrants is far above average [and] entire clans [...] have a tradition of inbreeding" cannot be substantiated because disabilities resulting from inbreeding are not statistically recorded. Furthermore, he points out that Turks marry a German partner in only 8% of cases, while ethnic Germans from Russia do so in 67% of cases, without considering that 'most ethnic Germans from Russia already have a German passport' and can marry each other without being excluded from this statistic. Sarrazin's assertion that Sharia law is gaining ground in Germany is not substantiated, and his thesis that male Turkish family heads are "largely unemployed" is incorrect, as the unemployment rate among Turks is indeed above average but still only 25%.{{Cite web |last=tagesschau.de |title=Was ist dran an Sarrazins Thesen? |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/sarrazin-ts-116.html |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=tagesschau.de |language=de}}
See also
- The Death of the West {{Smaller|(2001)}}
- Le Suicide français {{Smaller|(2014)}}
- Finis Germania {{Smaller|(2017)}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Thilo Sarrazin}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:2010 non-fiction books
Category:Criticism of multiculturalism
Category:German non-fiction books
Category:Anti-immigration politics in Germany
Category:Non-fiction books about immigration to Europe
Category:Anti-Islam sentiment in Germany