Friedrich Birsak

Friedrich Birsak (born February 22, 1909 in Vienna ; † December 23, 1997 ibid) was an Austrian professional officer.

Life

Friedrich Birsak was the son of Georg Birsak, a professional soldier and lieutenant in the accounting department in the Austro-Hungarian Army , and his wife Maria. From 1920 to 1928 he attended the Federal Education Institute Vienna XIII, where he also graduated . He then volunteered for the armed forces and, after graduating from the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt, was retired as a lieutenant in the infantry in 1932 . In 1935 he became the newly formed Austrian Guard - Battalion added and was during mating day for the protection of the then Austrian President in March 1938 Miklas responsible. As such, he and his unit prevented the presidential residence from being occupied by SS men under Otto Skorzeny . After being taken over as first lieutenant in the German Wehrmacht after the annexation of Austria, he served in the Vienna Guard Battalion and in August 1940 took over a company in Poland, which was occupied by German troops. With this he took part in the Russian campaign and was seriously wounded in August 1941. After recovering, he was deployed as a captain and later a major on the Western Front and was taken prisoner by the Americans in September 1944. After returning home in 1946, he initially worked in civilian professions, but already on August 1, 1952, he joined the B-Gendarmerie and became the commandant of the Upper Austria I Gendarmerie School. September 1955 in Vienna, where Federal President Körner received his report in the inner courtyard. From 1957 to 1959 he was the commander of the 8th Mountain Brigade in Salzburg and at the same time the military commander of this state. In 1959 he was appointed to the Federal Ministry for National Defense in Vienna and appointed infantry inspector. In this position he worked - from July 1, 1968 as a brigadier - until his retirement on December 31, 1974. He was a figure of old Austrian elegance and widely known as the officer who had marched into Vienna in 1955 as a commander with the first Austrian troops since 1938. Birsak was buried at the Hietzingen cemetery .

literature

• Erwin A. Schmidl: March 38th. The German invasion of Austria. Österreichischer Bundesverlag, Vienna 1987, p. 133, ISBN 3-215-06694-7 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Schmidl, p. 133.
2. ↑ The Civil Guard of the City of Salzburg: 1287–2005 Hermann Hinterstoisser, Gert Korell, Friederike Zaisberger , Society for Salzburg Regional Studies, 2005.