Kurt Waldheim, who achieved status as a former president of Austria and a former UN Secretary General, is exposed in “The Waldheim Waltz” for his Nazi activities, and persecution of Jews in particular. Director Ruth Beckerman, who narrates her documentary, meticulously and convincingly outlines the case against Waldheim.
The subject is a strident example of how the past of accomplices has been covered up or brushed away, and it is historically important to nail such perpetrators. Waldheim made excuses to the effect that he was not personally involved, but the film belies his contentions.
Exposing Waldheim, by means of film clips and analysis, is important today in the atmosphere of right-wing gains in Europe. How Waldheim could have been elected president of Austria even in the light of all that was known is shocking.
One of the accusations against him was that he took part in the deportation of more than 60,000 Jews from Greece during World War II. There was also the accusation that he was involved in the massacre of Yugoslav partisans. Waldheim accused others of having a vendetta against him and insisted that he was just an ordinary soldier.
Beckerman, including with use of her own footage, exposes Waldheim. The film reminds us of how Austria, which falsely claimed it was Hitler’s victim, was a hotbed of anti-Semitism and proof that it still was pervasive could be found in the fact that Austria elected Waldheim president in 1986.
“The Waldheim Waltz” does a major service in setting the record straight. A Menemsha Films release. Reviewed October 19, 2018.