Waldheim_D_EN.890

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You can fool all the people some of the time, 
and some of the people all of the time,

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but you cannot fool all of the people 
all of the time.

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Ruth Beckermann Film Production

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presents

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The Waldheim Waltz

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A Film by Ruth Beckermann

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ANTI-SEMITISM MUST NOT PAY OFF 
NO TO WALDHEIM!

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What I remember best 
are the scenes I shot myself.

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AUSTRIA CAN'T AFFORD WALDHEIM

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This was May 1986,

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the last campaign rally 
of the presidential elections ...

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on St. Stephen's Square.

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It was the first time I operated 
one of those early video cameras,

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black & white, 
with magnetic tape reels in a recorder ...

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I slung over my shoulder.

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The tapes got lost, but recently I stumbled 
upon a VHS copy of the footage.

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This is a democracy with freedom of opinion. 
-Take them down.

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Let's not get violent, please.

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And suddenly I was right in the middle ...

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when Austria's grand delusion of having been 
the first victim of the Nazis ...

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began to crumble.

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In the middle of it all - 
half as protester, half as documentarist.

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Yes, but forgetting 3 years is impossible.

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No, no one is saying he forgot. 
-Then what?

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He omits the years '41 to '45 
in every account of his life...

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How do you know that?

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There's written proof...

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Young man... 
-It's not true.

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I know him personally. 
What you say is wrong.

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Then my father is a war criminal too because 
he was drafted by the SS at 16.

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You're just repeating things you've heard.

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That's not the point. 
I lost 2 uncles in the war,

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but this asshole keeps yelling at me. 
-But what you say isn't true.

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Is this a democracy or not?

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In a democracy the police aren't allowed 
to do that. This reminds me of...

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WALDHEIM NO! WALDHEIM NO!

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WALDHEIM YES!

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And I very sincerely ask you all ...

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to give me a chance.

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Let me make this project come true.

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I only got a close shot 
of the candidate himself once.

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If we all stand united...

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The candidate's hands, his smile...

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If we all join forces, we will achieve this great 
goal of change in this country this Sunday.

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For the good of our country, 
for a happy future for Austria.

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Kurt Waldheim with his poker face...

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I remember his hands, his smile...

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...and the pearls of the future first lady.

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Gesticulating like a preacher, 
he invokes harmony...

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French television was fascinated 
by his hands, too.

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He seemed to embrace the Austrian people, 
to envelop them.

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Actually, 
he entered the presidential race as the victor.

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Not long before that, 
still the UN secretary general.

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The man the world trusts.

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We have to find our way back to the values ...

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that reflect our worldview, Christianity.

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Only then do we have the chance to escape 
these crises, scandals,

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and painful developments 
and to head toward a happy future.

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The candidate likes to speak of ...

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Christian values, family, and ethics.

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I recall the cross on the wall of my grade school.

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Every morning we stood up to pray.

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I stood up too. 
I stared at the cross,

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at the Man of Sorrows, at the half-naked man,

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the suffering man whom the Jews had killed,

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at least according to my classmates.

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The crucifix still hangs in every classroom ...

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and next to it, 
a photograph of the current president.

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I don't think anybody else but me 
shot videos back then.

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It was long before there were smartphones.

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Information came from the state-run radio 
and television stations.

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Maybe it is no coincidence that the old footage 
just happened to turn up now.

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What will be remembered?

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Perhaps the voice of the candidate 
on the Golden Record.

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It was launched into outer space 
with the Voyager space probe -

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with photographs and sounds from Earth 
as a place of freedom and progress.

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The Earth as the family of man.

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A humanistic hope that gave rise to ...

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a large-scale photo exhibition in 1955.

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Roland Barthes wrote about this exhibition:

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"The myth of the human condition ...

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is based on an ancient mystification, 
which has always consisted in ...

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placing Nature at the bottom of history."

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Is there such thing as a family of man?

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Family too, is natural, they say.

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And the candidate is a family man.

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But he is also a diplomat 
and NYC is the antithesis ...

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of the Austrian landscape,

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even if a few horses from the old country 
decorate the walls.

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Nine o'clock. On his way to the UN.

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The United Nations is not a world government,

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and the Secretary General 
is not the prime minister of a world government.

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We have no executive authority.

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We only have moral authority.

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A moral authority, a man the world trusts.

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On December 22, 1971,

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he reached the peak of his career ...

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having just turned 53.

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Did the world trust him?

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It elected him secretary general twice ...

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the man on the 38th floor ...

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of the "glass palace" on the East River.

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...not only in the field of space exploration.

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Another poorly understood aspect is the fact ...

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that I have no one above me.

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A prime minister 
has the president of the republic,

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the head of state, and above all the parliament 
giving him instructions.

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He must constantly make sure not to violate 
the rules of parliament.

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I have nobody. 
I am the highest authority.

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That was how the candidate described himself, 
as the highest authority;

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as the father of the family of man.

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Before that, Austria trusted him ...

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in its foreign ministry, as ambassador,

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as minister of foreign affairs,

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with the President in Yugoslavia.

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And it wasn't until 20 years later 
that doubts in his honesty were raised.

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They must have existed before that, right?

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It was in early September 1968.

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The first official visit of the Austrian ...

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Minister of Foreign Affairs in Yugoslavia.

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Mr. Waldheim arrives with President Jonas ...

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and meets with Marshal Tito ...

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for a tête-à-tête or a reception,

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at any rate it was their first encounter,

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and Dr. Waldheim says,

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"Oh, how pretty it is here. 
I didn't know you had such a lovely country."

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And Tito says, 
"Haven't you ever been to Yugoslavia?"

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And he says, "No, never."

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After 10 years in New York his next goal was ...

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to move into the splendid rooms 
of the Vienna Hofburg ...

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and on May 4, 1986, to win a clear victory 
in the first round of the elections ...

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and become President of Austria.

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What was it that helped this country rebuild ...

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our beautiful homeland Austria ...

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from the rubble of WWII?

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Ladies and gentlemen,

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it was the principles we upheld then,

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the morals, the ethics,

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the spirit of cooperation and charity, 
let us be frank.

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Despite all political 
and ideological differences ...

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- Dr. Mock stressed this point in particular -

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despite all differences,

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the Austrian people stood together, 
worked together,

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and in this way turned a crushed 
and feeble land ...

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into a thriving country 
with a happy population.

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On March 3, 1986, 
two months before the elections,

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Hubertus Czernin published the article 
"Waldheim and the SA" ...

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in the news magazine Profil.

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Today the news magazine Profil published 
Waldheim's military record card,

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revealing that he had been a member of the SA ...

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and the National Socialist German 
Students' League since 1938.

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MILITARY RECORD CARD

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The candidate's military record card ...

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had slumbered for decades 
in the state archives ...

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along with documents about his membership 
in the mounted corps of the SA ...

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and the Nazi students' league.

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Apparently nobody had taken any interest in it.

