- Taras Borodajkewycz
Taras (von) Borodajkewycz (born
October 1 ,1902 in what is todayUkraine , diedJanuary 3 ,1984 inVienna ), was a former member of theNSDAP and afterWorld War II professor ofeconomic history at the "College of World Trade" in Vienna (today:Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration ).Life
During the interwar years, he was an adherent of
Catholic -national ideas which attempted to combine Catholic with pan-german ideas. During the mid-30s, he became a supporter of the ideas of national socialism.He was a member of K.A.V. Norica Wien, a Catholic
Studentenverbindung that was member of theCartellverband der katholischen deutschen Studentenverbindungen , from which he was expelled in 1945 because of his support of and membership in the NSDAP. However, his continue sympathic with national socialism were apparent. He repeatedly made neo-Nazi and antisemitic remarks in class, with which he became a favorite of students, most of which shared right-wing political views at that time.The 1962 scandal
In 1962, the first scandal took place.
Heinz Fischer , todayPresident of Austria , attacked Borodajkewycz because of his remarks in class in a journal article, which was based on astudent 's class notes. Since he did not want to identify the student (Ferdinand Lacina , later Austrian minister of finance, who had not graduated yet and might not have been able to do so), Fischer was convicted ofdefamation of character in a trial initiated by Borodajkewycz and had to pay a fine. Borodajkewycz felt encouraged by the verdict and disclosed his views more openly in his lectures from that time onwards.The 1965 scandal
In March 1965, a demonstration against Borodajkewycz organized by students, former resistance members and unions took place. The demonstration clashed with a
countermarch organized by the "Ring Freiheitlicher Studenten ", the student organization of theFreedom Party of Austria .Ernst Kirchweger , a former resistance member andconcentration camp survivor, who was watching the demonstrations but not participating himself, was seriously injured by a right-wing demonstrator. He died some days after the demonstration, becoming the first political death of the Second Republic.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.
Ultimately, Borodajkewycz was forced into retirement (with full salary) in spite of strong resistance by the minister of education,
Theodor Piffl-Percevic . During the following years, he continued to publish articles in right-wing journals.References
de icon Schmidt, Erich; Konecny, Albrecht K.: "Heil Borodajkewycz!" Österreichs Demokraten im Kampf gegen Professor Borodajkewycz und seine Hintermänner. Wien, München 1966
de icon Fischer, Heinz: Einer im Vordergrund. Taras Borodajkewycz. Wien, Frankfurt a. M., Zürich
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