Agnes Primocic

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Agnes Primocic (* January 30, 1905 in Hallein , Province of Salzburg , † 14. April 2007 ibid) was an Austrian municipal politician of the Communist Party and anti-fascist resistance fighter . It was only after more than fifty years that the former honorary spokeswoman of the Salzburg Concentration Camp Association received recognition for her resistance in Austria during the period of National Socialism .

Childhood, work experience and first political involvement

Agnes Primocic was born as the third of six children of Johann and Franziska Reinthaler in the Tennengau district capital Hallein. She grew up in the simple circumstances of a working-class family and began to work in the Hallein cigar and tobacco factory at the age of 16 . The factory workers, known far beyond the region as "Tschikweiber", received the highest wages in the saltworks town and even earned more than their male colleagues in the cellulose factory . Very soon, however, in the cigar and tobacco factory, she also got to know the downsides of this profession, in which the women could only cope with the often inhuman working conditions through their solidarity with one another. When she felt injustice, she vehemently stood up for her colleagues and, from the age of 25, fought as a trade unionist and works councilor for fair working conditions in the factory.

As a party member of the Communist Party of Austria, Primocic participated in the Red Aid for families in need of politically persecuted families and offered active resistance against the onset of Austrofascism very early on . During this time she organized a strike in the tobacco factory as a works councilor and was subsequently fired. Because of the possession of communist books, a leaflet campaign by her then twelve-year-old son and because of her brother's political activities, Agnes Primocic was arrested several times before the Anschluss and spent a total of almost a year in prison.

Resistance to National Socialism

After the German troops marched into Austria, Primocic was interrogated several times by the Gestapo because of her political commitment and was arrested three more times by 1945. When her husband and eldest son were drafted at the beginning of World War II , she had to promise her husband to “keep politically quiet”. Primocic remained active, however, supporting resistance groups and raising money for the families of politically persecuted people. Although she had to look after her two other children, she helped the Upper Austrian resistance fighter Sepp Plieseis escape from the concentration camp. Years later, she justified her resistance to the National Socialists with the fact that she could not have had a calm conscience all her life if she had simply looked away when people in need asked for her help. “You have to start when injustice happens, because violence comes after injustice”.

Shortly before the end of the Second World War, she risked her own life when she and her friend Mali Ziegenleder put pressure on the commandant of a subcamp of the Dachau concentration camp near Hallein with the imminent invasion of the American troops, and with her courage she already saved 17 Prisoners sentenced to death before the ordered shooting.

Work after the war

After 1945 Agnes Primocic continued to be politically active, among other things as state secretary of the KPÖ in Salzburg . As Hallein's city ​​councilor for welfare, she was particularly committed to the development of kindergartens and the social rights of the working population.

In 1984 Agnes Primocic told a large audience about her resistance activities for the first time in the film “Kitchen Talks with Rebels” and also in the 1985 book “The sky is blue. Maybe. ”She reports in detail about her life. After these two articles appeared, she began - almost 80 years old - with a lively activity as a contemporary witness. In many public schools she told her story as part of the project initiated by the then Minister of Education, Fred Sinowatz .

Media processing of the life of Agnes Primocic

In 2005 the film “More than life” by Christine Pramhas and Uli Ramsauer came out, which tells about the life of Agnes Primocic. Also in the documentary "Don't keep still when injustice happens" (2002) by Uwe Bolius and Robert Angst, the focus is on the cigar worker, works councilor and resistance fighter Agnes Primocic. Director Uwe Bolius, who already portrayed Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky with “Memories from the Resistance” , tried “to put even the strongest emotional impressions into picture and sound in such a way that there is no emotional fuss or silence and conveys that Agnes Primocic's behavior is definitely can be traced back to simple motives ” .

The film opens with a reception from the Hallein council in 2001, when the (now former) MPs from the Freedom Party of Austria , Gerhard Cirlea the honorary citizen with the statement " in Hallein it has no concentration camps , where" open the falsification of history accused.

In 2004, on behalf of Akzente Salzburg and the communal youth work Berchtesgadner Land, the publication “Don't keep still when injustice happens.” Was published by Michaela Zehetner. The Memoirs of Agnes Primocic ”. The book describes the individual stages in her life and contains all of the interview material from the 2002 documentary. The Austrian television broadcaster ORF broadcast a documentary of the same name about the resistance fighter in 2005.

Honors

The city of Hallein honored Agnes Primocic in 1999 for her political and social commitment by being made an honorary citizen . In 2002 she was honored with the Troll Borostyáni Prize and the Culture Prize for Human Rights and Integration . The state of Salzburg honored her for her achievements against National Socialism with the state's Golden Merit Award , which she was awarded by Governor Gabi Burgstaller in a festive event on August 10, 2005 . Agnes Primocic lived in a nursing home in her native Hallein until her death.

In 2012, Agnes-Primocic-Gasse in Vienna- Donaustadt (22nd district) was named after her. In December 2014 the newly built non-profit residential building "Agnes-Primocic-Hof" in Hallein was named after her.

literature

  • Michaela Zehetner (Ed.): Don't stand still when injustice happens. The Memoirs of Agnes Primocic. Akzente Salzburg 2004, ISBN 3-902294-00-0 .
  • Karin Berger et al. (Ed.): The sky is blue. Can be - Women in the Resistance, Austria 1938–1945. Promedia-Verlag (Edition traces), Vienna 1985, ISBN 3-900478-05-8 .
  • Ingrid Bauer : Tschikweiber called us…. The Hallein cigar factory workers. Women. Job. History; Berlin: Die Buchmacherei 2015, ISBN 978-3-00-049940-1 , 2nd edition 2016 (the book is on DVD with the film documentation Don't keep still when wrong happens by Uwe Bolius [book / director] and Robert Angst [production / Camera / editing], Austria 2002 enclosed).

Film kitchen talks with rebels, D: Karin Berger, Elisabeth Holzinger, Lotte Podgornik, Lisbeth N. Trallori, At 1984, published in the series Der Österreichische Film / Edition der Standard / Hoanzl # 211

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Primocic, Agnes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian trade unionist, KPÖ member and resistance fighter
DATE OF BIRTH January 30, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Hallein , Austria
DATE OF DEATH April 14, 2007
Place of death Hallein