Bruno Kreisky

Kreisky was born in the Margareten district of Vienna in 1911, to a non-observant Jewish family. His parents were Max (Markus) Kreisky (1876, Klattau – 1944) and Irene Kreisky née Felix (1884, Třebíč – 1969). His father worked as a textile manufacturer. Shocked by the level of poverty and violence in Austria during the 1920s, he joined the youth wing of the Socialist Party of Austria (SPÖ) in 1925 at age 15. In 1927, he joined the Young Socialist Workers against the wishes of his parents. In 1929, he began studying law at the University of Vienna at the advice of Otto Bauer, who urged him to study law rather than medicine, as he had originally planned. He remained politically active during this period. In 1931, he left the Jewish religious community, becoming agnostic. and had one son and one daughter. While in exile, Kreisky worked as a journalist and was the head of the Austrian Socialists in Sweden. == Political views and programs ==

in Vienna, 1962 In office, Kreisky and his close ally, Justice Minister Christian Broda, pursued a policy of liberal reform in a country which had a tradition of conservative Roman Catholicism. He legalized abortion in the first three months of pregnancy, decriminalized homosexuality, and required children born out of wedlock to be given the same rights as those born within marriage. employee benefits were expanded, the workweek was cut to 40 hours, and legislation providing for equality for women was passed. Kreisky's government established language rights for the country's Slovene and Croatian minorities. Following the 1974 oil shock, Kreisky committed Austria to developing nuclear power to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, although this policy was eventually abandoned after a referendum held in 1978. In 1979, restrictions on redundancy and the dismissal of employees were made. The educational sector was significantly expanded under Kreisky, greatly increasing the numbers of Austrians receiving a university education. In 1982, a maternity allowance payable for 16 weeks was introduced for self-employed women. Although the 1955 State Treaty prevented Austria from joining the European Union, he supported European integration. Kreisky was a supporter of Palestinian statehood. Following his election in 1970, Kreisky wanted to demonstrate that he was indeed "Chancellor of all Austrians", and appointed four politicians with Nazi backgrounds to his cabinet. When Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal reported that these four members of Kreisky's cabinet were former Nazis, Kreisky did not remove them from the government, though one did resign. They were former SS-Untersturmführer Hans Öllinger, who took part in flamethrower commandos; Otto Rösch, a teacher at the National Political Institutes of Education; and Erwin Frühbauer and Josef Moser, Nazi Party members. Kreisky responded that everybody had the right to make political mistakes in their youth. This incident marked the beginning of a bitter conflict, which did not end until Kreisky died. At a party conference, his secretary Leopold Gratz claimed that Wiesenthal was operating a "secret police and surveillance centre" and was in no way allowed to defame democratically elected politicians. Kreisky later on said that Wiesenthal "makes a living telling the world that Austria is anti-Semitic. What else can he do?"; he went on to call Wiesenthal a former Gestapo agent, In 1986, Wiesenthal filed a libel lawsuit (although Kreisky had the power to declare immunity if he so chose), and when Kreisky later accused Wiesenthal of being an agent of the Gestapo, working with the Judenrat in Lvov, these accusations were incorporated into the lawsuit as well. Three years later the court found Kreisky guilty of defamation and sentenced him to pay a fine of 270,000 schillings for defamation. The suit was decided in Wiesenthal's favour in 1989, but after Kreisky's death nine months later, his heirs refused to pay. Wiesenthal later commented: "Kreisky lost, and instead of paying the fine, he died." When the relevant archives were later opened for research, no evidence was found that Wiesenthal had been a collaborator. In 1975, Kreisky proposed that his Social Democratic Party should form a coalition with the Freedom Party, headed by Friedrich Peter, a former SS-Obersturmführer; Kreisky supported Peter and said that Wiesenthal was a "crypto-racist" who himself was responsible for antisemitism in Austria. In 1976, the Bruno Kreisky Foundation for Outstanding Achievements in the Area of Human Rights was founded to mark Kreisky's 65th birthday. Every two years, the Bruno Kreisky Human Rights Prize is awarded to an international figure who has advanced the cause of human rights. Later in his life, Kreisky tried to help some Soviet dissidents. In particular, in 1983, he sent a letter to the Soviet premier Yuri Andropov demanding the release of dissident Yuri Orlov, but Andropov left Kreisky's letter unanswered. == Legacy ==

Today, Kreisky's chancellorship is the subject of both controversy and nostalgia. Many of his former supporters see in Kreisky the last socialist of the old school and look back admiringly at an era when the standard of living was noticeably rising, when the welfare state was in full swing and when, by means of a state-funded programme promoting equality of opportunity, working class children were encouraged to stay on at school and eventually receive higher education. All this resulted in a decade of prosperity and optimism about the future. Critics of the modern SPÖ who believe the party has abandoned its historic principles have used the phrase "Kreisky, schau oba!" (). They hold Kreisky responsible for Austria's subsequent economic difficulties. Despite this criticism, Kreisky did much to transform Austria during his time in office, with considerable improvements in working conditions, a dramatic rise in the average standard of living, and a significant expansion of the welfare state. == See also ==