Hans Hausamann

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Hans Hausamann (born March 6, 1897 in Appenzell , † December 17, 1974 in Orselina ) was a Swiss photographer and intelligence officer.

Life

Hans Hausamann was born the son of the photographer Ernst Gottfried Hausamann (1871–1958). In 1923 he married Erika Neuhauser, a daughter of the textile manufacturer Emil Neuhauser. Hausamann attended schools in Heiden and Lausanne . After that he worked as a photographer like his father. During the First World War he became a lieutenant. In 1925 he founded the company Foto Hausamann , which then opened specialist shops and laboratories in St. Gallen and Zurich and established the first photo mail order business in Switzerland.

After initially sympathizing with National Socialism, he set up a press service in the 1930s to counteract anti-militarism and to promote a resilient Switzerland . At the same time, he was active in military organizations: he was head of the army educational film service in Switzerland and until 1936 press chief of the Swiss Officers' Association (SOG). On their behalf, he led the voting campaign in favor of the «military draft» for the extension of service in the army, which was accepted in 1935. In 1938, on the initiative of Hans Oprecht, he became military policy advisor to the Swiss Social Democratic Party .

Intelligence service

From 1935, he specialized his press service in obtaining military news. To this end, he set up the Ha office in Teufen , which was relocated to a hotel near Lucerne in 1940 and, during the war , belonged to Intelligence Section 1 (NS-1) of the Swiss military intelligence service , headed by Max Waibel . From 1939 Christian Schneider , employee of Rudolf Rössler's news agency, became his most important news supplier . Since Hausamann realized that a free Switzerland would only survive if the anti-Hitler coalition won, he ensured that militarily relevant messages were passed on to Nazi Germany's most important war opponents. Schneider was commissioned by him to provide information to the Soviet military intelligence service GRU . Later, specific inquiries from Moscow resp. answered by Sándor Radó through the Ha office .

resistance

In November 1939, Hausamann prevented the extradition of Otto Strasser , a former NSDAP member and opponent of Hitler, who lived in Switzerland . In July 1940 he belonged to the core group of the Officers' Union , whose members wanted to put up unconditional resistance against a German attack. The league was dissolved by Henri Guisan , and the participants were disciplined. After a short time in custody, Hausamann co-founded civilian successor organizations to the Officers' Union: in September 1940, together with August R. Lindt, who later became the UN refugee commissioner , he initiated the National Resistance Campaign and, in January 1941, the Swiss Confederation . Hausamann was also the main source of propaganda carried out against Federal Councilor Marcel Pilet-Golaz from 1940 to 1943 .

People of the "Red Chapel"

post war period

In autumn 1945 Hausamann worked for the Swiss Army as a liaison to the French troops in Vorarlberg . After the Ha office was closed in 1946, he became involved again in the management of his company. At the University of St. Gallen he gave military history lectures on World War II. In 1954 he founded the International Equestrian Days in St. Gallen, which he headed until 1965. He was also a member of the St. Gallen Masonic Lodge "Concordia". In 1973 the University of St. Gallen awarded him an honorary doctorate in political science.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Successful in St. Gallen for over 90 years. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014 ; accessed on February 16, 2015 .
  2. ^ Hausamann, Hans. Archived from the original on March 19, 2014 ; accessed on February 16, 2015 .
  3. ^ Elser, supplements to biography. Addendum No. 2. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014 ; accessed on February 16, 2015 .
  4. Swiss forms of resistance. National Resistance Action. Archived from the original on February 16, 2015 ; accessed on February 16, 2015 .