KreiskyPeterWiesenthal affair

The KreiskyPeterWiesenthal affair was a political and personal feud in the 1970s fought between the then Austrian chancellor Bruno Kreisky and the Nazi hunter i!on "iesenthal arising fro! Kreisky#s !inisterial appoint!ents and the past of $reedo! %arty leader $riedrich %eter& which had been re'ealed by "iesenthal(

Contents

1 %olitical de'elop!ent in Austria in the 1970s ) "iesenthal#s accusations * Kreisky attacking "iesenthal + ,egal action - Background . After!ath 7 /eferences 0 12ternal links

Political development in Austria in the 1970s

Bruno Kreisky#s ocialist %arty had been ruling Austria since 1970& with an absolute !a3ority since the 1971 general election( 4n 197-& their re5election was 6uite unsure& so Kreisky secretly struck a deal with the right5wing $reedo! %arty7s leader $riedrich %eter on building a go'ern!ent together if the socialists failed to achie'e an absolute !a3ority of seats in the National 8ouncil( This howe'er& pro'ed unnecessary& when Kreisky#s party !anaged to !aintain its !a3ority( i!on "iesenthal& by contrast& was a well5known supporter of the conser'ati'e Austrian %eople#s %arty(

Wiesenthal's accusations
Kreisky& a 9ew who had been persecuted by the :estapo because of his political beliefs and 9ewish birth;1< and after that spent all of "orld "ar 44 in weden& for!ed his !inority go'ern!ent after a close 'ictory in the 1970 election( "iesenthal soon pointed out that fi'e of his appointed !inisters had a Nazi past& one of the!& =inister for the 4nterior >tto /?sch& e'en for neo5Nazi acti'ities after the war( Kreisky howe'er& publicly defended his appoint!ents clai!ing that because of his own past as refugee and political prisoner he could 'ery well forgi'e for!er Nazis& if they were de!ocrats now( "iesenthal& on the contrary& stated that @the Nazis could live, the Nazis could die, but they should not govern us @@(;)< 4n 197-& "iesenthal had done so!e research about Kreisky#s would5be coalition partner& and showed his report to president /udolf KirchschlAger& who urged hi! not to publish it before the election& because the Austrian people would see this as a foreign interference in their de!ocracy( "iesenthal agreed( $our days after the election& howe'er& "iesenthal re'ealed what he had found out about %eter#s warti!e years( Bis report showed that %eter had been an

officer in the and had ser'ed as >berstur!fChrer at 4nfantry regi!ent 10 of the 1( infantry brigade( This unit was part of the 1insatzgruppen& which shot hundreds of thousands of 9ews in Nazi5occupied 1astern 1urope in 19+1( %eter& who ne'er denied ha'ing been a !e!ber of the & howe'er said that he didn#t take part in any !ass killings& clai!ing he was not on duty during the !assacres(

Kreisky attackin Wiesenthal

Bruno Kreisky& ne'er a 'ery diplo!atic character& not only fully supported %eter politically& but went on to attack "iesenthal instead( Not only did he publicly support %eter& but he clai!ed "iesenthal was a crypto-racist who hi!self was responsible for Anti5 e!itis! in Austria(;*< >n a party conference& his secretary ,eopold :ratz attacked clai!ing that "iesenthal was operating a @secret police and surveillance center@;+< and was in no way allowed to defa!e de!ocratically elected politicians( Kreisky later on said that "iesenthal @makes a living telling the world that Austria is anti-Semitic. What else can he do? Be went on to call "iesenthal a for!er :estapo agent&;+< based on 8zechoslo'akian intelligence papers which turned out to be fakes years later and he wanted a parlia!entary in'estigation of "iesenthal#s 9ewish Docu!entary 8enter in Eienna( Be fiercely attacked "iesenthal that the latter was e!ploying !afia !ethods(;-< 4t beca!e a fierce battle between Austria#s two !ost fa!ous li'ing 9ews about Austria#s dealing with its Nazi past& about supporting 4srael and about 9ewish identity in Austria after the war( 4t cli!a2ed in Kreisky arguing that he @was no longer !ewish@ and "iesenthal#s response that @the only Austrian, who does not believe "reisky is !ewish is "reisky himsel# @(;)< 4n an inter'iew with a Dutch 3ournalist& the chancellor e'en stated that @the !ews are no people, and i# they$re, they$re a lousy people@( Kreisky and Beinz $ischer& now president of Austria& e'en considered a parlia!entary in6uiry on "iesenthal and his center( Before the Austrian presidential elections in )00)& $ischer publicly apologized for his beha'ior in that conte2t(