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Obviously a campaign is being waged here,

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a smear campaign.

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Let's be frank.

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On the one hand here in Austria 
old things have been dug up ...

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which 40 years ago were verified ...

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to be false 
by the Austrian State Police ...

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and on the other hand allegations 
are coming from abroad,

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an article in the NY Times, 
for example,

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40 years later, after I served 
as secretary general for 10 years ...

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and with plenty of time to have verified 
these claims and set things straight,

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but no, because I am running for president 
here in Austria now,

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suddenly these things are being dug up.

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His love for horses was something 
he never kept quiet about.

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Nor did he conceal the fact that before the war 
he learned to ride with a dragoon regiment.

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But the National Socialist mounted corps, 
which was part of the SA,

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was not mentioned 
in any of his autobiographies.

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And so Social Democratic 
Austrian Chancellor Sinowatz ...

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went down in history 
with one well-timed quip.

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Believe me, the Austrian Social Democratic Party 
does not care ...

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whether Waldheim belonged to the SA or not.

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We acknowledge that he himself 
was never a member of SA ...

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and that only his horse was.

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Do you stick to your claim 
that you were not a member of the SA?

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Gentlemen,

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what we have here is an extensive 
smear campaign against me ...

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unprecedented in the history of Austria 
since WWII.

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There is nothing to hide, 
we must bring the facts to light,

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and I have been trying to do so 
for a long time.

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I am repeatedly accused of 
not telling the whole truth,

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but I am saying everything there is to say.

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And if we take Mr. Zettel, for example, 
those are exactly his tactics,

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constantly urging me: 
"Go on, say you were a member of the SA.

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Just say it, it's no big deal, 
thousands of Austrians were members too."

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But I wasn't. 
And I won't let such suggestions ...

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induce me to say 
that I was when I really wasn't.

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I wasn't a member.

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My relatives signed me up, maybe, or friends.

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That has been known to happen.

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I did say: 
You people deal with the paperwork,

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I won't be here, I have to report to duty, 
please take care of it for me.

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That's all I can think of 
to explain these records.

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I went to war, but I did my duty 
like thousands of other Austrians ...

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who served as soldiers in the war.

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In 1940 I was drafted by the German army 
as a soldier ...

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like thousands of other Austrians 
who did their duty ...

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I want to state that clearly.

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I knew nothing, 
whether people believe me or not.

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I had no reason previously to say I was aware 
of any deportations,

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I didn't see them.

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And the same goes for the persecution 
of the partisans.

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That, too, has long been proved to be false.

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So now let's have a look 
at the three accusations -

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Nazi past, involvement in atrocities 
against partisans in Yugoslavia,

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and involvement in the deportation of Jews.

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All three of these accusations 
have been proven false,

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and you tell me I have contributed 
to creating a lack of clarity.

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I really cannot accept that, gentlemen. 
You are to blame for this situation...

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How had Waldheim previously described 
his wartime activity?

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For example in 1974 in New York.

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Nobody had been interested in his past.

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Wounded and discharged from the army.

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That's what his official biography said 
for 40 years.

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As UN secretary general 
he just did his duty as well,

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traveled around the world,

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went to Auschwitz.

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And during the Mourners' Prayer in Jerusalem 
when he refused to cover his head ...

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as the Jewish ritual calls for,

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the Israelis and the Jews, 
found this improper,

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but that was all.

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24 March 1986

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And suddenly a photo appeared 
that no one had seen before:

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Waldheim with the Italian general 
Ercole Roncaglia,

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Colonel Hans Herbert Macholz,

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and SS Group Leader Artur Phleps ...

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on the Podgorica airfield 
on May 22, 1943.

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We have tried to reach our correspondent 
Edgar Sterbenz in New York.

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I hope we have him on the line now. 
Mr. Sterbenz?

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Yes, good evening.

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Mr. Sterbenz, can you elaborate 
on these allegations?

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At its eagerly awaited press conference ...

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the World Jewish Congress 
presented new documents ...

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about Kurt Waldheim's activities during WWII.

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I wasn't on the Front! 
I was always only a staff officer.

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Specifically, the Americans,

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the World Jewish Congress claims...

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Please, the World Jewish Congress 
is not the Americans.

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They are our friends.

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It claims there was this Kozara massacre ...

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in which 2,000 partisans were killed.

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And 3,000 German soldiers. 
-Yes.

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And they claim 
- I am just reporting these allegations -

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that your name has been engraved into an honorary 
plaque with 30 other officers, German officers.

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According to the claims, it follows ...

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that you must have played a very important role 
in this massacre.

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That's nonsense. That wasn't a massacre.

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It was a fierce... 
-It was a brutal war.

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A brutal war, and I have said this before, 
I regret it deeply,

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it was a very serious conflict.

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How is it that your signature repeatedly appears 
on lists that say, for example,

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today or this week 
so and so many partisans were killed?

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Yes, of course. 
-They were approved by you.

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Of course, I don't deny it. 
That was a perfectly normal task ...

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for a young staff officer like myself,

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whose responsibility as lieutenant 
and later as first lieutenant ...

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and aide-de-camp was to record 
the internal army activities ...

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as they were reported to us 
from the divisions.

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That was a perfectly normal task 
and has nothing to do with atrocities ...

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or a criminalization of my activity.

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It was a perfectly correct, honest activity.

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Why had people suddenly 
become interested in him?

00:28:42:09-00:28:44:08
What had changed?

00:28:45:05-00:28:51:01
A year earlier - in 1985 - 
the past had resurfaced twice:

00:28:51:18-00:28:55:02
President Reagan let the German chancellor ...

00:28:55:06-00:29:00:01
take him to visit not only the graves of soldiers 
at the Bitburg cemetery ...

00:29:00:05-00:29:02:24
but also of SS officers,

00:29:03:03-00:29:06:14
intended as a gesture of reconciliation.

00:29:22:18-00:29:25:23
The same year the war criminal Walter Reder ...

00:29:26:02-00:29:29:20
was released after 33 years 
in an Italian prison ...

00:29:29:24-00:29:32:02
and brought home.

00:29:32:20-00:29:37:02
The Austrian Defense Minister 
greeted him personally and shook his hand.

00:29:39:04-00:29:43:16
Walter Reder had been the commander 
of the Marzabotto massacre,

00:29:43:20-00:29:49:09
in which in retaliation for partisan attacks 
some 2,000 civilians were murdered.

00:29:50:19-00:29:55:19
In Italy his name is synonymous 
with the term "war criminal".

00:29:56:04-00:30:00:09
All Austrian heads of state, 
whether left-wing or right-wing,

00:30:00:13-00:30:04:22
had pressed for his repatriation. 
Why, though?

00:30:13:17-00:30:18:09
At the same time the World Jewish Congress 
convened for the first time in Vienna.

00:30:18:24-00:30:21:16
This, too, 
intended as a gesture of reconciliation.

