The growing internationalization of the world poses a fundamental question, i.e., through what mechanisms does culture diffuse across political boundaries and what is the role of politics in shaping this diffusion? This volume offers some answers through the case study of the relationship between two quite different states during the Cold War era - Austria, a small neutral country, and the United States, the reigning superpower. The authors challenge naive notions of cultural diffusion that posit the submission of small "peripheral" areas to the dictates of hegemonic powers at the "core." "Americanization" has no doubt taken place since 1945; however, local forces crucially shaped this process, and Austrian elites enjoyed considerable leeway in pursuing "Austrian" political objectives. On the other hand, with the expulsion of Vienna's cultural and intellectual elite after the Anschluß, the United States, more than any othercountry, became heir to the rich cultural legacy of "Vienna 1900," which profoundly shaped politics and culture in both its "high" and popular forms in postwar America. The relationship climaxed and came full circle with the unfolding of the Waldheim affair, which forced Americans and Austrians to reinterpret the meaning of the Nazi era for their own history in a confrontation with the "other."

Details the Nazi affiliation and war crimes of Kurt Waldheim, former United Nations Secretary-General and President of Austria.

"Kurt Josef Waldheim (German pronunciation: [kt valdham]; 21 December 1918? 14 June 2007) was an Austrian diplomat and politician. Waldheim was the fourth Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981, and the ninth President of Austria, from 1986 to 1992. While he was running for President in Austria in 1985, his service as an intelligence officer in the Wehrmacht during World War II caused obvious international controversy. The Wehrmacht was the Armed forces of Nazi Germany."--Wikipedia.

A collection of documents related to Kurt Waldheim's activities and attitudes during World War II prepared by Austrian officials as a rebuttal of allegations made against him. Reviews the key allegations (including his alleged involvement in the deportation of Greek Jews), discusses evidence which refutes them, and provides a selection of relevant documents.

SCOTT (copy 1): From the John Holmes Library collection.

An authorized English translation of the unpublished report submitted in German by the International Commission of Historians set up in 1987 at the request of Kurt Waldheim, then President of Austria. Its assignment was to determine the facts concerning Waldheim's wartime service and his participation in National Socialist organizations. The Commission (six members, chaired by Prof. Hans Rudolf Kurz) examined accusations against Waldheim advanced by U.S. Justice authorities, the World Jewish Congress, and Yugoslav accusations submitted to the United Nations War Crimes in 1944. The report deals mainly with Waldheim's activities in Yugoslavia and Greece. Ch. 6 (p. 97-109) analyzes Waldheim's involvement in the deportation of Jews from the Greek mainland and islands. The Commission disproved Waldheim's assertion that he knew nothing about those deportations. In general, the Commission concluded that Waldheim repeatedly assisted in unlawful actions and it established his complicity in clear cases of wrongful acts. The introduction by Manfred Messerschmidt (p. 7-23), a member of the Commission, discusses the Commission's establishment and its work, and how the Austrian Federal Republic prevented publication of the report.

Srikanth Reddy’s second book of poetry probes this world’s cosmological relation to the plurality of all possible worlds. Drawing its name from the spacecraft currently departing our solar system on an embassy to the beyond, Voyager unfolds as three books within a book and culminates in a chilling Dantean allegory of leadership and its failure in the cause of humanity. At the heart of this volume lies the historical figure of Kurt Waldheim—Secretary-General of the U.N. from 1972-81 and former intelligence officer in Hitler’s Wehrmacht—who once served as a spokesman for humanity while remaining silent about his role in the collective atrocities of our era. Resurrecting this complex figure, Reddy’s universal voyager explores the garden of forking paths hidden within every totalizing dream of identity.