ABSTRACT
The consensus forged in 1945-50 set the stage for the emergence of a man like Kurt Waldheim. Waldheim was never “Austria,” as his belated critics later alleged; that was too simplistic. In 1952 the State Department noted that Waldheim received his law degree from the University of Vienna in 1940, married in 1944, and entered the reborn Austrian Foreign Service in November 1945. Placed in sensitive centers of cold war intrigue, Waldheim informed U. S. contacts about difficult diplomatic negotiations, and provided them with information about Austrian personnel stationed in places like Moscow. Postwar Austrians concocted their own mythos, one which served to unite the country and banish thoughts of a painful and shameful past. Foreigners should avoid self-righteousness—much less threats—or the temptation to relish Austrian discomfort. Documentation on Waldheim will teach a lot about Cold War collaboration between Austrians and Americans, both before and after 1955.