00:30:26:12-00:30:30:15
And thus President Bronfman and Israel Singer ...

00:30:30:23-00:30:35:19
got a taste of Austrian elasticity,

00:30:36:20-00:30:39:16
in other words they witnessed first-hand 
who Austria ...

00:30:39:20-00:30:42:09
was willing to put an effort 
into bringing back home.

00:30:48:18-00:30:51:10
The end of the Cold War 
may have played a role ...

00:30:51:14-00:30:55:19
in the world suddenly becoming interested 
in Waldheim's wartime past,

00:30:56:00-00:31:01:01
but ultimately it was a movie 
that changed everyone's awareness,

00:31:01:18-00:31:04:24
that helped people imagine 
the extent of the Shoah,

00:31:05:04-00:31:10:02
and got rid of the myth of innocent Nature 
once and for all.

00:31:11:07-00:31:16:09
And now death is forever inscribed 
in the beauty of the Polish forests,

00:31:17:20-00:31:20:02
in the beauty of Austrian nature.

00:31:28:22-00:31:33:03
25 March 1986

00:31:33:07-00:31:36:06
I find it outrageous that a representative ...

00:31:36:10-00:31:38:09
of the World Jewish Congress ...

00:31:38:13-00:31:40:00
according to Profil states:

00:31:40:04-00:31:43:10
"The Austrian people should be aware,"

00:31:43:14-00:31:47:02
and I quote, "that if Waldheim is elected,

00:31:47:06-00:31:51:07
the next years will be no honeymoon 
for the Austrians."

00:31:51:11-00:31:56:24
Ladies and gentlemen, I as an Austrian, 
will not stand by and take that.

00:31:57:03-00:32:01:13
Not from a Christian and not from a Jew 
and not from a Hindi and not from a Muslim.

00:32:01:17-00:32:04:15
I want to make that perfectly clear.

00:32:04:24-00:32:08:02
And I also call on the reasonable forces ...

00:32:08:06-00:32:10:08
within the World Jewish Congress ...

00:32:10:12-00:32:11:24
to think about this,

00:32:12:05-00:32:14:10
to stop this campaign,

00:32:14:17-00:32:19:24
and to not stir up feelings that none of us want.

00:33:05:03-00:33:08:13
EXACTLY THE PRESIDENT WE NEED NOW 
DR. KURT WALDHEIM

00:33:08:17-00:33:11:10
ON MAY 4 FOR WALDHEIM

00:33:11:22-00:33:15:18
WE AUSTRIANS WILL ELECT WHOM WE WANT!

00:33:16:16-00:33:19:16
NOW MORE THAN EVER 
WALDHEIM

00:33:38:09-00:33:40:04
Why are you going after him now?

00:34:37:04-00:34:39:02
Herbert Warnstorff, 
at the time a lieutenant-colonel ...

00:34:39:06-00:34:44:10
and in his own estimation not a Nazi 
was Waldheim's direct superior in Salonika.

00:34:44:14-00:34:48:15
He describes the work of first lieutenant 
and aide-de-camp Kurt Waldheim,

00:34:49:12-00:34:55:10
whose task at the time was to collect diverse 
information from all conceivable sources ...

00:34:55:17-00:34:59:03
about those people who at the time 
were referred to simply as "the enemy".

00:34:59:23-00:35:03:16
This mosaic of little pieces ...

00:35:03:20-00:35:08:10
was the basis for Dr. Waldheim's work.

00:35:08:15-00:35:14:10
He put the pieces together 
and wrote up a status report twice a day.

00:35:15:07-00:35:20:02
Sitting next to Warnstorff is Wolfgang Sattmann, 
who roomed next door to Waldheim.

00:35:20:08-00:35:24:19
During his testimony a long foreshadowed 
demonstration takes place.

00:35:24:23-00:35:28:15
7 protestors hold up posters 
behind the 9 witnesses,

00:35:28:21-00:35:33:06
posters intended 
to call Waldheim's credibility into question.

00:35:33:15-00:35:35:14
WE WANT HITLER 
AS A WITNESS FOR THE DEFENSE

00:35:36:15-00:35:38:19
I am one of the seven.

00:35:39:02-00:35:42:07
I wanted to participate 
and didn't film the demonstration.

00:35:43:13-00:35:47:06
Either you document or you protest,

00:35:47:10-00:35:49:19
you have to choose.

00:35:50:18-00:35:54:04
As a director I am happy about 
the successfully rendered idea ...

00:35:54:08-00:35:57:23
to hold the posters up 
for the cameras of the world press ...

00:35:58:11-00:36:01:07
and for the first time to also introduce ...

00:36:01:11-00:36:04:01
a voice of protest into Austrian television.

00:36:04:05-00:36:08:22
...to clearly state 
that we had no knowledge of deportations.

00:36:09:06-00:36:10:09
The hectic atmosphere remains ...

00:36:10:13-00:36:14:05
when federal police officers 
demand the protesters show their ID.

00:36:14:09-00:36:15:04
The Waldheim critics,

00:36:15:08-00:36:18:22
among them Dr. Peter Kreisky, 
the son of the previous Austrian Chancellor,

00:36:19:01-00:36:21:05
use the presence of the international media ...

00:36:21:09-00:36:25:15
to publicize that Waldheim should withdraw.

00:36:28:16-00:36:31:14
In the afternoon, a strategy meeting.

00:36:31:20-00:36:33:20
In April we were still a small group;

00:36:34:24-00:36:38:16
dissident Socialists, Trotskyists,

00:36:39:00-00:36:41:17
Jews, outraged people.

00:36:42:09-00:36:44:04
We gathered in Café Landtmann.

00:36:44:10-00:36:48:06
That means the goal can probably only be 
"Waldheim is lying",

00:36:48:24-00:36:52:02
he lied about these and these things 
or didn't tell the whole truth.

00:36:52:06-00:36:55:04
We don't know what else happened in his life ...

00:36:55:08-00:36:57:11
because he won't tell the truth 
about that either.

00:36:57:15-00:37:01:07
A man like that as the chief of state in Austria 
is not tolerable.

00:37:01:11-00:37:05:15
Because what do we do in a year 
if he gets elected?

00:37:05:19-00:37:09:21
What if more documents turn up 
and he has to resign?

00:37:10:02-00:37:13:12
And let me stress that Nixon resigned 
not because of what he did at Watergate,

00:37:13:16-00:37:15:15
but because he lied.

00:37:15:19-00:37:20:16
Do you want to outline 
the course of events so far?

00:37:20:22-00:37:27:03
It all started when we got together 
about three weeks ago:

00:37:27:07-00:37:29:20
Knöbl, myself,

00:37:30:11-00:37:35:02
Lansky, and Daniel Charim ...

00:37:35:08-00:37:38:17
was also a part 
pretty much from the beginning ...

00:37:39:02-00:37:41:21
along with his wife, a historian.

