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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE November 7, 1986 Page 3
Historian: Waldheim facilitated deportations
by Richard Bono
TSI staff writer
It is to the credit of the World
Jewish Congress (WJC) that the
organization did not stop its
investigation into the apparent
Nazi past of Austrian President
Kurt Waldheim after being told
by historian Robert Herzstein
that it was not Jews who bore the
brunt of the large-scale deporta
tion in the Kozara region of
Yugoslavia in the summer of
1942.
“They did not say to me when I
found out this information ‘This
does not interest us. We’re a Jew
ish organization and that’s not
our business,”’ said Dr. Herzstein.
“Quite the contrary, they felt that
on human terms, this was equally
important. This has not been
brought out in the press, which
loves to relish this as a Jewish
issue.”
Dr. Herzstein, who teaches
contemporary Europe and facism
at the University of South Carol
ina, was contracted by the World
Jewish Congress in March of this
year to research Waldheim’s past.
He quickly discovered it was
Yugoslavians, Italians and Greeks
who were the main victims of the
Nazi “pacification” campaign in
the Kozara region of Yugoslavia
where an estimated 80,000 peo
ple were sent to German labor
camps.
In a recent speech to the annual
board of governors meeting of
B’nai B’rith District Five, Herz
stein also noted that his interest
in Waldheim, the former secre
tary-general of the United Na
tions, is that of an historian.
“I don’t have any strong per
sonal feelings towards Waldheim,”
Herzstein told The Southern
Israelite. “My point is to present
a completely objective view of his
missing years, both wartime and
postwar. I am an historian. I
want to show what he was doing
during the years that he com
pletely blotted out of his record.”
Herzstein’s work for the WJC
has been completed. But, having
been subsequently asked by both
ABC News and the New York
Times to conduct further research
on Waldheim’s past, Herzstein
said he decided to write a book,
which he has tentatively titled
“Waldheim, The Missing Years.
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An Historian’s Personal Search
for a Hidden Past.” He said he
does not expect to be finished
with the book until 1988.
After months of denial and
controversy, Waldheim finally
acknowledged that he had played
a role in the Nazi “pacification”
operation during World War II.
He previously maintained that
he was transferred almost imme
diately after the operation began
to an Italian infantry division
180 miles away where he served
as a liaison officer.
“He did deny it at one point,”
Herzstein said. “His son told me
to my face that he wasn’t there.
But Waldheim was on the list
that I showed him, proving that
he had to have been there for
payroll purposes.”
Herzstein said, however, that
Waldheim’s admission that he
was a “supply officer” at the time
of the “pacification” effort “does
not further my knowledge of
what he was specifically doing.
He has not told us what he was
doing in Kozara to deserve the
(King Zvonimir) medal (for hero
ism under fire).”
Observers have noted the cur
ious connection of one being
awarded such a medal for being a
“supply officer.”
“I’m trying to be fair to Wald
heim,” the historian said. “The
worst thing to do is to make an
accusation and then have to back
off. You don’t make charges you
cannot support because then he
can say everything else is ba
loney.”
Herzstein said that while he
does not think Waldheim was a
sadist, “he made the deportation
machine work. Waldheim was
responsible for the deportation
of more than 25,000 Italians—
non-coms and enlisted men. He
did it personally.”
Herzstein adds, “These were
labor camps, to be fair. These
were not death camps. But this
man made possible the deporta
tion to a program that was ad
judged so criminal after the war,
nor a commander, but rather a
“facilitator.”
“Thanks to people like him
and other Waldheims, the depor
tations could be carried out
without a hitch,” Herzstein said.
Commenting on Waldheim’s
apparently unrepentent attitude
toward his past, Herzstein said,
“I don’t know what was in his
heart, but he did say he did his
duty as a soldier.
“I think Waldheim was a pliant,
very talented individual,” Herz
stein said. “He said he did what
ever he was supposed to do and
it’s my job to show what that
was. In some cases, it’s not par
ticularly pretty. In other cases,
it’s ordinary, legitimate military
work.”
Herzstein is preparing to travel
abroad to research the European
archives about Waldheim’s past.
He said the fact that Waldheim
was an officer of junior rank
makes it a difficult task for he did
not leave a “paper trail” like
commanding generals do.
Temple Sinai features
Howard Stone Nov. 21
Robert Herzstein
that the man who headed it, Fritz
Alpo, was hanged as a major war
criminal.”
Meanwhile, Attorney General
Edwin Meese has been ponder
ing whether to bar the Austrian
president from entering the Unit
ed States because of his alleged
involvement in Nazi operations.
The Justice Department’s Office
of Special Investigations recom
mended six months ago that
Waldheim be denied entry into
this country. Meese has yet to
make his decision.
Herzstein said he considers
Waldheim neither an originator
Howard Stone, writer and
consultant to Jewish organiza
tions, will be the guest speaker at
the Temple Sinai-Israel Bonds
Friday night services on Nov. 21,
according to Peter Savitz, chair
man of Temple Sinai’s Israel
Bonds committee.
Formerly vice president of a
major advertising and public re
lations firm, Stone joined the
United Jewish Appeal in 1971
and served as director of the
Young Leadership Cabinet as
well as director of overseas pro
grams.
He lived on a kibbutz in Israel
for several years and later lived in
Jerusalem as an adviser to the
Ministry of Health. His short
stories, poetry and articles have
appeared in leading publications
around the world.
He studied at Brandeis Uni
versity and the Hebrew Univer
sity of Jerusalem and holds a
master’s degree in English and in
Near Eastern Studies.
Howard Stone
Stone recently left the UJA to
devote his time to writing and
lecturing and to serve as a con
sultant to a number of travel
companies, Jewish organizations
and corporations doing business
in the Middle East.
For more information, call
Temple Sinai or the Israel Bonds
office, 634-9500.