Kurt Waldheim was born
in Sank Andra-Wordern, near Vienna, Austria
on 21st December, 1918. During the Second World
War he was wounded and then discharged from the German
Army.
In 1945 Waldheim joined
the Austrian diplomatic service and served as First Secretary of the
Legation in France (1948-1951) and head of the personnel department
of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (1951-55). This was followed by
diplomatic posts in Canada (1956-60) and as head of the Political
Department in the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs (1960-62).
In 1964 Waldheim became
Austria's permanent representative to the United
Nations. He held this post for over four years and during this
period served as chairman of the Committee of the Peaceful Uses of
Outer Space.
Waldheim returned to Austria
in 1968 to take up the post of Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs.
This was followed by the post as Chairman of the Safeguards Committee
of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In 1972 Waldheim became
Secretary-General of the United Nations. He
held the post for nine years and during this period he made several
visits in an attempt to bring an end to military and political conflict.
This included South Africa, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt,
Jordan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Vietnam.
Waldheim was elected as
president of Austria in 1986. Soon after
his victory it was revealled that during the Second
World War Waldheim was a Nazi intelligence
officer who was involved in the transportation of Jews to concentration
camps. This information was partly responsible for Waldheim being
defeated in 1992.
The US Justice Department
published a report in 1994 confirmed that Waldheim had been involved
in atrocities against Jews, civilians and
Allied soldiers during the war.
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