00:37:42:18-00:37:47:05
And we simply said based on the information 
we had 3 weeks ago ...

00:37:47:10-00:37:50:06
that something had to be done. 
We were still in the dark,

00:37:50:10-00:37:55:17
but we weren't blind and the first color 
we could make out was brown.

00:38:00:14-00:38:04:08
This is very probably a key thing.

00:38:04:12-00:38:07:18
But beside and beyond that, 
there are at least two aspects:

00:38:07:22-00:38:11:13
Waldheim's own statements ...

00:38:11:17-00:38:13:19
and the public reaction to them.

00:38:13:23-00:38:17:10
As to Waldheim's statements thus far, 
there are several things that ...

00:38:17:14-00:38:21:10
besides the facts themselves 
are scandalous,

00:38:21:14-00:38:23:24
the meaning of duty,

00:38:26:06-00:38:30:13
depicting anti-partisan warfare 
as normal warfare,

00:38:30:18-00:38:34:23
not even questioning the presence 
of the German army there.

00:38:36:01-00:38:39:02
The most grotesque thing that comes to mind ...

00:38:39:06-00:38:44:13
is his claim that he didn't hear about 
the deportation of Jews from Salonika until 1986.

00:38:44:17-00:38:49:18
This isn't the same level 
we were talking about before.

00:38:49:22-00:38:51:01
That's very important.

00:38:51:05-00:38:53:24
And the third point, 
which to me seems most important of all,

00:38:54:03-00:38:59:04
are the scandalous things currently coming from 
the leaders of the Austrian People's Party,

00:39:00:09-00:39:03:14
the blatant mobilization of anti-Semitism.

00:39:03:18-00:39:06:11
Under the alleged pretense 
of fighting against it.

00:39:06:15-00:39:08:18
Yes, with the most absurd...

00:39:09:05-00:39:15:18
But how can we respond any differently than 
to attack Waldheim from our side.

00:39:15:22-00:39:18:13
Using exactly what we have planned, right?

00:39:18:17-00:39:21:02
By showing that he is lying ...

00:39:21:06-00:39:26:20
and by showing that he is giving an apology 
for the Third Reich.

00:39:26:24-00:39:29:22
It's pretty much the only way to do it.

00:39:30:01-00:39:32:22
And the posters, 
what should we write on the posters?

00:39:33:02-00:39:37:09
You can't write 
"against the anti-Semitic wave."

00:40:06:10-00:40:10:02    (VPosition = 15)
On the staff of General Löhr's unit.

00:40:10:17-00:40:17:07    (VPosition = 15)
Alexander Löhr, hanged in 1947 
as a war criminal after a trial in Belgrade.

00:40:18:11-00:40:23:03
But that didn't detract from Löhr's reputation 
in his native Austria.

00:40:23:19-00:40:26:03
A few years after his death sentence ...

00:40:26:07-00:40:30:05
a commemorative plaque was unveiled 
in the church "Zum heiligen Kreuz" in Vienna.

00:40:30:21-00:40:35:05
Because of the Waldheim Affair 
it was removed in 1986,

00:40:35:09-00:40:38:18
but soon afterwards, 
when everything had blown over,

00:40:38:22-00:40:40:04
the plaque was put back up!

00:40:41:00-00:40:45:01
Not until a Green member of parliament 
protested loudly ...

00:40:45:06-00:40:49:11
was the plaque 
finally removed for good in 2015.

00:40:50:17-00:40:53:11
I wonder where it is now?

00:40:59:02-00:41:03:23
The opportunist often instinctively does 
what's right for himself:

00:41:04:23-00:41:07:17
Did Waldheim keep quiet 
about part of his biography ...

00:41:07:21-00:41:11:14
so he wouldn't be associated 
with a war criminal?

00:41:12:06-00:41:15:24
Sometimes I think 
that his association with Löhr ...

00:41:16:03-00:41:19:06
was the real reason 
that triggered Waldheim's denial.

00:41:20:12-00:41:25:00
In 1947, when he started his career 
in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

00:41:25:04-00:41:28:18
everyone was talking about 
the trial against Löhr.

00:41:29:14-00:41:34:16
There has been doubt about the truthfulness 
of Waldheim's autobiography ever since.

00:44:36:09-00:44:40:07
One month before the elections

00:46:03:11-00:46:08:07
We won't let anyone bring hate and discord 
into our country,

00:46:08:12-00:46:10:24
even if that is exactly 
what a handful of representatives ...

00:46:11:03-00:46:13:24
of the World Jewish Congress 
in New York are doing,

00:46:14:03-00:46:16:05
incited from inside Austria.

00:46:16:09-00:46:20:14
We won't be talked into a collective guilt 
of all Austrians ...

00:46:20:18-00:46:24:04
of whatever political or religious conviction.

00:46:24:08-00:46:27:12
There is no historical instance 
of collective guilt.

00:46:30:07-00:46:32:21
What does one see, what does one not see?

00:46:33:02-00:46:35:15
What did one know, what did one not know?

00:46:36:02-00:46:39:11
At some point it was almost impossible 
not to know.

00:47:16:07-00:47:19:24
On the Internet I find these photos from Salonika.

00:47:20:03-00:47:23:03
The entire series was taken 
by the same man,

00:47:23:07-00:47:27:12
who stood there in the sun taking pictures.

00:47:32:01-00:47:34:15
He took these pictures too.

00:47:40:13-00:47:42:06
Walter Dick.

00:47:43:03-00:47:47:04
Walter Dick, one of the great post-war 
German photographers,

00:47:47:08-00:47:50:23
famous for his images of war-ravaged Cologne.

00:47:51:02-00:47:54:06
His photos in magazines 
such as Spiegel and Stern ...

00:47:54:10-00:47:56:21
won countless awards.

00:47:58:08-00:48:01:01
Nobody had been interested in his past,

00:48:01:06-00:48:04:03
nobody had made a connection 
between the war reporter in the Balkans ...

00:48:04:07-00:48:08:03
and the photographer of post-war reconstruction 
in Germany.

00:48:35:23-00:48:39:16
The British and French 
sent reporters to Salonika,

00:48:40:05-00:48:44:03
in the Austrian television archive 
there is no indication ...

00:48:44:07-00:48:47:15
that anyone did any research there 
for the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation.

00:49:16:03-00:49:19:03
I was first violin 
in the Auschwitz orchestra.

00:49:22:04-00:49:25:19
Here on May 3, 1943,

00:49:26:00-00:49:28:02
I was herded into ...

00:49:28:06-00:49:31:01
Auschwitz-bound railway cars ...

00:49:31:06-00:49:34:22
along with 43,000 of my people from Salonika.

00:49:35:09-00:49:38:11
Mr. Waldheim must have known 
about these deportations ...

00:49:38:15-00:49:41:17
because they took place in clear view ...

00:49:41:21-00:49:45:04
over the course of several days.

00:49:45:08-00:49:48:01
Preparation for deportation was elaborate.

