Battalion February 12th

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Flag of the Interbrigades

The February 12 battalion was a unit of mostly Austrian volunteers in the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War . The battalion was formed in June 1937. From the summer of 1937 it was part of the XI. International Brigade ("Thälmann") with the Thälmann battalion , the Edgar André battalion and the Hans Beimler battalion . With 1,500 fighters, it formed the largest battalion of international fighters in relation to the size of the population of the country of origin. 220 members of the battalion died. The name “12. February "refers to the outbreak of the Austrian civil war against the Dollfuss - dictatorship in 1934 on that very day.

history

Regrouping of the XI. International Brigade

In the first six months of 1937, before the Battle of Brunete , the international brigades were reorganized according to linguistic criteria. The February 12th battalion with the Edgar André battalion , the Hans Beimler battalion and the Thälmann battalion became part of the XI. International Brigade .

Battle of Brunete

At the beginning of the Battle of Brunete on July 6, 1937, the 35th Division with the XI. International Brigade , the 32nd Brigade and 108th Brigade reserve positions behind the 11th Division of Enrique Líster . After the deployment order from the Edgar-André battalion and the Thälmann battalion around 11:00 a.m., the deployment order for the February 12th battalion was issued towards evening. After the failed attack by the Hans Beimler battalion at the Quijorna cemetery , the February 12 battalion was sent to the Quijorna section of the front. The following day, after the failed attack, another attack on the cemetery took place on July 9th with the February 12th battalion and the Hans Beimler battalion. At around 10:00 the two battalions took the cemetery, so that the town of Quijorna could also be taken.

Towards evening the 35th Division received the order to attack in a southerly direction, with the XI. International Brigade took up reserve positions behind the 108th Brigade. On July 10, 1937 at 8:00 am, the Hans Beimler battalion with half of the February 12 battalion, excluding the Edgar André battalion and the Thälmann battalion, reached its positions. After the order to attack was issued on July 10 at 3:30 p.m., the February 12 battalion advanced over a hollow without side cover. After a failed tank attack, the battalion received the order to withdraw in the evening hours. After the failure of the attack on July 10, 1938, another attack took place on July 17, which also failed.

On July 20, the battalion fought again just outside Quijorna in front of a bridge, with the battalion headquarters under the bridge. In the last two days of the battle on July 26th, all three battalions moved to new positions south of the road from Quijorna to Villanueva de la Cañada , with the February 12th battalion remaining in a starting position. After the 32nd Brigade retreated , the battalion received the order to stabilize the front in this area. To stabilize the front line, the February 12th battalion took up positions between Quijorna and Villanueva de la Cañada next to the Thälmann battalion . The action of the February 12th battalion allowed the Thälmann battalion to hold the front line. On the night of July 26-27, the nationalists attacked the positions of the February 12th battalion twice, both night attacks being repulsed. After the situation had calmed down, the battalion was withdrawn from the front on the night of July 27-28. It then took up rest on July 29th.

Greater Madrid

On September 30, 1937, the battalion was withdrawn from the front and transferred to Villalba de Madrid . Training with tanks took place near El Escorial .

Battle of Belchite

At the Battle of Belchite the battalion fought at Quinto on the Ebro , east of Belchite . There the battalion was able to achieve military successes, which were bought at a high price. On September 4, 1937, the battalion was at Mediana , 30 kilometers from Saragossa . The battalion headquarters was at the Mediana White House.

people

Commanders

The battalion's first commander from June to August 1937 was Harry Hellfeld . Further commanders were Karl Bauer (Aug. - Oct. 1937), Emil Reuter (Oct. - March 1937), Karl Rimbach (March - April 1938), Adolf Reiner (April - Aug. 1938) and Willy Benz (Aug. - Jan . 1939).

Political officers

Political commissioner was Walter Knobloch when the battalion was formed . Other political commissioners were Leo Wurzel (Aug. - Sept. 1937) and Paul Steiner (Oct. - July 1938) and Spanish political commissioners.

Other members of the battalion

Tyrolean Spanish fighter

According to a study published in 2010 by the Innsbruck historian Friedrich Stepanek, there were 40 interbrigadists from Tyrol known by name . These were all in the XI. Interbrigade deployed.

At least five of the Tyrolean interbrigadists were involved in the Höttinger Saalschlacht in Innsbruck in 1932 . Some of them also fought in battles during the civil war in 1934 in the Tyrolean Unterland near Wörgl, Kirchbichl and Häring and had to flee due to the persecution that followed by the Austro-Fascist regime .

The Tyrolean interbrigadists included Max Bair , Hubert Mayr and Josef Perterer .

Commemoration

At the Vienna Central Cemetery there is a memorial to the fallen Austrian fighters in Spain.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Patrik von zur Mühlen , Spain was their hope. The German Left in the Spanish Civil War 1936 to 1939 , (PDF file; 9.66 MB), Verlag Neue Gesellschaft, Bonn 1983, ISBN 3-87831-375-6 , page 213
  2. ^ Battalions and Brigades , page 3, accessed January 25, 2014
  3. ^ Ludwig Renn: In the Spanish War , Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin and Weimar, 5th edition 1983, order number 610 912 4, pages 334 to 355
  4. ^ Hanns Maaßen : Brigada Internacional is our honorary name ... , Röderberg-Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt / Main 1976, ISBN 3-87682-515-6 , page 459
  5. ↑ a b Narrated story, Hans Landauer ( Memento of the original from January 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in the documentation archive of the Austrian resistance (DÖW), accessed on June 30, 2012  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / doewweb01.doew.at
  6. ^ Journal Contemporary History [1] (PDF; 1.4 MB) Vol 4, Number 2, 1969, page 81, accessed on June 30, 2012
  7. ↑ Journal Contemporary History [2] (PDF; 1.4 MB) Vol 4, Number 2, 1969, page 81, accessed on June 30, 2012
  8. ^ Hanns Maaßen : Brigada Internacional is our honorary name ... , Röderberg-Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt / Main 1976, ISBN 3-87682-515-6 , page 459