Editing Neo-Nazism (section)

== Issues ==
=== Ex-Nazis in mainstream politics ===
[[File:Kurt Waldheim 1971cr.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The 1980s dispute between Austrian president [[Kurt Waldheim]] and the [[World Jewish Congress]] caused an international incident.]]
The most significant case on an international level was the election of [[Kurt Waldheim]] to the Presidency of Austria in 1986. It came to light that Waldheim had been a member of the [[National Socialist German Students' League]], the SA and served as an intelligence officer during the Second World War. Following this he served as an Austrian diplomat and was the [[Secretary-General of the United Nations]] from 1972 until 1981. After revelations of Waldheim's past were made by an Austrian journalist, Waldheim clashed with the [[World Jewish Congress]] on the international stage. Waldheim's record was defended by [[Bruno Kreisky]], an Austrian Jew who served as Chancellor of Austria. The legacy of the affair lingers on, as [[Victor Ostrovsky]] has claimed the [[Mossad]] doctored the file of Waldheim to implicate him in war crimes.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

=== Contemporary right-wing populism ===
Some critics have sought to draw a connection between Nazism and modern [[right-wing populism]] in Europe, but the two are not widely regarded as interchangeable by most academics. In Austria, the [[Freedom Party of Austria]] (FPÖ) served as a shelter for ex-Nazis almost from its inception.<ref name="Fuchs">{{cite book |last=Fuchs|first=Christian |editor-last=Morelock |editor-first=Jeremiah |title=Critical Theory and Authoritarian Populism |publisher=University of Westminster Press |date=2018 |page=165 |chapter=Racism, Nationalism and Right-Wing Extremism Online: The Austrian Presidential Election 2016 on Facebook |isbn=978-1-912656-04-2}}</ref> In 1980, scandals undermined Austria's two main parties and the economy stagnated. [[Jörg Haider]] became leader of the FPÖ and offered partial justification for [[Nazism]], calling its employment policy effective. In the [[Austrian legislative election, 1994|1994 Austrian election]], the FPÖ won 22 percent of the vote, as well as 33 percent of the vote in [[Carinthia (state)|Carinthia]] and 22 percent in Vienna; showing that it had become a force capable of reversing the old pattern of Austrian politics.<ref>Laqueur, Walter, ''Fascism: Past, Present, Future'', pp. 80, 116, 117</ref>

Historian [[Walter Laqueur]] writes that even though Haider welcomed former Nazis at his meetings and went out of his way to address [[Schutzstaffel]] (SS) veterans, the FPÖ is not a fascist party in the traditional sense, since it has not made [[anti-communism]] an important issue, and it does not advocate the overthrow of the democratic order or the use of violence. In his view, the FPÖ is "not quite fascist", although it is part of a tradition, similar to that of 19th-century Viennese mayor [[Karl Lueger]], which involves [[nationalism]], xenophobic populism, and authoritarianism.<ref>Laqueur, Walter, ''Fascism: Past, Present, Future'', pp. 117–18</ref> Haider, who in 2005 left the Freedom Party and formed the [[Alliance for Austria's Future]], was killed in a traffic accident in October 2008.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7664846.stm | publisher=BBC News | title=Austria's Haider dies in accident | date=2008-10-11 | access-date=2010-05-20 | archive-date=12 July 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712185019/https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7664846.stm | url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Barbara Rosenkranz]], the Freedom Party's candidate in [[2010 Austrian presidential election|Austria's 2010 presidential election]], was controversial for having made allegedly pro-Nazi statements.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8634796.stm | publisher=BBC News | title=Austria spooked by Nazi past in election | date=2010-04-23 | access-date=2010-05-20 | archive-date=26 April 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100426205322/https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8634796.stm | url-status=live }}</ref> Rosenkranz is married to [[Horst Rosenkranz]], a key member of a banned neo-Nazi party, who is known for publishing far-right books. Rosenkranz says she cannot detect anything "dishonourable" in her husband's activities.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/reich-mother-on-the-march-in-hitlers-homeland-1953005.html | work=The Independent | location=London | title=Reich mother on the march in Hitler's homeland | date=2010-04-24 | access-date=2010-05-20 | archive-date=27 April 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100427010909/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/reich-mother-on-the-march-in-hitlers-homeland-1953005.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>