Controversy Over War Record Dogs Waldheim, Restricts His Presidency

Through most of the post-World War II era, Austria’s presidents have served as little-noticed but effective ambassadors of good will for their country.

Not Kurt Waldheim. Eighteen months after his election to the mainly ceremonial post, the 69-year-old former U.N. secretary general continues to be dogged by accusations that surfaced early last year as he began his campaign for president: that he has concealed a Nazi past and involvement in atrocities while serving as a lieutenant with the German army in the Balkans.

Waldheim rejects the accusations aimed at him, emanating mainly from news organizations and U.S.-based Jewish groups, including the World Jewish Congress. The controversy has severely restricted his ability to perform the duties of his office, yet he dismisses as nonsense rumors that he will resign.

Panel to Confront Waldheim

The pressure could increase next month when a commission of international historians, appointed by the Austrian government with Waldheim’s full backing to investigate the war crimes allegations, is scheduled to confront Waldheim. The commission’s chairman, Swiss military historian Hans Rudolf Kurz, said he hopes to submit a report in February.

There are hints that the commission, which was once seen by the government as a way to end the Waldheim controversy, may submit information that will add fuel to the debate.

Sources familiar with the evidence under review suggest that there is little likelihood that the commission will come up with a “smoking gun”--documents showing Waldheim’s personal involvement in atrocities. It is also unlikely, these sources said, that charges of an active Nazi past will be substantiated.

However, the commission could conclude that Waldheim knew far more about the deportation of Greek Jews and the execution of Yugoslav civilians than he has admitted.

Wartime Officer’s Report

Waldheim’s wartime commanding officer, Lt. Col. Herbert Warnstorff, is believed to have told the commission that his unit was involved in organizing Jewish deportations and it would have been impossible for Waldheim to have been unaware of these actions.

If reports of Warnstorff’s statement are correct, it would constitute the single most damaging piece of evidence against Waldheim, almost certainly damaging his credibility irreparably.

Waldheim’s memoirs, published about the time that the initial allegations against him surfaced early last year, touched only briefly on his wartime military service and suggested that, after being wounded on the Russian front in 1941, he returned to Vienna for the balance of the war.

He later clarified that section of his memoirs, acknowledging that he had served in the Balkans but insisting that he knew nothing of atrocities, civilian executions or Jewish deportations.

Vague Knowledge

Only when confronted with documents from the period did he admit an awareness that some civilian executions had taken place, but he added that it was only the same general, vague knowledge that any German soldier serving in the region would have had.

These statements have been greeted with skepticism because one of Waldheim’s tasks as a staff officer was to compile daily situation reports for German Army Group E, a unit known to be involved in deportations of Jews and campaigns against Yugoslav partisans.

“He compiled the diary of the army group,” said Simon Wiesenthal, the Nazi hunter, in a telephone interview. “He was one of the best-informed officers.”

Waldheim has indicated that, whatever the commission may reveal about his knowledge of wartime atrocities, that would not be enough to force his resignation.

“There is nothing in their (the commission’s) brief about knowledge of events,” he said recently, “only whether there is evidence of personal guilt.”

A few months ago, Waldheim was parrying questions about his past with a plea to wait for the commission’s report, but recently he declared that he would not consider its conclusions binding.

Unlikely to Quit

Knowledgeable political sources say they believe that Waldheim would step down only if evidence surfaced that incriminated him directly as a war criminal, a development viewed here as unlikely.

“The chances of his resigning are very, very low,” Peter Jankowitsch, a Socialist member of Parliament and former foreign minister, said.

Waldheim’s press secretary, Gerold Christian, said: “The very idea of Waldheim as a war criminal is stupid. Such allegations cannot be taken seriously.”

There is no provision in Austria’s system of government for removing the elected head of state. There have been reports that the major political parties have met to consider constitutional paths to a possible resignation, but party spokesmen say the reports are not true.

“There have been no such contacts whatsoever on this subject,” Jankowitsch said.

Still, there are no signs that the “Waldheim Affair,” as it is known, is subsiding.

Few Official Visits

Neighboring European democracies look on Waldheim as a political pariah, too risky to invite for a visit. Belgian authorities discreetly informed Austrian diplomats earlier this year that they would prefer that he not inaugurate an Austrian exhibition in their country. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands quietly withdrew an invitation that had been extended to Waldheim’s predecessor.