00:49:48:05-00:49:51:16
The ghetto was across from the train station.

00:49:51:20-00:49:54:16
And the hundreds and thousands of Jews ...

00:49:54:20-00:49:58:21
who were marched in droves from their homes ...

00:49:59:00-00:50:02:20
to the ghetto, could not be overlooked -

00:50:02:24-00:50:08:24
not by the Greek people 
nor by the German authorities.

00:50:51:04-00:50:55:07
Based on the false claims of a very small ...

00:50:55:11-00:50:59:07
but very influential group, 
influential to the media,

00:51:00:14-00:51:02:15
am I to withdraw my candidacy?

00:51:02:19-00:51:05:05
Now more than ever for a candidate ...

00:51:05:09-00:51:10:02
who has been slandered 
and smeared like no other ...

00:51:10:11-00:51:14:11
and to the extent that the political culture 
in this country has been gravely damaged.

00:51:16:02-00:51:19:11
I've been looking forward to this day

00:51:19:15-00:51:22:08
Because I have a special task

00:51:22:12-00:51:26:08
To welcome Dr. Waldheim and his sweet wife

00:51:26:12-00:51:29:24
To the district of Pongau.

00:51:30:09-00:51:32:02
In Bergheim near Salzburg ...

00:51:32:06-00:51:38:22
Christa comes to her father's aid 
and campaigns for Kurt Waldheim.

00:51:39:01-00:51:43:05
Austrians are moved by the image of Christa 
together with her mother Elisabeth.

00:51:43:09-00:51:46:05
Despite the reservations of the rest of the world,

00:51:46:09-00:51:52:05
the former UN secretary general 
still may win the elections on May 4.

00:51:53:04-00:51:54:23
Mrs. Waldheim, you've decorated the house?

00:51:55:02-00:51:57:20
Yes, I did everything myself. 
It was a gift from Arthur Houghton,

00:51:57:24-00:52:00:12
the owner of Corning Glass or Steuben Glass,

00:52:00:16-00:52:02:17
to the United Nations, but it was unfurnished.

00:52:02:21-00:52:06:03
When we host big dinners, 
we entertain our guests here.

00:52:06:07-00:52:09:04
We can seat 18 to 20 people ...

00:52:09:08-00:52:14:20
and in this room 
we can have them in for cocktails.

00:52:15:01-00:52:17:02
Where is your dining room?

00:52:17:06-00:52:18:15
It's downstairs on the first floor.

00:52:18:19-00:52:20:15
That's the way all these American houses 
are set up.

00:52:20:19-00:52:23:14
The dining room is always on the first floor 
and the parlors are on the second floor.

00:52:23:18-00:52:25:17
The private rooms are on the third floor.

00:52:26:09-00:52:28:01
What a beautiful painting.

00:52:28:05-00:52:29:15
It's a Corot.

00:52:30:12-00:52:33:15
I find it especially lovely for its spatial depth. 
-Yes.

00:52:33:19-00:52:36:08
This is my husband's favorite painting. 
-Aha.

00:52:38:15-00:52:42:11
Has your husband done much to hold 
the family together or is that mostly you?

00:52:42:15-00:52:45:19
He claims it is me, 
but the children love their father very much.

00:52:45:23-00:52:49:06
He is a very good father. 
Very understanding, very generous ...

00:52:49:10-00:52:53:18
which is nice and probably why 
the children still like to come visit.

00:53:01:12-00:53:04:15
The son Gerhard is a banker in the USA;

00:53:05:04-00:53:09:14
he takes time off from his job 
to join former Foreign Minister Gruber ...

00:53:09:18-00:53:13:15
in defending his father before the US Congress.

01:02:05:17-01:02:09:12
Two weeks before the elections

01:02:09:16-01:02:15:13
The dishonorable members of the 
World Jewish Congress are doing ...

01:02:15:17-01:02:20:23
everything to link Waldheim to war crimes.

01:02:21:16-01:02:26:12
It is outrageous 
that the World Jewish Congress ...

01:02:26:17-01:02:30:21
called in Austrian President Kirchschläger ...

01:02:31:00-01:02:37:22
as a mediator but has ignored his pleas,

01:02:38:09-01:02:40:23
refusing to be pacified.

01:02:41:02-01:02:44:17
Instead they continue to launch their ignoble, 
unfounded,

01:02:44:21-01:02:47:15
hate-filled attacks ...

01:02:47:19-01:02:54:10
and have now gotten 
the US Administration involved too.

01:02:54:15-01:02:58:19
Are there any indications that this is about 
old unsettled business?

01:03:00:07-01:03:06:06
If it is about old business, 
then primarily in connection with the UN.

01:03:06:10-01:03:11:15
Unfortunately the circles going after my father 
are the same ones unable to accept ...

01:03:11:19-01:03:15:11
that all 160 sovereign states vote in the UN,

01:03:15:15-01:03:20:21
and since they refused to accept resolutions 
passed in the mid-70s ...

01:03:21:09-01:03:24:11
- which were in part directed against 
Israel and its policies -

01:03:24:15-01:03:29:04
they are now looking for a scapegoat ...

01:03:29:08-01:03:32:03
and that is the most prominent figure, 
in this case my father.

01:03:33:19-01:03:36:22
The UN Middle East policies 
during Waldheim's term of office ...

01:03:37:01-01:03:40:12
were marked 
by the PLO's efforts to be recognized.

01:03:41:05-01:03:44:21
Especially active in this cause was 
Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky,

01:03:45:00-01:03:49:02
who incidentally had proposed Waldheim 
as secretary general.

01:03:49:21-01:03:52:15
In 1974 Yasser Arafat addressed the UN ...

01:03:52:19-01:03:58:00
with his legendary "gun and olive branch" speech.

01:03:58:21-01:04:03:22
One year later the UN general assembly 
adopted a resolution ...

01:04:04:01-01:04:08:03
that called Zionism a form of racism.

01:05:04:17-01:05:07:01
He is a great patriot ...

01:05:07:05-01:05:09:24
and a man whose generation has lived ...

01:05:10:10-01:05:12:10
and suffered through the highs and lows ...

01:05:12:14-01:05:14:24
of this century and our shared ...

01:05:15:03-01:05:19:18
German and Austrian history.

01:05:20:11-01:05:23:18
And in some of the outspoken people today ...

01:05:24:06-01:05:28:17
I sense the arrogant tone of the latecomer ...

01:05:28:23-01:05:31:00
and this is hard for me to stomach.

01:05:32:00-01:05:36:06
For me the election on May 4 
has a historic dimension.

01:05:37:01-01:05:40:18
Whether or not a few representatives 
of the World Jewish Congress will succeed ...

01:05:40:22-01:05:43:04
in pressuring the Austrian people ...

01:05:43:08-01:05:47:03
or whether the Austrians will self-confidently 
and patriotically determine ...

