Governor Born When Austria Was Occupied By Wartime Allies

VIENNA, Austria -- Austrian scholars say California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger needs to brush up on the history of his homeland. (Click here for full text of Schwarzenegger's speech.)

It appears he got a few things wrong when he told the Republican National Convention this week that he saw Soviet tanks in the streets and left a "Socialist" country when he moved away.

Historians say there were no Soviet tanks in his hometown by the time he was born. Russian forces had left that area two years beforehand. And a conservative -- not Socialist -- was in charge in 1968.

But many ordinary Austrians were in forgiving moods Friday. One woman said he could have got it wrong because "it's so many years since he left." She said he probably had political reasons for the comments.

The historians are referring to the following portion of the governor’s speech:

Tonight, I want to talk about why I'm even more proud to be an American -- why I'm proud to be a Republican and why I believe this country is in good hands.

When I was a boy, the Soviets occupied part of Austria. I saw their tanks in the streets. I saw communism with my own eyes. I remember the fear we had when we had to cross into the Soviet sector.

Growing up, we were told, "Don't look the soldiers in the eye. Look straight ahead." It was a common belief that Soviet soldiers could take a man out of his own car and ship him off to the Soviet Union as slave labor.

My family didn't have a car -- but one day we were in my uncle's car. It was near dark as we came to a Soviet checkpoint. I was a little boy, I wasn't an action hero back then, and I remember how scared I was that the soldiers would pull my father or my uncle out of the car and I'd never see him again.

My family and so many others lived in fear of the Soviet boot. Today, the world no longer fears the Soviet Union and it is because of the United States of America! As a kid I saw the socialist country that Austria became after the Soviets left. I love Austria and I love the Austrian people -- but I always knew America was the place for me. In school, when the teacher would talk about America, I would daydream about coming here.

I would sit for hours watching American movies transfixed by my heroes like John Wayne. Everything about America seemed so big to me so open, so possible. I finally arrived here in 1968. I had empty pockets, but I was full of dreams.