“Calculated Ambivalence” and Holocaust Denial in Austria

Abstract

At the “zero hour” of 1945, and emerging from the ruins of World War II, the ruling elite of what would become Austria’s Second Republic, were preoccupied with how to cope with the frequently contradictory demands emanating from many sides. What these demands generally had in common was their justification in the self-perception of victimhood, regardless of the specific context or circumstances (see below; Rathkolb 2009; Wodak et al. 2009). This included allied forces who demanded a comprehensive de-nazification process, a war-weary population that had survived the bombings, displaced persons and survivors of camps returning to their homes and expecting compensation, former Nazis expecting integration, and former Wehrmacht soldiers who also expected to have their sacrifices recognised. Continuities with National Socialism or Austrian fascism (between 1934-1938) were (officially) renounced, and the ‘new’ Austrian government announced the rebirth auf an Austria Republic that was morally unburdened by past events or experiences (see Reisigl 2007; Wodak & De Cillia 2007). The first part of the so-called Moscow Declaration of 1943, in which the Allied Forces had declared Austria to have been the ‘first victim of Nazi aggression’ supported this hegemonic narrative (Rathkolb 2009). This definition remained essentially unchallenged until the election of Kurt Waldheim, a former SS officer, to the Austrian presidency in 1986 (see Wodak et al. 1990; Mitten 1992). The second part of the Moscow Declaration was usually ’forgotten’ and swept under the carpet: namely that Austrians were also responsible for Nazi war crimes.