Kurt Waldheim

Kurt Waldheim
Name	Kurt Waldheim
Caption	Waldheim in 1973
Office	President of Austria
Term start	8 July 1986
Term end	8 July 1992
Predecessor	Rudolf Kirchschläger
Successor	Thomas Klestil
Office2	Secretary-General of the United Nations
Term start2	1 January 1972
Term end2	31 December 1981
Predecessor2	U Thant
Successor2	Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
Birth date	21 December 1918
Birth place	Sankt Andrä-Wördern, Republic of German-Austria
Death date	14 June 2007 (aged 88)
Death place	Vienna, Austria
Party	Austrian People's Party
Spouse	Elisabeth Waldheim
Alma mater	Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, University of Vienna
Religion	Roman Catholic

Kurt Waldheim was an Austrian diplomat and politician who served as the fourth Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 and as the President of Austria from 1986 to 1992. His tenure at the United Nations was marked by efforts in peacekeeping and global diplomacy, including during the Yom Kippur War and the Iranian Revolution. His later political career was permanently overshadowed by the Waldheim affair, an international controversy concerning his concealed service in the Wehrmacht during World War II.

Early life and education

Kurt Waldheim was born in Sankt Andrä-Wördern, near Vienna, in the immediate aftermath of World War I. His father, a school inspector, was a supporter of the Christian Social Party. Waldheim attended the Schottengymnasium in Vienna before enrolling at the Consular Academy, later known as the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. He subsequently studied law at the University of Vienna, graduating with a doctorate in 1944. His education was interrupted by his conscription into the Austrian Armed Forces and later the German Wehrmacht.

Military service in World War II

Waldheim was conscripted into the Wehrmacht in 1941 and served as an interpreter and ordnance officer in various units. He was posted to the Balkan theater, attached to Army Group E under General Alexander Löhr. During this period, his unit was involved in operations in Yugoslavia and Greece, including the brutal suppression of partisan resistance and the deportation of Greek Jews from Thessaloniki. After being wounded in 1942, he returned to Vienna to complete his studies but was recalled to service, ending the war as a first lieutenant in Carinthia. For decades, he publicly characterized this period as a compulsory interruption of his studies, a narrative later challenged by historical investigations.

Diplomatic and political career

After the war, Waldheim joined the Austrian Foreign Service in 1945. He served in various diplomatic posts, including in Paris and Ottawa, before becoming head of the personnel division in the Foreign Ministry in Vienna. He was a member of the Austrian People's Party and served as Foreign Minister from 1968 to 1970 under Chancellor Josef Klaus. In this role, he helped negotiate Austria's accession to the European Free Trade Association and worked on East-West relations. He also ran unsuccessfully as the presidential candidate for the Austrian People's Party in 1971, a defeat that preceded his candidacy for the United Nations.

Secretary-General of the United Nations

Elected as Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1971, Waldheim succeeded U Thant and served two five-year terms. His tenure was defined by complex Cold War diplomacy and numerous international crises. Key events included mediating ceasefire efforts during the Yom Kippur War, overseeing the expansion of UN peacekeeping missions in Cyprus and Lebanon, and managing the global response to the Iran hostage crisis and the Soviet–Afghan War. He also presided over major conferences on the Law of the Sea and the New International Economic Order. Despite his activism, his leadership was sometimes criticized as overly cautious, particularly during the Bangladesh Liberation War.

Presidency of Austria and Waldheim affair

In 1986, Waldheim was elected President of Austria, a largely ceremonial role. His campaign was immediately engulfed by the Waldheim affair, as the World Jewish Congress and international media revealed details of his wartime service that he had omitted from his official biography. Investigations, including by the International Commission of Historians, concluded he had been aware of war crimes and deportations while serving in the Balkans. The controversy led Austria into a period of diplomatic isolation, with Waldheim being placed on a watch list by the U.S. Justice Department, barring his entry. Despite the scandal, he served a full six-year term, during which his international engagements were severely limited.

Later life and death

After leaving the Hofburg presidential office in 1992, Waldheim largely retreated from public life, though he occasionally wrote and lectured. He published his memoirs, *In the Eye of the Storm*, in 1985. The controversy surrounding his past persisted, and he was never fully rehabilitated in the eyes of the international community. Kurt Waldheim died in 2007 in Vienna from heart failure and was buried in a private ceremony at the Heiligenstädter Friedhof. His legacy remains deeply divisive, symbolizing for many Austria's protracted and difficult confrontation with its Nazi past.

Category:1918 births Category:2007 deaths Category:Presidents of Austria Category:Secretaries-General of the United Nations Category:Austrian diplomats Category:Austrian People's Party politicians Category:World War II controversies