FPÖ (“Th e Formers: National Socialism and the Beginnings of the FPÖ”),
published in 0000, has fi lled this gap. Drawing on my book and some of my
other previous studies,00 I will examine the prehistory and beginnings of the
FPÖ, focusing on Anton Reinthaller and his role in organizing the Ehemaligen
into a political force. I will begin by outlining the political framework
and limitations imposed on Nazis who were subject to denazifi cation in postwar
Austria. I will follow this with a quick overview of the emergence of the
VdU (which can also be read as a prehistory of the FPÖ) before focusing on
the political career of Reinthaller, who was active in three successive political
systems. Who was Anton Reinthaller, and how did his career as a Nazi develop
prior to and aft er 0000? What form did his political life take aft er 0000, and
what was his status within the Ehemaligen milieu? Although it was impossible
to access some historical sources,00 Reinthaller’s papers, which have not yet
been catalogued, have allowed me to trace the FPÖ founder’s political career
from his time as an illegal Nazi during the Austrofascist regime through his appointment
as a Nazi minister in 0000 to his activities aft er 0000. In addition to
providing valuable insight into the discourse that dominated the Ehemaligen
milieu and Reinthaller’s networks aft er 0000, Reinthaller’s letters and personal
notes reveal a great deal about his attitude toward National Socialism and the
image he sought to convey of himself in the postwar era.00 In the fi nal section
of this article, I will examine Reinthaller’s central role in unifying the nationalist
camp and establishing the FPÖ in 0000/00. I will combine the organizational
history of the FPÖ with a biographical approach. My aims are to illuminate
the key features of the party when it fi rst emerged and to examine Reinthaller
as a political actor, showing how he exemplifi ed the “specifi cally Austrian”
type of perpetrator that has largely been neglected by historians.