During the 1986 presidential campaign, Austrian and international media revealed Kurt Waldheim’s concealed past as a Wehrmacht officer and his possible involvement in crimes committed during the Nazi era. Despite fierce criticism both at home and abroad, Waldheim won the runoff election on June 8, 1986. However, the affair led to a broad societal debate about the involvement of Austrians in Nazi crimes and to a shift away from the “victim narrative” regarding Austria. At the University of Vienna as well, a more systematic examination of National Socialism within the institution began in 1986 and continued with the “Year of Reflection” in 1988 (marking 50 years since the “Anschluss” to the German Reich).
