Taras Borodajkewycz
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Taras (von) Borodajkewycz (Ukrainian: Тарас Бородайкевич; 1 October 1902 in Baden bei Wien, Lower Austria[1] – 3 January 1984 in Vienna) was a former member of the Nazi Party and, after World War II, professor of economic history at the College of World Trade in Vienna (today: Vienna University of Economics and Business). He remained an unrepentant supporter of Nazism after the war and the pro-fascist views he allegedly expressed in his university lectures in the 1960s sparked major student demonstrations in Vienna that resulted in at least one fatality.
Life
Taras Borodajkewycz was born to Wladimir Borodajkewycz, a
In 1933, Borodajkewycz managed to become the President of the Austrian
He was also a member of K.A.V. Norica Wien, a Catholic
Borodajkewycz moved back to Austria after
Espionage activities for Nazi Germany
By 1939, the
Espionage activities for the Soviet Union
Hints as to the fact that Borodajkewycz offered his espionage activities to the Soviets after 1945 were already voiced by the former Austrian State President Heinz Fischer in his famous book on Borodajkewycz. [7] Fischer maintains that the GRU officer who contracted Borodajkewycz was the then Vienna Station Chief Resident, Colonel Stern. Later studies could show that the involvement of Borodajkewycz with the Soviets was much deeper and that Soviet intelligence agencies provided him with generous funding for his numerous business activities, especially in Western Austria, which at that time – until 1955 - was under Western Allied control. [8]
Activities as a senior book editor
Borodajkewycz, after 1945, worked as senior book editor for the Salzburg-based book publishing company Otto Mueller Verlag. His major success was the publishing of the book by the Austrian art historian Hans Sedlmayr Verlust der Mitte. [9]
The Sedlmayr book, published in 1948, was a bestseller. According to Rathkolb, Borodajkewycz received royalties to the tune of 58000 €. Rathkolb emphasized that the cooperation with Hans Sedlmayr dated back to the 1930s.
The 1962 scandal
In 1962,
The 1965 scandal
In March 1965, student groups, former
In April 1965, the defamation trial against Fischer was reopened, and he was acquitted on the basis of a testimony by Lacina, who had graduated in the meantime. An appeal by Borodajkewicz was rejected. Another lawsuit attempted to implicate Borodajkewicz in Kirchweger's death, but he was exonerated.
Ultimately, Borodajkewycz was forced to take early retirement (with full salary), despite strong efforts by the Minister of Education Theodor Piffl-Perčević to defend him. During the following years, he continued to publish articles in right-wing journals.
References
- ^ "Borodajkewycz, Taras von - Austria-Forum : AEIOU". Austria-lexikon.at. 29 March 2005. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- ISBN 3-205-77476-0
- ^ Benz, Wolfgang, ed. Handbuch des Antisemitismus: Judenfeindschaft in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Vol. 2. de Gruyter, 2009; http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-46272173.html
- ^ Amerongen, Martin van (1967), Eins zwei drrrei... rechts! Op mars naar het Vierde Rijk?, Baarn: Het Wereldvenster, p. 86.
- ^ See the summary of Borodajkewycz's career in Manfred Stoy, Das Österreichische Institut für Geschichtsforschung, 1929-1945 MIÖG Erg.-Bd. 50 (Vienna/Munich, 2007), 316-17.
- ^ Alvarez, David, A. Revd Robert, and S. J. Graham. Nothing sacred: Nazi espionage against the Vatican, 1939-1945. Routledge, 2013.
- ^ Fischer, Heinz, ed. Einer im Vordergrund: Taras Borodajkewycz. Europa Verlag, 1966.
- ^ Breitman, Richard. US Intelligence and the Nazis. Cambridge University Press, 2005.
- ^ Rathkolb, Oliver. The Paradoxical Republic: Austria 1945 - 2005. Berghahn Books; Sedlmayr, Hans. Art in Crisis. The Lost Center. Transaction Books, New Brunswick.
- (in German) Schmidt, Erich; Konecny, Albrecht K.: "Heil Borodajkewycz!" Österreichs Demokraten im Kampf gegen Professor Borodajkewycz und seine Hintermänner. Wien, München 1966
- (in German) Fischer, Heinz: Einer im Vordergrund. Taras Borodajkewycz. Wien, Frankfurt a. M., Zürich