On January 17, Martin Pollack, writer, essayist, writer and translator died. Author of unique books on the past of Europe in the first half of the 20th century, in which he addressed hard and uncomfortable topics. He was the recipient of many awards and distinctions for his work, including the 2017 DIALOGU Awards. We say goodbye to a friend of the editorial board “Polish-German DIALOG Magazine” recalling His speech on the occasion of the award.
For many years I have lived in the countryside, in a tiny village in the south of Austria in confederate Burgenland, close the Hungarian border. It's almost idyllic. As shortly as I halt working for a while and rise my eyesight, I see my orchard and my own field from above my desk. I lease it to a farmer, runs an organic farm, and doesn't spray the land with poisonous chemicals, which I peculiarly care about. So everything is right. besides in a vegetable shop, a “kitchen garden”, as we call a vegetable garden. Despite the late season, there are inactive plenty of lettuces growing: endives, radicchio, rucola, trout, gradian cabbage, chicken salad, which is what Germany calls field lettuce. There's more than we could eat. From the increasing vine house, all the fruit has disappeared, mainly due to the scythes, but besides due to another feathered friends. surviving above the old garage, the ashes besides contributed well. Only nuts the second year in a row did not give birth, besides this year they fell victim to late frost. They're peculiarly delicate to them. They do shoot, but they do not bear fruit. So I buy nuts and scatter under trees – for squirrels, ashes, woodpeckers and jays, what do they gotta do with specified freaks of nature.
So my Bocksdorf is good. good to meet you.
However, I can barely easy get past the furnace, where I smoke wood notes from Slovenia, mainly a gravedigger, I have doubts. More and more recently. Do I have the right to be satisfied? Aren't I telling myself? Don't I hide my head in the sand, close my eyes, close my ears to a reality that doesn't seem as friendly and pink as I would like?
I don't mean old age. I'm inactive beautiful good with her. There's nothing to complain about. And I'm not reasoning about my illness either. I can handle her, too. Mostly. To any extent.
There are also reasons for this doubt, which sometimes puts me in a dark temper all day long, deep depression and a sense of powerlessness. This is simply a political situation in Austria, Poland and throughout Europe, as well as outside Europe, which does not let me to full enjoy my life in Bocksdorf. The large hopes we had for historical changes and the breakthrough for which the year 1989 became a symbol gave way to sobering and deep disappointment. In Europe and beyond, we are now experiencing a fast increase in reactionary, anti-liberal, nationalist sentiments that endanger the 1989 conquests. Putina and Trump America play in this, in many ways, despite any known differences, a fatal, pioneering role. In Central and east Europe, the grains of anti-liberalism and nationalism and of the moving populism fall on peculiarly susceptible ground, which can be seen in Hungary and Poland.
And there is no tendency to change this trend, on the contrary – erosion and weakening of liberal democracy seems to be moving faster and more radically. alternatively of “global civilian society” (Mary Kaldor) we experience “global growth of populist nationalisms”, as Jacques Rupnik, a French political scientist, formerly advisor to president Václav Havel, writes in his dissertation on the situation after 1989. And it maintains the anticipation of them returning to Central Europe, but this time in a fresh "antiliberal form".
While the pro-European elites are in retreat, the blunt, anti-European movements are rapidly increasing, besides in countries with deep-rooted democratic traditions. From many places, we can hear a strong hand calling to governments, a request for a strong state, a strong leader who will be weakening the embarrassing democratic institutions for so long, until they stay just by name: empty, powerless shells. Putin and Erdoğan showed how to do it. And their methods find followers. In many European countries, Putin seems to find bitter supporters, his diligent disciples. Including my native Austria. The chief right-wing populist in Austria, head of FPÖ Heinz-Christian Strache, does not hold his admiration for the fresh Russian Tsar and for his knowing of democracy. FPÖ will shortly sit in Vienna in government benches, with Fear as Vice Chancellor.
The erosion of democracy will be strengthened and accelerated by another external factors, specified as the exile crisis and terrorism, which, for their own purposes, are exploited by right-wing populists and fundamentalist chauvinists, who want to continually fuel distrust and fresh fears. Untrust to immigrants and aliens in general, to those who think differently, to various minorities and intellectuals, especially liberals, to liberal Europe and finally, last but not least – against civilian society in their own country, which they believe must be incapacitated and marginalised.
In Russia and Turkey, in order to stay in Europe, this has long been done, Hungary is on its best path. In Poland, however, civilian society seems not to give up. It won't let you get marginalized that easily. The courage and determination with which he again defends liberal democracy and its various institutions are admirable. An example worthy of imitation. Which makes us who observe these events from the outside besides responsible. We request to ask ourselves what we can do, what we must do to support our friends in Poland and Hungary to show them our solidarity actively.
So what do we do? Of course, there is no simple answer to that question. I don't know her either, I know only 1 thing: we must not give up, we must not be cowardly and we must not be acquainted with this terrible trial. Not at all. We cannot be moved to admit that democracy is being dismantled in the neighbouring country (when will it be our turn?) that the division of power in the state is being undermined. We must not get utilized to lies and shameful slanders prepared from above. And we will never be allowed to get utilized to the thought that a "grey man", a common grey man, as Peter Jawsny called himself, can do publically in Warsaw a self-incineration to shake up the society in this way and choice them up to act to halt the demolition of democracy by the ruling organization before it is besides late. A final act of protest, more radical, can't imagine. We must not get utilized to specified desperate acts, which are an expression of powerlessness, but besides of unimaginable courage, we must not get utilized to this, we cannot bear or accept, we must not ignore them with silence.
The habit is like a sneak poison that weakens the head and corrupts people. erstwhile we realize this, we will take an crucial step forward.
From German translated Karolina Niedenthal
