Natascha Strobl's analysis of the ideology of the Hanau, Germany, terrorist manifesto

The Austrian political analyst Natascha Strobl who observes the far right and far-right political rhetoric carefully has done a preliminary analysis of the manifesto of the perpetrator of a far-right multiple murder in Hanau, Germany, this week. The killer, who the German press identifies as Tobias R., killed nine people at two hookah bars, which are popular with people of Turkish background, then killed his own mother and himself.

Here is an English report from Time: David McHugh and Frank Jordans, Suspect Found Dead at Home After Killing 9 in German City of Hanau: Police Time/AP 02/20/2020

Putting the swastika where it belongs

Her analysis is in the form of a tweet thread of 02/21/2020. The English translations are mine. A thing like this manifesto, she says, "has no place in public and should not be reproduced without an explanatory description."

She finds five elements in the manifesto that "strike me that stand out alongside the usual far-right ideological points."

1. A radically neoliberal attitude about performance

The terrorist [Tobias R.] always make a distinction between those who work and those who do nothing. He racializes this idea of performance.

This is a German version of something like the American “welfare queens” complaint. Xenophobic politicians and agitators in Europe make the claim that refugees from war-torn countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria come to Europe to live high on the European social system. It's such an obviously absurd generalization that you have to be predisposed to swallow it to be be convinced enough to repeat the claim.

The term "neoliberal" refers to the most prominent free-market fundamentalist economic and social theory. It's not a reference to political "liberalism" as it is used in the US and Canda.

Strobl calls this rightwing complaint about the lazy loafers "the performance principle".

These "peoples", which he mentions by name, should be destroyed because they are not capable of great achievements. He sees himself as someone who does a lot and is better than everyone else. This is a crassly social Darwinist, neoliberal view of the world.

This trend exists in the New Right and also in parliamentary right-wing extremism. The performance principle and the folk principle are brought together. This is an ideological difference from other parts of the New Right. He makes argument with stress on economics.

This is also shown by the fact that he also wants to wipe out parts of his "own people" - the underperformers. Performance is his top priority. If you do something, you're worth something. Those who do nothing must be wiped out. Performance can be located in a völkish manner.

In other words, he attributes the ability to perform as being characteristic of some ethnic/national groups more so than others. The German term völkish is often used in English untranslated because it refers to a particular political trend of German ethno-nationalism that dates back to the 19th century.

2. Open extermination wish

He openly argues for his wish for extermination [of others] and does not conceal it with theories such as the Great Exchange. It is explicitly stated within [the manifesto] that this group and that should be destroyed. This is more old National Socialism [Nazism] than New Right.

The "Great Exchange", also know as the replacement theory, is the conspiratorial and typicalkly anti-Semitic claim that some group is trying to systematicall displace "pure" native populations with inferior foreigners, e.g., “Jews will not replace us,” as the murderous neo-nazis is Charlottesville in 2017 notoriously chanted.

3. Anti-Semitism 

Hardly noticed, but he is also an anti-Semite. Anti-Semitism replaces racism, which exist quite well side by side and strengthen each other. One of the "peoples" deserving to be destroyed is also very explicitly Israel.

4. Hatred of women

He writes a lot about his high standards for women and how there was never a woman good enough for him, unless, for instance, one that was taken away from him by dark forces ("the secret service"). Hatred of women is the biggest trigger for self-radicalization toward the right.

Strobl notes that she has written "about how these three ideologies belong together. It is the same triad in every manifesto: racism, anti-Semitism, hatred of women. It belongs together. It doesn't matter if it's a Great Exchange or an open desire for destruction." (The earlier article she links is Der Anschlag von Halle und der Dreiklang des Rechtsterrors Moment 10/14/2019.

5. Obsession with the USA

He reports in a very long-winded manner about his hopes for the United States and how it has built itsef up militarily. This fascination seems to have been around for some time, but Trump was arguably an incredible boost. This shows the devastating signaling effect [of Trump as President].

The influence of Trump and the [American] alt-right cannot be overstated. If the most powerful man in the world can fantasize wildly, it opens up incredible possibilities to the political right. This manifesto is a testament to what a right-wing terrorist makes of it.

There is a lot of international sharing of (really bad) far-right ideas. But for parties and groups who make the superiority of their own national-ethnic group the highest ideological priority, international cooperation has some definite limits. Various European nationalist parties would like to take a chunk of neighboring countries, which we saw in the most dramatic way in the Balkan Wars of the 1990s.

It's fitting that he (not in the manifesto, but elsewhere) endorses the Pizzagate conspiracy. It says the Washington establishment is secretly involved in child abductions and rapes and keeps these children in catacombs under the city.

Sounds absurd? Well, yeah, completely out of it. During the last election, Democratic candidate Clinton was accused of [this Pizzagate conspiracy] and continues to do so to this day. Thousands of children are victims [in this crackpot conspiracy theory] and Trump is the only one who can uncover this, so "they" are against him.

These and similar bizarre conspiracy theories have been very influential on the far right in the US, as well.

Strobl notes that along with those points she highlights, the manifesto also displays "enormous narcissism and deep-seated paranoia."

See also:

• Elsa Koester, Raus aus der weißen Perspektive Der Freitag 20.02.2020
• Annette Ramelsberger, Der Täter und seine Schuld Süddeutsche Zeitung 21.02.2020