Freedom Party official kicks up another storm

By Vaiju Naravane

VIENNA, JUNE 6. Another controversy has erupted here over the use of a Nazi-era SS slogan by the newly elected head of Mr. Joerg Haider's extreme-right Freedom Party in Lower Austria, underlining the insensitivity often shown by party officials.

Mr. Ernest Windholz declared: ``Our Honour is called Loyalty'' while honouring long-serving members of the Freedom Party at its State convention. The slogan, which in German is ``Unsere ehre heisst treue,'' was the motto of the SS, the armed wing of Adolf Hitler's Nazi party. After a public outcry over his remarks Mr. Windholz said he was unaware that the phrase had been used by the SS and that it had a deeper, more sinister significance. ``I am 40 years old. I didn't know the phrase in this context,'' he told journalists. Since he was born well after the collapse of the Nazis in 1945, he never associated the words with them, Mr. Windholz argued.

The Freedom Party general secretary, Theresia Zierler, while describing the incident as ``very regrettable'' defended Mr. Windholz saying it was a mistake born of ignorance. But the opposition Social Democrats said this once again showed the contempt Freedom Party officials had for people's sensitivities. Social Democrats urged the Chancellor, Mr. Wolfgang Schuessel to take a public stand on the issue. The charismatic leader of the Freedom Party, Mr. Haider, who stepped down as party chairman recently but continues to have great influence as Governor of the Carinthia province, has been guilty of making pro-Nazi statements. He has had to apologise several times for showing sympathy towards certain aspects of the Nazi regime.

The Freedom Party won 27 per cent of the vote to become Austria's second largest party early this year and joined the ruling conservative coalition with the centrist Austrian Peoples' Party led by Mr. Schuessel.

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Section  : International
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