01:05:47:07-01:05:53:22
that it is up to them alone to decide 
who will be the Austrian president.

01:05:55:04-01:05:59:07
In Austrian television, too, the Waldheim affair 
is slowly becoming an Austrian affair.

01:05:59:11-01:06:02:21
...since the signing of the State Treaty, 
we have half fooled the world ...

01:06:03:00-01:06:06:16
about our role in WWII and the Third Reich,

01:06:06:20-01:06:10:23
gladly played the poor, kind, innocent victims,

01:06:11:09-01:06:15:05
but now we are getting paid back 
for all that because the world is surprised ...

01:06:15:09-01:06:17:12
to learn that we, too, had first lieutenants ...

01:06:17:16-01:06:19:04
with swastikas on their shirts...

01:06:19:08-01:06:21:13
Serious mistakes have been made.

01:06:21:17-01:06:25:16
The Allies gave us a way out by saying:

01:06:25:20-01:06:29:02
You were the victims of Nazi aggression,

01:06:29:06-01:06:30:16
Hitler's first victim.

01:06:30:20-01:06:36:10
The post-war generation, the first generation 
of politicians, could accept this ...

01:06:36:14-01:06:38:23
because they had been in 
concentration camps and prisons.

01:06:39:02-01:06:41:12
They said: That's right, they invaded us by force,

01:06:41:16-01:06:44:03
threw the Austrian government out of office,

01:06:44:07-01:06:47:24
clamped down with violence, 
and so we accept the victim role.

01:06:48:03-01:06:52:12
And there was the ulterior interest ...

01:06:52:16-01:06:56:07
of being allowed to sign the State Treaty sooner, 
and the withdrawal of Allied troops.

01:06:57:14-01:07:00:18
But when they said 
you stood cheering at Heldenplatz...

01:07:00:22-01:07:03:10
We had a National Socialist Act in Austria,

01:07:03:14-01:07:10:03
a harsh one with 13,000 trials 
before the People's Court ...

01:07:10:07-01:07:12:22
and 40 death sentences, there were laws.

01:07:13:01-01:07:15:14
But from 1948/'49 on,

01:07:15:18-01:07:19:24
when world politics changed 
and Communism became a big threat,

01:07:20:03-01:07:25:06
it was mainly the Allies who said: 
anything anti-Communist is good,

01:07:25:10-01:07:27:15
we have to integrate them.

01:07:27:19-01:07:31:04
I'm not trying to shift the blame 
to the Allies.

01:07:32:08-01:07:35:18
What are you supposed to do with 
550,000 registered Nazis?

01:07:35:22-01:07:38:06
Stigmatize them as pariahs forever?

01:07:38:10-01:07:43:06
So they were integrated and allowed to vote,

01:07:43:10-01:07:49:04
and as a result the parties had to vie 
for these Nazi votes.

01:07:49:08-01:07:53:08
But not for the first 4 years after the war, 
only after that.

01:07:53:12-01:07:56:17
This was a big difference 
between Austria and Germany.

01:07:56:21-01:08:01:03
The Germans admitted it. 
Yes, we did it, we can't deny it.

01:08:01:07-01:08:06:00
We are deeply sorry. 
We are ready to pay reparations,

01:08:06:04-01:08:10:12
and do everything we can, to this day, 
we'll do whatever you say, etc.

01:08:10:16-01:08:15:04
We can't bring back the dead, 
but for example we can help the survivors.

01:08:15:08-01:08:19:02
And Austria had the complete opposite view. 
We said we were the victims, we were innocent.

01:08:19:06-01:08:25:09
As state we weren't required to pay reparations. 
If anything, just restitution.

01:08:25:16-01:08:29:12
Our reputation suffered immensely 
due to this stance ...

01:08:29:15-01:08:33:07
because we didn't offer a political solution 
and because we kept acting ...

01:08:33:11-01:08:36:11
like we were innocent as a whole, 
and as a state we really were.

01:08:36:15-01:08:38:21
We could have said as a state we were,

01:08:39:00-01:08:42:02
but as individuals 
we acted the way the Germans did,

01:08:42:06-01:08:47:17
that we were part of the Third Reich, 
and had to take responsibility for certain things.

01:08:47:21-01:08:54:05
And this discrepancy 
that the Germans immediately said,

01:08:54:09-01:08:57:09
"We did it, we'll do everything we can," 
as opposed to us:

01:08:57:13-01:09:00:07
"It wasn't us," 
that has come back to bite us.

01:09:08:04-01:09:11:00
Now it wasn't just about the candidate anymore,

01:09:11:07-01:09:13:24
the general sentiment had taken on 
a life of its own.

01:09:14:03-01:09:16:22
You don't know anything.

01:09:17:12-01:09:23:15
But why did Hitler come in the first place, why? 
-Yes, just so you know.

01:09:23:19-01:09:27:16
Why didn't the Rothschilds and whoever else ...

01:09:27:20-01:09:31:11
distribute the money amongst the people 
so they could earn something, the jobless people.

01:09:31:15-01:09:33:10
Why didn't that happen?

01:09:33:17-01:09:36:18
And Hitler brought work or what? 
-It belongs to you now too.

01:09:36:22-01:09:38:05
Sure... 
-The arms industry!

01:09:38:09-01:09:40:24
The people would have gone along 
with the devil back then.

01:09:41:03-01:09:44:17
You weren't here when the unemployment... 
-Now it's the same thing all over again.

01:09:44:21-01:09:48:17
No, he's not the devil. He's Catholic.

01:09:52:00-01:09:55:03
The Jews are just lying.

01:09:59:02-01:10:01:19
I told you my opinion 
and I don't think it's right.

01:10:01:23-01:10:04:22
Who rules the world, who?

01:10:05:01-01:10:08:21
The German or the Jew? Who rules the world? 
Who, you smartass?

01:10:10:06-01:10:13:01
Maybe the Jews? 
-Damn straight, still, still.

01:10:16:10-01:10:20:08
They should learn something. 
-The man is right.

01:10:20:12-01:10:23:05
If they protest like this, they're the first.

01:10:23:09-01:10:28:20
They want to represent the Jews, the idiots. 
In America 1 out of 8 is illiterate, idiots.

01:10:28:24-01:10:32:02
They need Jewish brainpower. 
I don't need Jewish brainpower.

01:10:32:06-01:10:33:21
We have enough smart people.

01:10:34:00-01:10:36:22
You Americans, you idiots, 
you deserve each other.

01:10:39:09-01:10:43:24
Here in Europe we're smart enough. 
We don't need those morons. Get out of here!

01:10:45:24-01:10:49:21
If they weren't so shameless, 
it never would have come to this.

01:10:50:10-01:10:55:14
They weren't anywhere near as shameless 
or stupid as you.

01:10:55:18-01:10:59:08
Are you a Jew boy, are you a Jew boy? 
Shut up.

01:11:02:11-01:11:04:09
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:11:04:13-01:11:06:15
You belong in the ground.

