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 in war crimes.

As a consequence the election campaign got much more aggressive. Waldheim faced massive critiques both at home and abroad (for instance, by the World Jewish Congress). He was severely attacked by Chancellor Fred Sinowatz from the Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, or SPÖ). The People's Party reacted harshly and defended its candidate, using arguments considered at least partly anti-Semitic (this was stressed by the mass media). It also took advantage of the international critique by appealing to Austrian voters that no one but Austrians themselves would decide who should become the next president. Waldheim himself denied any involvement in war crimes and claimed that he had done nothing but his duty as a soldier. He won the election and became the Austrian president and remained in office until 1992. As a consequence Chancellor Sinowatz retired.

Due to his uncertain role between 1938 and 1945 Waldheim was internationally isolated and even put on the U.S. Watch List (prohibiting his entry to the United States). The Austrian government installed an international commission to investigate Waldheim's past. The commission found that Waldheim must have known about war crimes but could not prove any personal involvement.

The 1986 election campaign and the Waldheim affair became symbols of both Austria's handling of its own past and the latent anti-Semitism still present in society. This is closely related to the picture of Austria being the first victim of Hitler's Germany (which views Austrians as victims but not perpetrators in World War II). This view was almost a consensus for decades after the war, backed by all political parties. Bringing up the involvement of Austrians in the Third Reich was no majority-winning political issue. It took scandals such as the Waldheim affair to draw attention to Austria's coming to terms with the past. Due to the rise of the Freedom Party (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, or FPÖ) under Jörg Haider in the 1990s—which stood up for the argument that the Austrians just did [Page 820]their duty and used anti-Semitic stereotypes in their rallies—this topic got more attention.