Israeli Says Waldheim File Warrants Further Inquiry

The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations examined the U.N. War Crimes Commission file on Kurt Waldheim for more than an hour today and said afterward that the file shows that allegations about Waldheim’s Nazi past cannot be laid to rest.

Ambassador Benjamin Netanyahu did not disclose the contents of the U.N. file on Waldheim, a former U.N. secretary general who is now a candidate for president of Austria.

The Israeli envoy and Austrian U.N. Ambassador Karl Fischer were allowed to see the file after their governments requested access because of allegations Waldheim served with a German army unit which committed atrocities in the Balkans during World War II.

The United States also said today that it too will seek access to the U.N. file.

Fischer spent 17 minutes with the file at the U.N. archives office and Netanyahu went over the file for more than an hour. They were allowed to copy the contents of the confidential file.

Netanyahu said the copies would be sent to Israel for “further comprehensive investigation.”

An Austrian statement said the material from Waldheim’s file, which “consisted of only a few pages” will be sent to Austrian President Rudolf Kirchschlaeger.