A national survey has found that 42 percent of Austrians believe ‘not everything was bad’ under the rule of German Dictator Adolf Hitler, and 61 percent of them said Austria needed a strong man to lead the country.

The national poll performed by the Linz Market Institute asked questions of 502 Austrian respondents in a nationwide survey, as the Alpine nation approaches the 75th anniversary of its 1939 unification with Germany.

Austria’s Nazi past is controversial in great part because Hitler was born in the city Branau. The Nazi party is banned in Austria but, were it legalized, 54 percent of respondents said Nazis politicians similar to Hitler would succeed in modern Austrian politics.

According to the poll, young and better-educated Austrians rated Nazi electoral chances in such an election the highest. What’s more, based on past surveys, Austrian public opinion is moving in the direction of the extreme right.

The poll showed a moderate majority of Austrians, 57 percent, in fact agree with the statement “During the Hitler era there were no positive aspects.” But almost the same number, a bit more than half, said that massive violence against Jews similar to the Holocaust of the war years, could again take place in Austria.

One letter to der Standart editor said the poll was similar to asking whether a person thought a foreigner could commit a crime, or never commit a criminal, and then concluding all people thought foreigners always commit crimes. Another reader comment was more direct: The poll questions were too black and white.

Austria in recent years has seen a rise of the right-wing politicians like politician Heinz-Christian Strache. His Freedom Party supports Austrian cultural purity.

Anti-immigrant policies are particularly popular in Austria’s conservative countryside. The Simon Wiesenthal Center regularly grades Austria among the lowest-scoring for prosecuting war criminals.

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(Source: JN1)