Austria rehabilitates Wehrmacht deserters

Austrian parliament passes bill to rehabilitate deserters of Nazi Wehrmacht

(AP)  VIENNA (AP) - Richard Wadani still remembers the sick feeling in his stomach the morning he left Hitler's Wehrmacht in October 1944, knowing as he crawled through a tangle of barbed wire as dawn broke that one wrong move would cost him his life.

Late Wednesday, more than six decades after the end of World War II, Austria's parliament agreed to rehabilitate deserters like Wadani who were criminalized by the Nazis for refusing to continue serving in the Third Reich's armed forces.

"We've finally reached our goal," the 87-year-old said in a recent interview. "From the beginning, we were seen as traitors."

The blanket measure, which could become law within weeks, clears the names and reputations of men who were either sentenced to death or shunned by some in Austrian society after the war for standing up to Hitler and his followers.

Austria became part of a Greater Germany early on March 12, 1938, when Wehrmacht troops crossed into the country to ensure a smooth takeover in what became known as the "Anschluss."

Austria's two right-wing parties opposed the rehabilitation measure, which was backed by the governing coalition and Greens. In the weeks leading up to Wednesday's vote, the right-wing parties argued that decisions to rehabilitate deserters should be made on a case-by-case basis.

Last month, Freedom Party chief Heinz-Christian Strache caused a stir when he argued that deserters should not be rehabilitated because they may have killed comrades and other soldiers while trying to leave the force.

"One shouldn't retrospectively make the mistake of glorifying these people," Strache said in a local media interview. "They were often also murderers."

But other politicians, such as Justice Minister Claudia Bandion-Ortner, called the blanket rehabilitation an important symbolic act.

To Wadani, honorary chairman of an Austrian association that seeks recognition for deserters, Wednesday's late-night parliamentary action marked the end of a decades-long struggle.

"We have always been convinced that what we did was right," Wadani said, adding that many deserters were "broken" by the negative reactions they received - sometimes even from their own families and loved ones.

Wadani sat in on the parliamentary session Wednesday evening. At one point, lawmakers applauded him.

Experts say it is hard to estimate how many Austrian men deserted the Wehrmacht, since most may have been afraid to come forward publicly out of fear they or their families would be shamed.

At most, about 300 are still alive today, said Hannes Metzler, a political scientist who has researched the issue for years. During the Nazi era, between 1,200 and 1,400 are believed to have been executed for desertion, he said.

The new law also nullifies verdicts handed down by Nazi courts that, among other things, punished homosexuals or led to forced abortions or sterilizations.

It rehabilitates those who refused to serve in the Wehrmacht altogether, those who maimed themselves to avoid being drafted and those whom the Nazis accused of treason.

Last month, Germany's parliament unanimously passed a blanket measure overturning Nazi-era verdicts convicting people of treason.