The nomination of Austrian President Kurt Waldheim for the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize was denounced by B’nai B’rith Friday. In a statement released here, Seymour Reich, international president of B’nai B’rith, said, "The idea of a Peace prize for an unrepentant Nazi like Kurt Waldheim mocks the very concept of the Nobel awards."
Waldheim is accused of complicity in Nazi atrocities when he was an army officer in the Balkans during World War II. One of 90 persons nominated for the 1987 prize, he was proposed by Prof. Hans Koechler of Innsbruck University.
"A man who continues to deny his own past is not an effective proponent of peace," Reich stated. "To declare that he is worthy of the Nobel award is to destroy the true meaning of Nobel."
Waldheim was placed on the U.S. Justice Department’s "watch list" two months ago as an undesirable not to be granted admission to the United States in private capacity. President Reagan has said he would not invite Waldheim as Austrian chief of state.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
