Grete Jost

Grete Jost (born May 26, 1916 in Vienna ; † January 15, 1943 there ; also Margarete Jost or Gretl Jost ) was a communist resistance fighter against Austrofascism and National Socialism .

Origin, education and profession

Grete Jost came from a working-class family in Vienna-Erdberg and attended elementary and secondary school in her childhood and youth. She and her sisters were brought up according to their social democratic parental home, she visited the (social democratic) child friends and the workers gymnastics club. In 1931 Jost started her job as a shoe seller and became a member of the free trade unions . However, after a short time she became unemployed and did not return to work as a saleswoman in a knitwear shop until 1937.

Politics and resistance struggle

In 1934 Jost joined the Communist Party of Austria and helped relatives of prisoners with illegality and was a cell cashier. After the National Socialists seized power, they continued their fight against fascism. She belonged to the "Provincial Commission" of the KPÖ and was the liaison between Vienna and Baden and the surrounding area . She transported u. a. illegal literature like the Rote Fahne , Weg und Ziel and materials for soldiers' work .

She was arrested on February 8, 1941. She also tried to organize the resistance in prison. On September 23, 1942, Jost was sentenced to death for “preparing for high treason”. She was beheaded on January 15, 1943 in the Vienna Regional Court . Her last words are said to have been: "Long live freedom!"

Quote

In her last letter of December 6, 1942, Grete Jost wrote:

“… I often stand by the window for a long time (when I stand on the bed, the window starts at forehead level) and look at the little piece of sky that I can see (it's really only very small, we're on the ground floor) and dream . I often think of the words Mary Queen of Scots said so beautifully: 'Hurried clouds, sailors of the air, who hiked with you, who sailed with you ...' Should I have the same fate as a Maria Stuart? I think fate is too big for me. She was a queen, but I'm just a working girl ... "

- Grete Jost : Quoted from: Immortal Sacrifice, page 74

Commemoration

A memorial plaque is attached to her former home in the Rabenhof municipal housing estate (3rd district of Vienna), Baumgasse 39. In 1997, a nearby park (Erdbergstrasse 1–3) was named after her.

Web links

• Karin Nusko: Margarete (Grete) Jost. Resistance fighter (KPÖ) and unskilled worker . In: biografiA. biographical database and lexicon of austrian women.