Kurt Waldheim
Kurt Waldheim (born
December 21,
1918) is an
Austrian
diplomat and conservative
politician. He was
Secretary-General of the
United Nations from
1972 to
1981, and
President of Austria from
1986 to
1992. He is the
oldest former Austrian President and also the
oldest former Secretary-General of the
United Nations.
Born near
Vienna, Waldheim served as a German military officer during
World War II. In
1945, he surrendered to British forces in
Carinthia, at which point he said he had fled his command (Heeresgruppe D), where he was serving with General Löhr, who was seeking a special deal with the British. Questions were later raised about Waldheim's truthfulness as to his World War II service (see "The Waldheim Affair," below).
Waldheim joined the Austrian diplomatic service in
1945, after finishing his studies in law at the
University of Vienna. He served as First Secretary of the Legation in
Paris from
1948, and in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Vienna from
1951 to
1956. In
1956 he was made Ambassador to
Canada, returning to the Ministry in
1960, after which he became the Permanent Representative of Austria to the
United Nations in
1964. For two years beginning in
1968, he was the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs in Austria serving for the
Austrian People's Party, before going back as Permanent Representative to the U.N. in
1970. He was defeated in the Austrian presidential elections in
1971, but was then elected to succeed
U Thant as
United Nations Secretary-General the same year (see
Video of Kurt Waldheim sworn in as UN-Secretary-General). He was re-elected in
1976 despite some opposition. In
1981, his bid for a third term was blocked by a
veto by
China, and he was succeeded by
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of
Peru.
As Secretary-General, Waldheim opened and addressed a number of major international conferences convened under United Nations auspices. These included the third session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Santiago, April 1972), the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, June 1972), the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (Caracas, June 1974), the World Population Conference (Bucharest, August 1974) and the World Food Conference (Rome, November 1974).
Waldheim had unsuccessfully sought election as President of Austria in 1971, but his second attempt on
June 8,
1986, proved successful. 1986 also marked the beginning of what became known as the
Waldheim affair. Before the presidential elections, the Austrian weekly news magazine
Profil revealed that there had been several omissions about Waldheim's life between
1938 and 1945 in his recently-published autobiography. A short time later, it was revealed that Waldheim had lied about his service as an officer in the
SA-Reitercorps (Stormtroopers - Cavalrycorps), a
paramilitary unit of the
NSDAP (
Nazi Party) before the war, and his time as an ordnance officer in
Saloniki,
Greece from
1942 to
1943. It is known and documented that many crimes against civilians were committed during the
military occupation of
Greece. Instead, Waldheim had stated that he was wounded and had spent the last years of the war in Austria. Speculation grew, and Waldheim was accused of being either involved, or complicit, in
war crimes.
Throughout his term as President (
1986-
1992), Waldheim, and his wife, Elisabeth, were deemed
personae non gratae by many countries. In
1987, they were put on a
watch list of persons barred from entering the
United States. In 6 years Waldheim made almost no state visits, notable exceptions being
Vatican City, which he visited twice during his term, and the
Middle East.
Because of the ongoing international controversy, the Austrian government decided to appoint an international committee of historians to examine Waldheim's life between 1938 and 1945. Their report cited evidence of Waldheim's relation to war crimes, but the Austrian government and a number of media outlets vigorously opposed the allegations both before and after the release of the report. The historians involved held a press conference to change the public mind, but many Austrians still assert Waldheim's innocence.
[(Rosenbaum, Betrayal, Chapter 33)]His
memoir, mainly about his time as U.N. Secretary-General, was published in
1985 under the title
In the Eye of the Storm (ISBN 0297786784).
Waldheim and then-U.S. President
Jimmy Carter both prepared statements for inclusion on the
Voyager Golden Records. The spacecraft carrying the records are now in deep space.He organized the
Concerts for the People of Kampuchea, with
Paul McCartney, to raise money for Cambodia.
Waldheim is the subject of
Lou Reed's song "Good Evening, Mr. Waldheim," in which he is criticized as a
racist along with
Jesse Jackson,
Louis Farrakhan and
Pope John Paul II, characterizing Jackson's pleas for
common ground as hypocritical.
He is an honorary member of K.H.V. Welfia Klosterneuburg, a
Roman Catholic student fraternity that is a part of the
Cartellverband.
Waldheim was awarded several papal honours from Pope John Paul II.
In
Harry Turtledove's alternate history novel,
In the Presence of Mine Enemies, a character called "Kurt Haldweim" is Führer of the Germanic Empire, succeeding
Heinrich Himmler and
Adolf Hitler in the role. Based on the name and some descriptions of the character, he was probably based on Waldheim.
*
Official U.N.S.G. Biography*
Austria and Nazism: Owning Up to the Past (A BBC Report)