!e al action
4nitially& "iesenthal sued the chancellor for slander& but he dropped the case when Kreisky was persuaded by his party colleagues to drop at least part of his allegations& because it did da!age to his i!age abroad(;.< A lead article in the weekly news !agazine %rofil assessed Kreisky#s beha'ior towards "iesenthal as i!!oral and undignified( The author was sued by the 8hancellor and found guilty of defa!ation by Austrian courtsF in 190.& the 1uropean 8ourt of Bu!an /ights& howe'er& decided unani!ously in fa'or of the 3ournalist for reasons of $reedo! of speech ;7< The sa!e year Kreisky renewed his allegations that "iesenthal was a :estapo collaborator& three years after lea'ing office and therefore no longer protected by parlia!entary i!!unity( "iesenthal hi!self sued again and the for!er 8hancellor was found guilty of defa!ation and had to pay a fine of )70&000 AT GH I)-&000J(;0<;9<

"ack round
Hnlike "iesenthal& who had spent years in Nazi concentration ca!ps and had lost !ost of his fa!ily there& Kreisky felt that he had ne'er personally suffered as a 9ew& but only as a socialist( Bistorians belie'e that Kreisky#s forgi'eness and rela2ed attitude towards for!er Nazis dates fro! his ti!e in the prisons of the Austrian Dollfuss regi!e in 19*-( =any of his

cell!ates were Nazis and he accepted the! as fellow political opponents of the Austro5$ascist go'ern!ent( 4t was one of these for!er cell!ates who arranged Kreisky#s escape to weden in 19*0( Another factor was that Kreisky was an assi!ilated 9ew fro! Eienna& who did not practise his faith and had nothing to do with the !ostly 'ery poor 1astern 9ews that were considered inferior and e!barrassing e'en by !ost of the Austrian 9ews( @The eastern 9ews are alien&@ Kreisky actually re!arked(;)< That was& howe'er& e2actly "iesenthal#s backgroundK Be was born in :alicia and raised in a 'ery religious way( Be felt that being 9ewish was !ore than a religious faith& for hi! it was a shared fate( Kreisky is also alleged to ha'e deliberately used coded anti5se!itic se!antics to attract right5wing 'oters in Austria(;9< Both !en ne'er spoke to each other again and both felt that they were right about their 'iew about each other( Bistorian To! ege' described the affair as triggered by both !en#s co!ple2 personalitiesK @Eienna was too s!all a city to hold two 9ews with egos of this size& both of who! wished to be part of Austrian society@(;10<

Aftermath
The KreiskyL%eterL"iesenthal affair rehearsed !any of the the!es that resurfaced a decade later during the contro'ersy around Kurt "aldhei!(;*< Bruno Kreisky is still seen as a great states!an& his defense of %eter#s warti!e ser'ice in the is still shared by a substantial part of the Austrian population and Austrians are also today 'ery critical of foreign interference in their political affairs& which so!eti!es leads to nationalis! and resent!ent( This political cli!ate supported the rise of 9?rg Baider and the $reedo! %arty in the 1900s and 1990s(

#eferences
1. $ ;1< 2. M a b c Alan ,e'yK Nazi BunterK The "iesenthal $ile( ,ondon& )00) 3. M a b /ichard ( ,e'yK Antise!itis!( A Bistorical 1ncyclopedia of %re3udice and

%ersecution( )00- p( 770f( +( M a b ti!!en zu "iesenthal -( $ =ichael Do' :oldhaberK A %eople#s Bistory of the 1uropean 8ourt of Bu!an /ights( New 9ersey& )007 p(00 .( $ httpKNNwww(guardian(co(ukNnewsN)00-NsepN)0Nguardianobituaries(hellapick 7( $ =ichael Do' :oldhaberK A %eople#s Bistory of the 1uropean 8ourt of Bu!an /ights( New 9ersey& )007 p(01
8. $ :oldhaber )007 p(0-

9( M a b httpKNN3cpa(orgN98%ANTe!platesN how%age(aspO DB4DP1QT=4DP111Q,N:4DP1Q$4DP*0)Q%4DP0Q44DP1-910( $ Bunting i!on "iesenthal( %aaretz& 095005)010K httpKNNwww(haaretz(co!NweekendN!agazineNhunting5si!on5wiesenthal51(*1)91+

%&ternal links

The i!on "iesenthal Archi'e in Eienna G:er!anJ