Kurt Waldheim insisted on an Israel Radio interview from Vienna Wednesday that his wartime service in the Balkans was limited to acting as an interpreter for the German high command. He vigorously denied charges by the World Jewish Congress, among others, that he had participated in the interrogation and torture of partisan fighters and civilians in Yugoslavia or the deportation of Greek Jews to death camps.
Waldheim maintained that the charges being levelled against him were deliberately intended to harm his run for the Presidency of Austria. He is the candidate of the conservative Peoples Party. The elections are scheduled for May. With respect to his wartime duties as a lieutenant in the Wehrmacht, the former United Nations Secretary General told Israel Radio, “I was interpreter and liaison officer with an Italian division and I did nothing else than to report on the Italian actions to the German high command. That was all. I was never in touch with any partisans. All I did was to report on what the Italians did — and that can be verified,” Waldheim said.
He admitted he was decorated for his service in the Balkans but called it a routine award received by a dozen other officers. He was not cited for anything special. “Please don’t distort things,” Waldheim said.
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.
