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a12 tribune february 24 1988 i emain silent and stay live dear editor president kurt waldheim of austria appears to be the target of world opinion a selfappointed panel of historians has cleared the president of personally taking part in any warcrimes the austrian people themselves voted him into office in spite of the propaganda directed against him this being the case i suggest if the austrians wish him out of office they themselves will say so certainly outside panels should not force him to relinquish his post i doubt very much if those people who lived outside nan germany during the war years knew anything of what conditions were like in li that country how thenazi party controlled every facet of peoples businesses and lives if kurt waldheim was aware of the concentration camps de portations and so on what could he personally have done about it absolutely nothing if he had protested to his senior officers in strong terms concern- ing these matters theres no doubt he himself would have been either shot or put in prison as a traitor to the cause everyone hot only in the armed forces but civilians too had to toe the line or else i personally was in germany immediately following the war i was posted there as a civilian to assist in the administration of local government according to democratic forms this was in february part of the reorganization consisted of the process of de- ratification of all former party members these extended all the way down to bank tellers and clerks if any employees didnt belong to or refused to belong to the nazi party they were immediately dismissed with no opportunity of being reemployed again not only were they let go but undoubtedly their activities were watched by the local gestapo the same policy was applied in the german armed forces any dissent against state policy could lead to imprisonment in a concen- oration camp or even death wmb so what was one to do under such circumstances protest vigor- ously and be eliminated or keep ones mouth shut and stay alive 1 many of us remember the attempt to assasinate hitler in july 1944 as a result hundreds of conspirators were hung up on meat books garotted tortured and shot so much for protests its tragic that people should ask why kurt waldheim did not protest when theyre unaware of conditions that existed at that time germany then was a police state a military dictatorship not a democracy wlhere ones entitled to protest without fear of imprison ment sincerely adam johnstone rr i stouffville ijnl 2 tegs utei lothn cw 411