Former UN Chief Kurt Waldheim Dead at 88

Long after he left office, he remained a symbol of Austria's difficulties to accept responsibility for Nazi war crimes.

Kurt Waldheim, the former UN Secretary-General who was elected president of Austria despite an international scandal about his service in the Wehrmacht in the Second World War, has died.

(VIENNA, Austria) - Kurt Waldheim, the former UN Secretary-General who was elected president of Austria despite an international scandal about his service in the Wehrmacht in the Second World War, has died.

He was 88.

The Austrian state broadcaster ORF said that Waldheim, who was hospitalised in Vienna last month because of an infection, died of heart failure.

Waldheim reached the top in his native Austria where he became president and also in the United Nations where he rose to be secretary-general.

In the Austrian presidency, he was seen as a lame duck after mishandling charges impugning his wartime record.

Long after he left office, he remained a symbol of Austria's difficulties to accept responsibility for Nazi war crimes.

He leaves behind his widow, three children and four grandchildren.

Waldheim was born on December 21, 1918 in a small town near Vienna.

Waldheim was wounded on the Russian front in 1941.

His memoirs, In the Eye of the Storm, suggest that he returned to his studies. In fact he saw more active service, this time in the Balkans.

Years later he admitted to a journalist that there were omissions in his account.

Waldheim headed the United Nations from 1972 to 1982 but his election as president in 1986 was overshadowed by revelations that he had belonged to a German army unit that committed atrocities in the Balkans during the War.