Thilo Sarrazin

Thilo Sarrazin
Born	(1945-02-12) February 12, 1945 Gera, Germany
Occupation(s)	Economist, writer, politician
Years active	1975–present
Known for	Berlin Senator of Finance (2002–2009), Executive Board member at Deutsche Bundesbank (until 2010), author of Deutschland schafft sich ab

Thilo Sarrazin (born 12 February 1945) is a German economist, writer, and politician. He held the position of Berlin's Senator of Finance from January 2002 until April 2009 and was a member of the Executive Board at the Deutsche Bundesbank until 2010. Previously associated with the SPD, he parted ways with the party in July 2020.

Sarrazin rose to national attention with his 2010 publication Deutschland schafft sich ab (Germany Abolishes Itself), which critiqued Germany's immigration policies since World War II and ignited widespread discussion on multiculturalism and integration. The controversy generated by this book played a significant role in his departure from the Bundesbank board.

Early life and education

Born in Gera, Germany, Sarrazin's father was a physician, while his mother hailed from a family of landowners in West Prussia. His paternal lineage includes French Huguenots from Burgundy, alongside English and Italian ancestry. He has noted that his surname derives from the term Saracen and is commonly found in Southern France. He has referred to himself as "a European mongrel."

Raised in Recklinghausen, he completed his secondary education at the local gymnasium, fulfilled his military service obligation, and pursued economics studies at the University of Bonn between 1967 and 1971, culminating in a doctorate. Between 1973 and 1974, he worked for the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and became actively involved with the SPD.

Career as civil servant

Sarrazin began working at the Federal Ministry of Finance in 1975. Up until 1981, he led a department within the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, after which he returned to the Finance Ministry. Starting in October 1981, he served as bureau chief, collaborating closely with Finance Ministers Hans Matthöfer and Manfred Lahnstein. Even after the coalition government dissolved in 1982, he remained within the ministry, managing various divisions including (1989–1990) "Innerdeutsche Beziehungen," responsible for preparing Germany’s monetary, economic, and social union. Additionally, he shared responsibility for aspects related to German railways.

Between 1990 and 1991, Sarrazin was employed at the Treuhand. He then served as State Secretary at Rhineland-Palatinate’s Ministry of Finance until 1997 before assuming the role of chief executive at TLG Immobilien (TLG).

Deutsche Bahn

From early 2000 until December 2001, Sarrazin was part of Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national railway company. Initially appointed head of internal auditing, he joined the board of DB Netz on 1 September 2000, where he managed planning and investment functions.

He is recognized as a principal designer behind Deutsche Bahn’s people's share concept, which involved issuing non-voting preferred stock to restrict private investor control—intended to prevent complete capital privatization. Sarrazin promoted restructuring Deutsche Bahn according to efficiency criteria based on cost-effectiveness evaluations. His interactions with CEO Hartmut Mehdorn were reportedly strained.

After being removed from DB Netz's board, Sarrazin entered into legal proceedings contesting his contract termination related to alleged violations concerning secondary employment activities. Deutsche Bahn terminated his contract without notice; Sarrazin pursued legal action but was ultimately unsuccessful at the Federal Court.

Finance Senator

In January 2002, Sarrazin assumed the role of Finance Senator in the Senate of Berlin, where he pursued a fiscal strategy centered on rigorous budget cuts and introduced a single-entry bookkeeping system to enhance local government financial management.

His comments regarding Berlin's social and educational challenges provoked significant debate, with some perceiving him as a provocateur. His initiatives aimed at reducing social welfare frequently led to public demonstrations. Notably, in 2008, he asserted that beneficiaries of ALG II could subsist on less than €4 daily. The following year, he criticized unemployed individuals for their energy consumption, highlighting that they do not directly cover rent or heating expenses. Additionally, Sarrazin labeled pension increases as "utterly pointless," urging authorities to prepare elderly citizens for a "gradual decline toward subsistence living."

During the dispute over Berlin’s Tempodrom event venue, Sarrazin faced allegations of improperly allocating public funds. Investigations extended to various politicians, firms, and auditors. Nevertheless, by December 2004, the Berlin district court dismissed the case due to insufficient prosecutorial efforts.

In August 2009, Berlin's public prosecutor launched an inquiry into Sarrazin concerning alleged embezzlement linked to leasing a golf course at discounted rates to the Berlin-Wannsee Golf and Country Club. Sarrazin refuted any misconduct, asserting that the city did not suffer financial harm.

Deutsche Bundesbank

Sarrazin resigned from his senatorial position on April 30, 2009, to join the executive board of the Bundesbank. Between May 1 and September 1, 2010, his portfolio covered information technology and risk oversight. On September 2, 2010, following contentious remarks about Jewish genetics, the board initiated proceedings for his dismissal. The matter was slated for review by Federal President Christian Wulff, but on September 9, Sarrazin voluntarily requested release from his responsibilities.

