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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.
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).
Presidency of Austria and the Waldheim Affair
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 involvement in war crimes, but the Austrian government and a number of media outlets vociferously denied all allegations both before and after the release of the report. The historians involved eventually held a press conference to counter the public's false impression, but many Austrians still believe in Waldheim's innocence.(Rosenbaum, Betrayal, Chapter 33)
Miscellaneous
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, and will probably endure long after the Sun and Earth are gone.
He organize a 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.
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"Kurt Waldheim"