Franz Bernthaler

Franz Bernthaler (born October 26, 1889 in Klagenfurt (Carinthia), † April 15, 1945 in Stein an der Donau )

The senior teacher i. R. Franz Bernthaler was taken into protective custody for two months in 1938 . He was connected to the anti-fascist freedom movement in Austria and passed on “in Klagenfurt an anti-state pamphlet for the purpose of taking it abroad”. Franz Bernthaler was sentenced to death on August 11, 1944 by the People's Court for “ favoring the enemy ”. After the prisoners sentenced to death marched from Vienna to Stein ad Donau (Lower Austria) on April 15, 1945, he was shot with 43 other convicts.

From the indictment of the Oberreichsanwalts at the People's Court, May 25, 1944:

“At least since the beginning of 1943, the accused Bernthaler met more often with the accused Georg Kofler, the former police officer Kreuzberger [...] and another sympathetic friend. All four were still sticking to the idea that the Austrian monarchy must come back. At their meetings, they discussed the political and military situation in the Reich and expressed their conviction that Germany had little chance of winning the war. [...] In mid-March 1943, Bernthaler [...] got to know the accused [Karl] Lossmann. [...] Lossmann then declared that something had to be done now and that they all had to finally take action. He considered himself qualified and wanted to immediately start writing pamphlets. Bernthaler and [Georg] Kofler should then look for ways in which the leaflets could get abroad, from where they should be broadcast by radio. Bernthaler and Kofler agreed to do this. "

Ferdinand Frodl classified the letters given by Bernthaler because of his capacity as nuncio as not fit for traffic because of spelling and stylistic errors and burned them. Following this statement, he was sentenced to three years in prison for "failing to report a crime".

literature

• Wilhelm Baum: Franz Bernthaler , in: The book of names. Klagenfurt 2010, pp. 454–456.
• Wilhelm Baum: Sentenced to death. Nazi Justice and Resistance in Carinthia, Klagenfurt 2012

Individual evidence

1. ^ Entry on Franz Bernthaler in the document archive of the Austrian resistance  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ Entry on Ferdinand Frodl in the document archive of the Austrian resistance ( Memento of the original from December 20, 2010 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.