Xenophobia finds fertile soil in Austria
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The night before I left Christmassy Beijing for the old world of Vienna, I made a point of finishing the exceptional autobiography which had occupied my leisure time the last few months, The World of Yesterday, by the Austrian-Jewish writer, Stefan Zweig.
Little did I know that the ghosts of Hitler and his henchmen, so warmly welcomed when they goose-stepped into Vienna on April 2, 1938 without a shot being fired, would be cruelly visited upon me during my brief visit.
Zweig was one of the pre-eminent writers of his time. He was widely read and although a humble introvert, he knew - and was admired by - everybody who was anybody in the world European literature. His book, written between 1934 and 1942, dealt with the richness of Viennese and Austrian life before the advent of the two world wars.
In a very personal way, Zweig detailed the trauma of the millions of casualties in the World War I and the death of the long great Austrian-Hungarian Empire as a consequence of it.
He witnessed the coming storm and the darkest days of the beginning of World War II and, perhaps not wanting to experience a worse fate, committed suicide along with his wife, the day after sending off the manuscript of this very work to his publisher in February, 1942 from their exile in Brazil.
Vienna at Christmas time is simply glorious and outshines Beijing and most other places on Earth. Its ancient buildings and palaces are elegantly decorated and the surrounding mountain ranges are blanketed in white. Yet despite the festivities of this most Christian of holidays, grave dangers lurk in Austria.
Just after my arrival, I learned that on Christmas Eve, several Austrian citizens of Chinese descent were physically and verbally abused by fellow Austrians. The victims were crudely told that there were too many Asians in Austria and that they should get out if they knew what was good for them.
In light of my recent reading of Zweig and my Jewish heritage, I was overcome with a terrible feeling that what happened here in the 1940s can indeed happen again. The seeds of hate continue to be sown and are finding fertile soil in which to germinate not only in Austria but in other parts of Europe as well.
