Display of Imperial History Seen Amid Anti-Waldheim Protest

Thousands of demonstrators braved a cold rain and sleet to protest against President Kurt Waldheim on Saturday during another round of observances marking the 50th anniversary of the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany.

Amid the protest attended by what organizers said was a disappointingly low turnout of an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 people, the capital was presented with a display from its imperial past--a parade led by Otto von Habsburg, the 75-year-old son and heir apparent of the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, Charles I.

Charles abdicated after the defeat of the Central Powers, which included Germany and Austria, in World War I in 1918 and went into exile. He died in 1922.

Von Habsburg, who had opposed the annexation on March 11, 1938, was accompanied by marching bands and honorary regiments splendidly attired in bearskin hats and armed with sabers.

He and many Habsburg relatives attended a special Mass in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in the heart of Vienna and later gathered in a rented ballroom in the Hofburg palace that once housed the Austrian emperors. Part of the huge building now serves as the office of the president.

One of the protest speakers, Rosa Jochmann, a survivor of the Ravensbruck concentration camp, told the crowd that Waldheim “knew exactly what was happening” to victims of Nazi atrocities in the Balkans during World War II.

“I can remember exactly the cruelties and atrocities that occurred,” Jochmann told the crowd gathered outside the Hofburg.

A panel of military historians reported on Feb. 8 that it had uncovered no proof of Waldheim’s personal involvement in war crimes. But it found that he had “repeatedly assisted in connection with illegal actions and thereby facilitated” executions while serving in the Balkans.

Waldheim, 69, has dismissed the protests against him and has vowed to remain in office.