As it turns out, jokes comparing the late Jörg Haider to an SS man are entirely offbase. Ernst Röhm is more like it. Today’s Times of London reports that the far-right Austrian politician and his anointed successor Stefan Petzner were lovers. The Times quotes Petzner from interviews with Austria’s national broadcaster and a newspaper:
And maybe his job would still have been secure had Petzner left it at that. (It wasn’t exactly shocking to learn Haider was gay.) But he went on: “I only had him. Now I am all alone. I would spend nights with him and his family and that was important for me because I often was afraid to be alone in the dark.” As the Times elaborates: “Outraged by the interviews, the party felt compelled yesterday to dismiss its leader amid reports of his alleged role in Haider’s tragic death. Local papers said that, on the night of his accident, Haider and Mr. Petzner had a row at a magazine launch party. Haider left in a hurry and drove to a gay club in Klagenfurt, his home town, where he drank vodka with male escorts.” (The Alliance for the Future of Austria’s new leader is Josef Buchner. Petzner remains as a deputy.) It’s bad enough to admit you had an affair with your boss and had something to do with his fatal binge. But being afraid of the dark was probably the final straw.
