Franz Leitner

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Franz Leitner, February 1, 2005
Franz Leitner, February 1, 2005

Franz Leitner (born February 12, 1918 in Wiener Neustadt ; † October 20, 2005 in Höf-Präbach , Styria ) was an Austrian KPÖ politician and “Righteous Among the Nations” . He was a member of the state parliament in Styria and state party chairman of the KPÖ-Styria.

Live and act

In 1936 Leitner finished his education at the State Trade School for Mechanical Engineering with the Matura . In that year he was sentenced to four months' imprisonment and a 15-month police sentence for his membership in the then illegal Communist Youth Association (KJV) . At the beginning of the Second World War , on September 1, 1939, Leitner was arrested and deported to the Buchenwald concentration camp .

In his role as block elder of the “children's block” (Barrack 8), assigned to him from October 1943 , in which up to 400 children were interned, he successfully campaigned for better prison conditions. In addition, he saved the lives of numerous Jewish children (including the later Ashkenazi Grand Rabbi of the State of Israel and current Chief Rabbi of the City of Tel Aviv , Israel Meir Lau ), for which he was given the honorary title " Righteous Among the Nations " in 1999 from the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem. was awarded. Franz Leitner actively supported the liberation of the concentration camp prisoners in Buchenwald by the 3rd US Army .

In May 1945 Leitner returned to Wiener Neustadt and became District Secretary of the KPÖ there. In 1946 he reached the office of deputy mayor and in 1950 a seat on the city council. In 1953 Leitner took over party offices in Graz, first as state secretary and from 1958 to 1979 as state party chairman of the Styrian KPÖ. From 1961 to 1970 he was a member of the Styrian state parliament. He was also a member of the Central Committee for several periods and from 1970 to 1977 a member of the Politburo of the KPÖ.

Franz Leitner remained politically active as long as he could. Whether as regional chairman of the Central Association of Pensioners or as a member of the Presidium of the Federal Association of Former Austrian Resistance Fighters and Victims of Fascism ( Concentration Camp Association / Association of Antifascists - VdA ) - he was always ready to do his utmost.

He passed on his knowledge and experience as a contemporary witness well into old age, especially in educating young people about right-wing extremism . The following quote - formulated a few months before his death - in an address of greeting for the official commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp can be taken as Franz Leitner's motto:

" We, the last surviving eyewitnesses of the crimes of Nazism, call out to you: 'Our difficult past must never become the future of our children and grandchildren!' "

- Greeting from Franz Leitner on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp, April 11, 2005)

Film documentaries - Decently Die by Richard Kriesche and Walter Müller (2001) and the resistance fighter Franz Leitner from the ARGE Youth Against Violence and Racism (2003) - tell of the life and struggles of Franz Leitner. In March 2016, ORF III broadcast the film Righteous Among the Nations - Franz Leitner for the first time on Saturday with the focus on zeit.geschichte .

Awards

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d hgh: A "Righteous Man " - Franz Leitner , commemorative article in the Graz magazine Korso , er 2N005; 5; oWebsite www.kpoe-steiermark.at, accessed on March 15, 2016.
  2. ^ A b Greetings from Franz Leitner for the official commemorative event for the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp, April 11, 2005 , website www.kpoe-graz.at, accessed on March 15, 2016.
  3. ↑ a b c d Farewell to Franz Leitner , funeral speech, delivered by Ernest Kaltenegger, October 27, 2005, website www.kpoe-steiermark.at, accessed on March 16, 2016.
  4. ↑ Information about Franz Leitner , website alte.kpoe.at, accessed on March 15, 2016.
  5. ↑ Decent die - Franz Leitner - a resistance fighter in Buchenwald ( Memento of 19 October 2013 Internet Archive ), movie information site Kultur.graz.at, accessed on 15 March 2016th
  6. ^ The resistance fighter Franz Leitner ( Memento from January 26, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ), Film-Information, Stadtbibliothek.graz.at website, accessed on March 15, 2016.
  7. ↑ Righteous Among the Nations - Franz Leitner , information page on tv.orf.at/orf3, accessed on March 14, 2016.
  8. ↑ City of Vienna honors our Franz Leitner , website kpoe-graz.at, accessed on March 15, 2016.

Web links

Commons : Franz Leitner  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Leitner, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian politician (KPÖ), member of the state parliament and "Righteous Among the Nations"
DATE OF BIRTH February 12, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Wiener Neustadt
DATE OF DEATH October 20, 2005
Place of death Höf-Präbach