32 CultureShock! Austria
The Waldheim Affair
It was also around this time that another Austrian stirred
up controversy. Kurt Waldheim, who had been Secretary-
General of the United Nations from 1972 until 1981, ran for
the presidency of Austria in 1986. This time, however, his
involvement in public life led to an international backlash as
accusations of his participation in Nazi-era crimes surfaced.
During the war, he had served as a lieutenant in the German
army in the Balkans, at a time when the Nazis were deporting
Jews from Greece, rounding up slave labourers and carrying
out reprisals on Yugoslavs and Albanians. Questions arose as
to just how much he knew about such atrocities, and whether
or not he had been involved.
In spite of, and to some extent in defiance of, the
international uproar, Austrians elected him president. The
United States later declared him an undesirable alien and put
him on its watch list, which prevented him from visiting US
territory. The Austrian government set up an international
commission to investigate Waldheim’s past. It found no proof
of his direct involvement in any war crime. However, it noted
that he had lied about his past and that he had known about
what was taking place, although his ability to prevent war
crimes was limited. While there were some protests and callsThe sensitive issue of racism was brought to the fore during the 1999
elections as the rightwing FPÖ gained support and was ultimately invited to
join a coalition government with the ÖVP.