01:11:08:09-01:11:12:18
Yeah, see it? 
The bomb is coming, you Jewish swine.

01:11:16:00-01:11:18:23
Why do you call this gentleman 
a Jewish swine?

01:11:19:02-01:11:21:00
You've got a lot of nerve. 
-What gives you the right to say that?

01:11:21:04-01:11:23:24
You should be ashamed of yourself. 
-Shut up.

01:11:24:11-01:11:27:18
Did you say Jewish swine? 
You know you can be reported for that!

01:11:27:22-01:11:30:12
Then do it. Do it.

01:11:30:18-01:11:33:16
What makes you so cocksure 
that you can laugh ...

01:11:33:20-01:11:38:02
and say these things in broad daylight 
and on St. Stephen's Square?

01:11:38:06-01:11:41:18
Do you think the general sentiment is behind you, 
that it gives you permission?

01:11:41:22-01:11:43:24
So what, so what? 
-Do you think...

01:11:44:06-01:11:47:01
You're so sure that... 
-This is my native country.

01:11:47:05-01:11:51:04
Ours too, buddy. 
-More so even.

01:11:52:18-01:11:57:09
1 May 1986

01:11:58:00-01:12:01:08
Most intellectuals 
denounce Waldheim's stance.

01:12:01:12-01:12:04:07
An appeal to him to step down ...

01:12:04:11-01:12:06:18
was signed by 600 public figures.

01:12:06:22-01:12:11:20
The scandalous part is not so much his past.

01:12:11:24-01:12:13:16
We still don't know what he did,

01:12:13:20-01:12:15:21
but it's not so much about his past ...

01:12:16:00-01:12:19:02
as about the way he defends himself,

01:12:19:06-01:12:23:24
that he claims to have not known anything, 
not done anything.

01:12:24:03-01:12:25:13
He says he knows nothing.

01:12:25:17-01:12:29:04
That was really shocking for many people ...

01:12:29:10-01:12:33:22
who saw it as a general symptom of their culture,

01:12:34:01-01:12:35:24
of Austrian politics,

01:12:36:03-01:12:42:09
which has a very unhealthy relationship 
with its past.

01:12:47:20-01:12:54:01
Does the past determine the present 
or does the present choose a useful past?

01:12:55:13-01:12:59:13
Suddenly Austria discovered Freud, 
Schnitzler, Schönberg ...

01:12:59:21-01:13:02:04
as tourist attractions.

01:13:02:18-01:13:06:18
Vienna's mayor hands out medals to emigrants.

01:13:07:05-01:13:10:08
But the return of 
Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Adele ...

01:13:10:20-01:13:13:02
would take another 12 years.

01:13:13:14-01:13:17:24
Our paths in life were interrupted 
and abruptly severed.

01:13:18:03-01:13:22:19
Those who escaped had to be lucky enough 
to find a country that would take them in.

01:13:23:08-01:13:26:08
Not many managed to escape.

01:13:26:16-01:13:32:07
But those who made it to America 
found a true new home.

01:13:33:08-01:13:39:05
We are integrated and have become a part 
of American society.

01:13:39:20-01:13:43:19
Despite that, 
it was always a bitter disappointment to me ...

01:13:44:03-01:13:48:14
that after the war, after 1945,

01:13:48:18-01:13:52:06
there was no official voice from Vienna ...

01:13:52:10-01:13:55:14
inviting us back.

01:13:55:24-01:13:58:15
Nobody called to us,

01:13:59:02-01:14:01:18
nobody asked us to forget,

01:14:01:22-01:14:06:18
nobody invited us to come back, nobody.

01:14:07:18-01:14:11:19
4 May 1986

01:14:12:16-01:14:18:04
With 49.64% Kurt Waldheim falls short of 
the necessary majority in the first round.

01:14:19:04-01:14:22:24
The runoff will take place on June 8.

01:14:41:19-01:14:44:07
The candidate doesn't give up.

01:14:45:03-01:14:47:17
Unperturbed by documents and evidence,

01:14:47:21-01:14:53:02
he tours the country, 
cheered on by 126 brass and reed bands.

01:15:35:00-01:15:37:19
Fathers and sons, here and there.

01:15:38:00-01:15:40:13
Sons of fathers who fled,

01:15:40:17-01:15:43:15
sons who are ashamed 
of the stance taken by their fathers,

01:15:43:19-01:15:45:20
sons who defend their fathers,

01:15:45:24-01:15:47:22
sons who criticize them.

01:16:21:07-01:16:23:18
While Waldheim's campaign helpers explain ...

01:16:23:22-01:16:27:11
that everything will go back to normal 
after he wins the elections,

01:16:27:15-01:16:30:15
the US congress is already deliberating 
whether or not ...

01:16:31:00-01:16:34:04
he should be put on the watch list.

01:19:07:13-01:19:11:20
I DON'T WANT A MEMORY LAPSE 
AS PRESIDENT!

01:19:16:15-01:19:21:02
You can never give an explanation 
that everyone approves of,

01:19:21:06-01:19:24:13
but I want to express ...

01:19:24:22-01:19:29:04
how moved I am by this,

01:19:30:03-01:19:33:23
by this historic tragedy of the Jewish people.

01:19:34:02-01:19:39:18
But don't forget that 
roughly 6 million non-Jews ...

01:19:39:22-01:19:43:04
were also killed by the Nazi regime ...

01:19:43:08-01:19:48:08
in the territories 
controlled by the Nazis back then.

01:19:48:12-01:19:51:04
And if I say the Austrians too have suffered,

01:19:51:08-01:19:55:22
I believe I am telling the whole truth.

01:19:56:01-01:19:57:15
Are you putting this on a par 
with the Holocaust?

01:19:57:19-01:20:00:06
You can't equate it with the Holocaust,

01:20:00:10-01:20:03:03
that would be a historical injustice,

01:20:03:07-01:20:08:13
but what I want to say is 
that the Austrian people suffered too ...

01:20:08:17-01:20:13:07
and that it is their right ...

01:20:13:11-01:20:20:04
that we acknowledge the suffering 
they were subjected to,

01:20:20:08-01:20:22:09
that it is not simply ignored.

01:20:22:13-01:20:28:14
That doesn't mean 
that I don't fully condemn the Holocaust ...

01:20:28:18-01:20:32:15
or that I am not deeply appalled by this tragedy,

01:20:32:19-01:20:36:20
but ultimately it is my right and duty ...

01:20:36:24-01:20:39:11
to acknowledge the suffering 
of the Austrian people.

01:21:12:15-01:21:16:13
Two days before the election

01:21:16:17-01:21:21:07
They can search as much as they like 
- the Mr. Singers or whatever their names -

01:21:21:11-01:21:26:24
in the various bundles of files 
they are poring over.

01:21:27:03-01:21:30:11
They won't find anything. We were honest.

01:21:30:22-01:21:32:23
Ladies and gentlemen this is the way ...

