Biography of Kurt Waldheim

Kurt Waldheim (born 21 December 1918 in Sankt Andrä-Wördern; died 14 June 2007 in Vienna) was an Austrian diplomat and politician. He served as Austria's foreign minister, as Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 and as Federal President of Austria from 1986 to 1992. His political career is inseparable from the Waldheim affair, in which his incompletely presented wartime past became public.

Origins, war and diplomacy

Waldheim grew up in Lower Austria and studied law. During the Second World War he served in the Wehrmacht. For many years he later presented these years in a shortened form in his public biography. After 1945 Waldheim entered the Austrian diplomatic service. He worked in Paris, became ambassador to Canada and represented Austria at the United Nations.

Foreign minister and UN Secretary-General

From 1968 to 1970 Waldheim was Austria's foreign minister. On 22 December 1971 the UN General Assembly appointed him Secretary-General of the United Nations; his term began on 1 January 1972. Waldheim served two terms. His years at the head of the United Nations fell during the Cold War, decolonization and many regional conflicts. His second term ended in 1981.

Campaign and Waldheim affair

In 1986 Waldheim ran for the office of Austrian Federal President. During the campaign, documents became public that challenged his account of his Wehrmacht service. The issue included his work as an officer in the Balkans and units in whose surroundings reprisals, deportations and war crimes took place. Waldheim denied personal guilt for crimes, but acknowledged that he had not presented his past fully.

Presidency under international isolation

Waldheim won the runoff election on 8 June 1986 and became Federal President. The international controversy did not end with his election. In 1988 an international commission of historians found no proof that Waldheim had personally committed war crimes. At the same time it found that his account had been incomplete and that he must have known about events in his area of deployment. As president, Waldheim remained sharply limited in foreign policy and internationally isolated.

Death and historical meaning

Kurt Waldheim died in Vienna on 14 June 2007. His biography stands for diplomatic success and high office, but also for a turning point in Austria's confrontation with its own Nazi past. The Waldheim affair made visible how long omissions, self-images and political loyalties had shaped Austria's postwar narrative.