Hermann Köhler (resistance fighter)

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Hermann Köhler ( April 23, 1906 - April 17, 1945 in Mauthausen concentration camp ), known in the party as Konrad Hermes , was an Austrian communist and resistance fighter against National Socialism .

life and work

Köhler learned to be a carpenter and joined the Communist Youth Association of Austria (KJV) in the early twenties . In 1924 he was its chairman in Vienna- Leopoldstadt , later a representative of the KJV in the Communist Youth International (KJI). In 1930 Hermann Köhler was called to Moscow to work for a while in the youth international. From 1931 to 1933 he studied at the International Lenin School in Moscow and was a member of the Comintern's internal secret service (OMS) . His friend Charlotte Binder , a history student and also a communist, was already helping Köhler with political work in Vienna, writing leaflets and putting together training programs. She gave up her studies and followed her boyfriend to Moscow in July 1931, as did her friend Gerti Schindel , who was in a relationship with the communist functionary Anton Reisinger . Together, Köhler and Binder moved into a room in the Hotel Lux , which at that time was home to numerous leading members of the Communist International, mainly German emigrants. In 1932 he was posted to Latvia for some time, Binder stayed in Moscow.

In 1934 Köhler returned to Vienna, held the position of secretary of the KJV and was elected a member of the Central Committee at the 12th party congress of the KPÖ in September 1934 . At the 7th World Congress of the Comintern in 1935 he was one of the Austrian delegates; he experienced the annexation of Austria in 1938 in Vienna. “Together [Binder and Köhler] watch from a coffeehouse fainting on the street.” Binder emigrated to Switzerland, Köhler went to Moscow again and looked after political refugees from Austria, especially Schutzbunds .

The leadership of the KPÖ, which was active in Moscow from October 1939, considered it necessary to actively support the resistance struggle against the Nazi regime. Therefore, members of the Central Committee who were ready to carry out this task were sent to Austria several times. Together with the radio operator Emilie Boretzky, Köhler was parachuted from a Red Army aircraft on February 24, 1943 near Wimpassing an der Leitha in order to organize the illegal resistance struggle. At this point in time, the Gestapo was already aware of her arrival, and Boretzky and Koehler were arrested around a month later. He was subjected to massive torture before he was sent to Mauthausen concentration camp . Shortly before the end of the Nazi regime in 1945, Köhler was "killed by machine gun shots in the room in the crematorium that was intended for the executions." When the camp commandant informed him that he was now going to be executed, he is said to have said: "I I am ready."

Commemoration

In 1948, Hermann Köhler was given the title “ Immortal Sacrifices . Fallen in the struggle of the Communist Party for Austria's freedom ”. He was one of the twelve heroes of the Central Committee , all of them victims of the Nazi regime, who were depicted in the post-war membership book of the Communist Party of Austria .

His name can be found on a memorial plaque for twelve members of the Central Committee, which was unveiled on the occasion of the 14th party congress of the KPÖ (1948) in what was then the house of the Central Committee (9th, Wasagasse 10, today Gymnasium Wasagasse ) and was then revealed in the house of the KPÖ Vienna 10, later Ernst-Kirchweger-Haus , 10., Wielandgasse 2-4, was located.

swell

  • Jeannine Horni: Obituary for Lotte Hümbelin (= Charlotte Binder), Zurich: edition 8, accessed on March 24, 2015.
  • Alfred Klahr Society : Hermann KÖHLER (“Hermes”, “Konrad”) , with a portrait of Koehler, accessed on March 24, 2015.
  • KPÖ (ed.): Immortal victims . Fallen in the struggle of the Communist Party for Austria's freedom. Vienna undated, p. 31 f. (Hermann Koehler)
  • Willi Weinert: "I want you to always stay close to you all ..." Biographies of communist resistance fighters in Austria. With comments on the resistance struggle of the Communist Party of Austria and a list of victims , ed. from the Alfred Klahr Society and the KPÖ Steiermark. Vienna: Verlag der Alfred Klahr Gesellschaft 2005, ISBN 978-3-9501204-2-4 .

Mention of Köhler also in:

  • Donal O'Sullivan: Dealing with the Devil: Anglo-Soviet Intelligence Cooperation in the Second World War , Volume 63 of Studies in modern European history, Peter Lang 2010, ISSN  0893-6897
  • Boris Volodarsky: Stalin's Agent: The Life and Death of Alexander Orlov , Oxford University Press 2015.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Alfred Klahr Society: Hermann KÖHLER (“Hermes”, “Konrad”) , with a portrait of Köhler, accessed on March 24, 2015.
  2. ↑ a b Jeannine Horni: Obituary for Lotte Hümbelin , Zurich: edition 8, accessed on March 24, 2015.
  3. ↑ a b Manfred Mugrauer: "Soldier of the Just Cause". On the 100th birthday of the communist resistance fighter Hedy Urach , p. 11. Quoted here from Klahr-Gesellschaft , accessed on March 24, 2015
  4. ^ Memorial for the victims of the Gestapo Vienna (Vienna 1., Salztorgasse 6): "They went the other way". Organized Resistance in Austria ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 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. , accessed March 24, 2015  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / old.doew.at
  5. ↑ No longer anonymous ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 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. , Keyword: Emilie (Berta) Boretzky, processed by the documentation archive of the Austrian resistance , with a photo of the identification file of the Gestapo Vienna, accessed on March 24, 2015  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / doewweb01.doew.at
  6. ↑ KPÖ (ed.): Immortal victims. Fallen in the struggle of the Communist Party for Austria's freedom. Vienna no year, p. 32.
personal data
SURNAME Koehler, Hermann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hermes, Konrad
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian resistance fighter, KPÖ functionary and Nazi victim
DATE OF BIRTH April 23, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH uncertain: Sudetenland
DATE OF DEATH April 17, 1945
Place of death Mauthausen concentration camp