01:21:33:02-01:21:37:11
the free Western democracy 
is abused by the leftists.

01:21:37:15-01:21:40:09
We will defend ourselves against this.

01:22:02:13-01:22:05:08
The horse that had been ridden in the SA ...

01:22:05:12-01:22:07:13
came back to life as a wooden horse ...

01:22:07:17-01:22:11:17
and has become the symbol of resistance 
against the lies of the candidate,

01:22:11:21-01:22:14:07
the lies of the nation.

01:22:14:16-01:22:17:10
It was to accompany the Austrian president ...

01:22:17:14-01:22:22:03
on his infrequent public appearances 
in the upcoming years.

01:22:25:02-01:22:29:02
We, the small group, had meanwhile grown.

01:22:29:11-01:22:32:20
We demonstrated, protested, 
and documented.

01:22:44:17-01:22:49:00
6/8 WALDHEIM, WHO ELSE??

01:22:52:17-01:22:58:16
WOULD YOU BUY A USED HORSE 
FROM THIS MAN?

01:23:00:08-01:23:02:05
I roamed around,

01:23:02:14-01:23:06:15
filming this and that.

01:23:10:16-01:23:13:11
DO WE WANT A MEMORY LAPSE 
AS OUR PRESIDENT?

01:23:13:15-01:23:15:15
DR. WALDHEIM 
DON'T FORGET TO RESIGN!

01:23:16:24-01:23:20:05
Summer turned the city into a stage ...

01:23:21:06-01:23:23:08
and into a construction site.

01:23:34:11-01:23:37:24
WALDHEIM IS LOUSY IN BED

01:24:09:12-01:24:12:09
It all fits into a climate,

01:24:12:13-01:24:16:20
into the climate where they love Jews ...

01:24:17:04-01:24:18:21
as long as they hold their tongues.

01:24:19:00-01:24:23:10
If a Jew tells the truth, 
they don't want to hear it.

01:24:24:00-01:24:26:24
They love the 6 million dead Jews,

01:24:27:04-01:24:30:19
so they can hate the living 
and surviving Jews all the more.

01:24:30:23-01:24:34:01
And the living ones 
should at least have no voice.

01:24:35:07-01:24:39:01
I remember my contradictory feelings,

01:24:39:06-01:24:42:13
my feelings of disgust 
mixing with my feelings of relief.

01:24:42:22-01:24:46:07
To have stood up, 
spoken out against it,

01:24:46:12-01:24:48:07
and not to be alone anymore.

01:24:48:11-01:24:51:01
I will never hold my tongue ...

01:24:51:05-01:24:54:14
nor will I stop speaking out against the man ...

01:24:54:18-01:24:58:04
who wants to lead this country.

01:25:06:18-01:25:09:00
He knew exactly ...

01:25:09:04-01:25:13:02
what was happening to the partisans, 
to the people.

01:25:13:06-01:25:17:02
But 40 years later ...

01:25:17:06-01:25:20:09
he can't remember a single thing.

01:25:20:13-01:25:22:16
I'm an unskilled laborer.

01:25:22:20-01:25:28:07
I only went to grade school,

01:25:28:11-01:25:33:00
but I remember everything clearly.

01:25:37:09-01:25:41:05
Not just 40 years back.

01:25:41:09-01:25:44:00
I can still remember ...

01:25:44:04-01:25:49:07
all the horrors and abominations of that time.

01:25:49:21-01:25:54:13
The truth is not too much to ask 
of Kurt Waldheim.

01:25:55:18-01:25:57:19
It cannot be concealed ...

01:25:57:23-01:26:03:03
by his ever more skillful explanations.

01:26:04:09-01:26:09:02
It shimmers 
through his empty phrases ...

01:26:09:16-01:26:12:09
and wears the countenance ...

01:26:13:00-01:26:16:07
of the murdered children of Kozara.

01:26:19:23-01:26:25:24
The truth is not too much to ask 
of the Austrian People's Party.

01:26:27:08-01:26:33:18
It has secretly sown the seed 
of anti-Semitism ...

01:26:34:02-01:26:37:15
and on election day 
reaped its harvest greedily.

01:26:40:05-01:26:45:11
Nor is the truth too much to ask 
of my generation.

01:26:46:06-01:26:50:03
What is the sense in asking ourselves 
the theoretical question ...

01:26:50:17-01:26:56:00
whether we would have been cowardly 
or brave in 1938 ...

01:26:56:13-01:26:58:24
when the only question that matters is ...

01:26:59:03-01:27:02:22
whether we are cowardly or brave today.

01:27:04:10-01:27:07:10
These remembrance days are meaningless ...

01:27:07:14-01:27:10:19
if we only think about the past.

01:27:11:07-01:27:16:02
If we only know better but do not do better,

01:27:16:15-01:27:20:03
then we too are a guilty generation.

01:27:20:07-01:27:22:14
Thank you for your attention.

01:27:29:02-01:27:33:05
8 June 1986

01:27:34:06-01:27:40:16
With 53.9% Kurt Waldheim is elected 
Austrian president.

01:27:41:19-01:27:43:24
What could go wrong now?

01:27:45:24-01:27:48:00
Put it on our tab.

01:27:57:16-01:28:00:06
That's what I get for having such long legs.

01:28:04:24-01:28:07:08
Let's give it a try. 
-Let's give it a try.

01:28:13:12-01:28:17:04
Much more comfortable, absolutely.

01:28:17:18-01:28:21:10
I can scoot in all the way. 
That was the problem.

01:28:22:07-01:28:26:21
I was too far away with the drawer, yes, 
this is perfect, no comparison.

01:28:30:12-01:28:35:12
Try leaning forward again 
when you speak energetically.

01:28:41:07-01:28:43:24
Yes, see, that's better too.

01:28:58:03-01:29:02:17
Georg, can you have another look from the front? 
Check my shirt for creases and whatnot, my tie...

01:29:30:10-01:29:32:07
I think we're all set.

01:29:45:14-01:29:49:04
Let me know when you are ready.

01:29:52:23-01:29:55:02
Yes. 
-Is it all right if we start now?

01:29:55:06-01:29:57:05
Pardon me? 
-Is it all right if we start now?

01:29:57:09-01:30:00:04
Yes. 
-Yes? Good. We can start.

01:30:09:08-01:30:13:21
1987 The US government put Kurt Waldheim 
on the watch list.

01:30:14:04-01:30:17:14
1988 An international commission 
of historians found no proof ...

01:30:17:18-01:30:22:09
of personal involvement in war crimes 
but did determine moral guilt.

01:30:25:12-01:30:30:01
The Austrian president received no 
official invitations from the Western world.

01:30:30:05-01:30:34:10
Despite international isolation 
and increasing protests from within Austria ...

01:30:34:14-01:30:37:15
he remained in office until 1992.

01:31:22:06-01:31:24:16
The Waldheim Waltz