FILES SHOW KURT WALDHEIM SERVED UNDER WAR CRIMINAL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000100020041-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 15, 2011
• Sequence Number: 41
• Publication Date: March 4, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/15 :CIA-RDP91-005878000100020041-6
A. ';~:,~_:~~rr' v NEW YORK TIME$
c~~ o;,~,F .~~~ 4 March 1986
Files Show Z?urt Waldheim
Served Zander War Criminal
By JOlaM TAGILtAtiIJB '
Squ1N Oo 71~ NA Yafl T1aMr
VIENNA. March 3 -Kurt Wald-
heim, former Secretary General of ttt~
United Nations, was attached to a Ger+
man Army cornmaM is World War 1I
that fought brutal campaigns against
Yugoslav partisans std engaged in
mass deportations of Greek Jews, aa.
cording to official documents made
available hers.
The documents also show that, as a,
young man. he was enrolled intwo Naz/
Party organizatlons..
The documents. which were obtained
by 'The New York Theses. were touad
among German military records and in
the archives d the Austrian- Justlca
Ministry and the Foreipt M1ltiatry.
AuatrL was part of Nash. Germany
from the Aaachlttse, or union, of 1938, to
the end of World War II.
AutsbN~6y Skips Perlo/
I n sutltorized biographies and in a re-
cent autobiography, Mr. Waldheim
does not discuss his activities during
the years involved, 1942 and 1943.
Mr. WaldhNm, who headed the
United Nations Secretariat from 19'12 to
1982, acknowledged in an interview
Sunday that he had served in the units
in question. But he said he had played a
minor role and knew of no war crimes
or atrocities ascribed to the units.
In the interview, he said it was the
first time that he had heard of mesa
deportations o[ Greek Jews from Sa-
lonika.
Mr. Waldheim is running for the
presidency of Austria. The election is
scheduled br May 5, and Mr. Wald-
heim, in recent polls, has had a slight
edge over his Socialist opponent, Kurt
Steyrer.
He accused his opponents of using the
information abort the war years to
damage him politically.
"The timing of it is perfect," he said.
"For 40 years these things have rat-
ed."
Mr. Waldheim belittled his member-
ship in the Nazi groupa,.aaying that his
activities were intended to shiedd him
and his family. who were known as op-
ponents of the Nazis.
~ Some of the allegatlona against 114x.
WaWlteim, attributed to a wartime Mr. Waldheim said he became aware
document, were published here today ~ offs the war that he had been enrolled
is Prol11, a news mtnaa~~assiiaaee Other dtxat. iti the SA, but that he had not consid-
menb,about his?mil3tary service, wero, j Bred hinasNf, at the tlme, a member of
made avdlable W TM Times by the ; ~~?~ ~~
World Jewish Catgr'ess and were coh ~ been established by "one or two stu-
roborated lrtdepeoderttly by The deuu" and were used for "social gath-
Times. Brings, coffee parties and things like
There haw been put charges that he that." ..
had had Nall associatlow. bIs Wald. He spid the students had a choice
helm hu saki an each occasion that has I ~g sports of tennis, horseback rid-
nevet was a member of a Nall orgad? { and motorcycle racing. He chose
zatim or a Naziattiliated orgaaiutfon. { ~ said, .never assuming that
h
th
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ow
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ocumen
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e
this would? lead to enrollment in the SA.
1942. after a campaign agahtst Yttgo-
3oue6t to Protect Family
awarded a high military decoratlaa o! He said his basic motlve for taking
the Nast puppet state of CroatU, tM part in the gatherings was to shield
Order of the Crown of King Zvanimir. -himself and his family from politlcal
The Croatian state was known tae I harassment, a common enough motlve
persecuting Jews. Serbs and gypsiea? I at the time.
through deportatlans, forced labor sad f Indeed, Mr. Waldheim's personnel
mass murders. A former Cabinet file in the Austrian Justice Ministry
ministerot that state, Andrija Artukov 1 quotes a character reference written in
ic, was recently extradited by the 1940 by a gauleiter, a Nazi party otfi-
UMted States to YugosLvta to stand ~ clot, revealing lingering distrust. The
trial on war crimes cltar'ges. official described Mr. Waldheim's fa
Ilttle Rnewn of His Iletlvitlea ther, Walter, a schoolteacher until the
? Politlcai commsttatora saAy that ds. Nazis stripped him of his job, as a tot-
s its the documen evldencx of Mr. lower o[ Kurt Schuschnigg, the Aus-
P ~Y trian leader who opposed the An-
Waldheim's ot6cial positlons b 1942-43, schluss, and said that the son "through
little is known of his activitle, and that his braggadocio gave proof of his an-
h m may ul~ma~tNywt ~ ~ ~' tipathy toward our movement."
The official added that the younger
he was not forthcoming about his put. Mr. Waldheim had "proved himself" ~
The disclosure are nevertheless through military service, eliminating
awkward because of his assertiaaa doubt of his qualification for Govern-
over ~ yuro - when ~ wu q~'~ men[ service.
~~ PIY by J~~ groups Mr. Waldheim. in discussing joining
-that he never had anything to do witty the student group at the Consular Acad-
1938, in the Nazi student union, about ,
three weeks after the Anschluss. The
tollowirtg Nov. 18, he wu strolled in a
mounteduNt of the Sdu~mabtelluag, ar
SA; the paramllitary Nazi organization
known as the Browmshirts. He re-
ma~ned amember until he entered
military service oII Aug. 15, 193Y. ?
In 1981, a group of American Jews
told him that the United Natlons risked
losing public support in the United
States because at a aeries of anti-Is-
raeil r+eaoltttiaos under' his steward,
The recent disclosures also raised
the questlon whether, at the United Na-
tlaa~ or earlier as Auatriaa Foreign
Minister. Mr. Waldhelmhsd been sur.
ceptlble to pressure from the Soviet
Union or other ooutttrie it they knew nit
his peat activities.
Gives an opportunity to comment an
the disclosures, Mr. Waldheim denied
that he had ever beat subjected to
political pressure or blackatail.
Acc~rrding to the records made avail-
able to The Tlma, Mr. Waldheim, u a
2Qyear-old student at the ConsWar
Academy here, was strolled April 1,
emy, said in the interview:
"I did not the want to refuse because
I thought that is harmless, it is not
political involvement. Naturally, it was
important for me. [t I ever had the idea
of finishing my studies, I had to have
some protection.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/15 :CIA-RDP91-005878000100020041-6