Kurt Waldheim

Kurt Waldheim served as President of Austria from 1986 until 1992. During the presidential campaign of 1986, revelations about Waldheim’s service for the Nazis in Greece and Yugoslavia came to light, with Waldheim eventually admitting he had previously downplayed his actions in the Second World War. The Waldheim Affair triggered a period of collective reflection in Austria on the country’s past, and demonstrated the differences between how Germany and Austria remembered the crimes of the Nazis. 

My guest for this conversation is Ruth Wodak, Emeritus Distinguished Professor in Discourse studies at Lancaster University and Professor in Linguistics at the University of Vienna.