Last spring, the United States declared Waldheim persona non grata by placing his name on an Immigration and Naturalization Service “watch list” of political undesirables and common criminals.

This year, there have been no state visits to Austria; only two premiers have been here, Nikolai I. Ryzhkov of the Soviet Union and Hans Brunhart of Liechtenstein. Brunhart was later criticized at home for meeting with Waldheim.

‘Cover Me With Garbage’

“They cover me with garbage and then complain I stink,” Waldheim complained recently.

After trips this year to Pakistan and Jordan, and a controversial meeting with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, Waldheim now sits amid the ornate grandeur of the Hapsburgs’ Imperial Palace in Vienna with an empty travel calendar and, according to people who have seen him recently, an obsession about the charges surrounding him.

One longtime acquaintance who recently met with Waldheim said that during the hour they were together, Waldheim “spent 45 minutes convincing me he was innocent, and he knows I don’t consider him guilty in the first place.”

Accusations that Waldheim has failed to face up squarely to his past have raised similar charges that Austria as a nation has never faced up to the truth of its seven years as part of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich.

“I get tired of having to defend not just Waldheim but Austria, too,” said Thomas Chorherr, editor-in-chief of the respected Austrian daily Die Presse. “We’ve become a scapegoat for feelings of guilt in other European nations. I think it’s a kind of punishment that we tried to sneak out of guilt.”

Questioning Integrity

In many ways, the controversy has been kept alive more by questions regarding the integrity and character of a former U.N. secretary general than by any firm conviction that he was a pivotal figure in the Holocaust.

Other heads of government have survived more damaging disclosures without the controversy that surrounds Waldheim. Waldheim’s predecessor as president of Austria, Rudolf Kirschlaeger, committed German and Austrian youths to battle against a Soviet division in the chaotic last days of the Hitler era.

But there was never any public perception, as in the Waldheim case, of an attempt to deny the reality of what had happened.

Mayor Helmut Zilk of Vienna commented, “I have absolute respect for the democratically elected head of state, but (Waldheim) has for a long time tried to run away from the past.”

Former associates at the United Nations, bitter that Waldheim’s actions have tended to degrade the organization, are more blunt.

‘Lied About Record’

“The point is that he consistently lied about his record, in private as well as in public,” Robert Rhodes James, a member of the British Parliament, said in a recent article. Rhodes James served in the U.N. secretary general’s office for four of the 10 years Waldheim was there.

Waldheim’s assertion that the only relevant issue is whether he personally committed atrocities has also been damaging.

“He hasn’t grasped the political and moral dimensions of the affair,” a senior Austrian politician said, asking not to be identified by name. “He sees this as a criminal issue and if there is nothing on him, he shouldn’t go.”

A disillusioned former Waldheim supporter put it this way: “He is probably not guilty of war crimes, but why doesn’t he feel something?”

As the affair continues, Waldheim seems more confused and uncomprehending than evil and calculating, as some of his critics describe him.

Newspapers Lukewarm

The perception that Waldheim’s credibility may be permanently damaged has begun to weaken his political support. Two regional Socialist Party congresses have in recent months called on him to resign, newspapers have become lukewarm in their support for him and members of the People’s Party that elected him have begun to distance themselves.

“I wouldn’t vote for Waldheim again,” Erich Edegger, a leading People’s Party figure in the staunchly conservative city of Graz, told the Austrian weekly Profil.

Nonetheless, much of Waldheim’s support is still solid among Austrians who believe they should back their president against personal attacks from outside the country. This feeling prevails despite growing disenchantment with the man.

Some political observers believe that a majority of Austrians are against his resigning, and would see such a move as caving in to an international campaign against their president.

Domestic Sympathy

Statements earlier this month by a senior U.S. Justice Department official implicating Waldheim in the execution of Yugoslav partisans, coupled with the official’s refusal to disclose the information behind the accusation, struck many Austrians as unfair and gave Waldheim a much-needed boost of domestic sympathy.

“It’s no longer seen as just Waldheim, it’s Austria, too, that is involved,” Paul Lendvain, an executive with Austrian Television, said.

Also, there is concern here that if Waldheim eventually does resign, it could trigger an outbreak of anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism, which could be more damaging for Austria than Waldheim’s troubled presidency.

But with new allegations about Waldheim’s war years appearing almost daily in the world’s press, there seems to be no easy way out of the political storm.

“We can’t change the result of a democratic election,” Jankowitsch said. “We can only go through the motions and pretend he’s a normal president.”