Waldheim Affair

The Waldheim affair refers to discussions about the involvement of the former Austrian President Kurt Waldheim (1918–2007) in World War II. Waldheim, a member of the People's Party (Österreichische Volkspartei, or ÖVP), was foreign minister and UN Secretary General from 1972 to 1981. In 1986 he ran for the office of Austrian president. As Waldheim missed an absolute majority of votes in the first round, it came down to a runoff between him and Social-Democrats candidate Kurt Steyrer. During the campaign questions about his past as an officer in the German army and his membership in the SA (Sturmabteilung, Stormtroopers) in World War II arose, as there were some omissions in his, at the time, recently released autobiography. This created suspicions about his possible involvement ...