Germany: History's Long Shadow

Slate by Alexandra Starr | Oct. 16, 2008 (Special Report)

... just because there is a moral imperative to appear open to foreigners doesn't mean that Germans are genuinely comfortable with outsiders. Indeed, many Germans believe that ethnicity, rather than citizenship, culture, or a sense of allegiance, dictates whether someone is part of the deutsch community. The queasiness with diversity and vigorous political correctness coexist uneasily and can make for disjunctive state policies. Full Story »

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3.7

by Michael Bugeja - Oct. 17, 2008

The story is important from a historic and diversity perspective, and as I lived in Austria during the late 1960s and early 1970s--the height of the "Gastarbeiter" (guest worker) era--I can attest that much of what is written (I won't use the word "reported") here is true. More about whether this is quality journalism later. As for the theme of this article, the writer is correct: There are lessons for the United States, chilling ones, concerning the label "guest worker." The divisive word is "guest." As Ben Franklin states, guests and fish stink after three days--or in Germany's and Austria's case--three years. Then those governments wanted you to go home, and this article chronicles that illogical assumption, because human ... More »

I was a guest worker in Austria between 1969-72; but I also found time to attend the University of Salzburg and earn credits.

For decades after World War II, Germany had some of the most liberal asylum laws on the planet. After being deluged with applications from Eastern Europe and the Balkans in ... More »

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