June 18, 2007
Good news! Another Nazi heads to Hell
Kurt Waldheim, second from left, stands at a meeting on May 22, 1943, at an airstrip in former Yugoslavia, left - Escola Roncagli, Italian commander and Col. Hans Herbert Macholtz, a German officer, second from right, and General of the 7th SS-Division, General Artur Phelps. Photo: AP
The twice-elected head of the United Nations -- and suspected Nazi war criminal -- Kurt Waldheim slithered off this mortal coil last week.
Waldheim claimed in his autobiography that he'd been wounded on the Russian Front, then sent home to recuperate in Germany, subsequently receiving his discharge from the Wehrmacht in 1942.
Unfortunately, photos surfaced proving the U.N.'s fuhrer was still in uniform in 1943 -- and engaged in a vicious campaign against partisans in the Balkans.
Waldheim, who approved propaganda leaflets calling on the Russian troops to stop targeting Germans and change sides ("enough of the Jewish war, kill the Jews, come over"), was banned from visiting the United States despite his election as the President of Austria.
Given that it was during his tenure at the U.N. that Arafat received a warm welcome and the "Zionism equals racism" resolution passed, Waldheim's wartime background made him uniquely suited to run the United Nations.
Good riddance. Too bad we can't bury the U.N. with him.
Posted by Mike Lief at June 18, 2007 10:29 PM
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Comments
He soldiered for his country. He was willing to fight and die for his people. No matter how wrong the cause of their leaders all foot soldiers should rest in peace. My grandfather was regular German army in the war. He was a good man.
Posted by: Iron Eagle at June 19, 2007 12:11 AM
I salute your grandfather for his service, but a willingness "to fight and die for his people" doesn't absolve Waldheim's guilt, nor that of any other military man who crossed the line from patriotic duty to actively committing -- or helping others commit -- war crimes.
Members of the Wehrmacht who fought honorably -- as I believe the vast majority did -- had no reason to lie about their military service.
Waldheim maintained a lie about what he did during the War for more than 40 years; I suspect he felt he had much to hide, much that was shameful -- or at least hard to justify to anyone who wasn't a Nazi.
Setting aside the question of whether Waldheim played a direct role in the killing of civilians, it's difficult to formulate a code of military conduct -- much less an honor code -- that allows an officer to urge the enemy to surrender so that they might better use their arms, ammunition, muscle, iron and sweat to murder Jews.
To the contrary, it takes no effort at all to envision a man of honor generating propaganda urging the enemy to lay down his arms for a variety of reasons, all reasonable, honorable, without resorting to a call to arms against the Dirty Yids.
But that isn't the kind of soldier Kurt Waldheim was. So I stand by my remarks.
Posted by: Mike Lief at June 19, 2007 12:26 AM