Party membership

In August 2010, the leadership of the SPD contemplated expelling Sarrazin due to his views clashing with core social-democratic ideals. However, in April 2011 an arbitration panel ruled that he could retain membership since he denied any intention to diverge from party doctrines or advocate social-Darwinist ideologies. This verdict displeased several SPD officials. Subsequently, after Sarrazin published Hostile Takeover: How Islam Impedes Progress and Threatens Society, the SPD initiated formal expulsion procedures. The local arbitration committee endorsed this action; however, Sarrazin and his legal team challenged it and intended to appeal.

Personal life

Sarrazin is married to Ursula Sarrazin (née Breit) and has two sons. A distinctive smirk on his face results from a 2004 surgical operation to remove a tumor affecting an inner ear nerve, which caused partial paralysis on the right side of his face.

Immigration, Islam and social welfare

Sarrazin promotes immigration restrictions favoring highly qualified individuals while advocating cuts in government welfare programs. His September 2009 article in Lettre International elicited strong public reactions. He characterized many Arab and Turkish immigrants as resistant to assimilation, stating:

In August 2010, Sarrazin released Deutschland schafft sich ab (Germany Abolishes Itself), which quickly became the best-selling political book by a German-language author in ten years. It sold approximately 1.1 million copies within two months and reached 1.5 million by May 2011. The publication sparked intense national debate; in response, Sarrazin added a foreword in its thirteenth edition addressing the ensuing controversy.

He also criticized Islam’s role in Europe, arguing it places more demands than other faiths and is closely associated with welfare dependency and criminal activity. According to Sarrazin, no other religion emphasizes visible differences as strongly—especially through women's attire—and Islam’s progression toward violence and terrorism occurs more readily.

His book attracted criticism for asserting that Germany’s Muslim immigrant community is reluctant to integrate, heavily reliant on social benefits, rapidly expanding demographically, and exhibiting lower intelligence levels. To address these concerns, he called for comprehensive welfare reforms. The initial edition sold out swiftly and by the end of 2010 was Germany’s leading hard-cover non-fiction bestseller.

Genetics

In a 2010 interview with Welt am Sonntag, Sarrazin ignited controversy by asserting that "all Jews possess a specific gene, similar to how all Basques share a distinct gene that sets them apart from other groups." He subsequently expressed regret over the offense caused and referenced a 2010 study by Gil Atzmon and colleagues, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, which identified genetic commonalities among Jewish populations.

Sarrazin's remarks received widespread criticism in 2018 from notable individuals such as Sebastian Edathy (SPD), the United Services trade union, and political analyst Gerd Wiegel. The Central Council of Jews in Germany publicly condemned his comments as racist. Additionally, Sigmar Gabriel, then SPD General Secretary, strongly criticized Sarrazin's eugenic perspective.

Reception

A poll conducted by the Berliner Morgenpost revealed that nearly half of Germans concurred with Sarrazin's political positions, with 18 percent indicating they would support a party founded by him. Meanwhile, a Süddeutsche Zeitung survey involving 10,000 readers of Sarrazin’s works showed that most were conservative males from the middle class, predominantly middle-aged to elderly.

Necla Kelek, a German-Turkish sociologist and bestselling author who supported Sarrazin, introduced him at a Berlin press event in August 2010 attended by roughly 300 journalists. While Turkish and Islamic organizations accused Sarrazin of racism and damaging Germany's global image, Kelek maintained that he highlighted "uncomfortable truths" overlooked by mainstream critics.

The new terror of virtue

After releasing Deutschland schafft sich ab, Sarrazin was accused of promoting racism and xenophobia. This wave of criticism led him to author Der neue Tugendterror – Über die Grenzen der Meinungsfreiheit in Deutschland (The New Terror of Virtue – On the Limits of Freedom of Opinion in Germany), which explores themes such as political correctness, societal biases, and Germany’s political environment. In the book’s second chapter titled "Wie ich mit der Meinungsherrschaft in Konflikt kam: Eine Fallstudie" ("How I came into conflict with opinion dominance: a case study"), Sarrazin reflects on the unexpectedly fierce public backlash, where he was accused of biological determinism and branded as a social Darwinist, racist, and adversary of social justice.

Selected works

• Deutschland schafft sich ab (2010), English edition titled Germany Is Doing Away with Itself
• Europa braucht den Euro nicht (2012), translated as Europe Doesn't Need the Euro
• Der neue Tugendterror. Über die Grenzen der Meinungsfreiheit in Deutschland, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Munich 2014
• Wunschdenken. Europa, Währung, Bildung, Einwanderung – warum Politik so häufig scheitert (2016)
• Feindliche Übernahme: Wie der Islam den Fortschritt behindert und die Gesellschaft bedroht ("Hostile Takeover – How Islam Obstructs Progress and Threatens Society") (2018)

External links

• Interview with Thilo Sarrazin on BBC’s World Have Your Say
• Interview in Spiegel
• Thilo Sarrazin and His Remarks on Muslim Intelligence: The Pleasure of Disparaging Others