Humbert Spitzer

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Humbert Spitzer (born April 28, 1923 in Vienna ; † March 15, 2004 ) was the longstanding chairman of the Vienna Deaf and Mute Welfare Association (WITAF).

Life

Humbert Spitzer was born in 1923 as the second of four brothers. He was already severely hard of hearing at birth and attended school for the hard of hearing until he was twelve. After the divorce of his parents, he grew up in the Jewish orphanage in Döbling and attended the Deaf and Dumb Institute in Döbling, which he, however, due to the power of the Nazis had to leave since March 1938th After he had forcibly spent some time in a home for Jewish youth, he had to do forced labor in the Krieau and at the Nordbahnhof . His memories of the time of persecution were processed in several video films as part of a research project.

In 1945 he was released from camp detention. His father was murdered by the National Socialists in Yugoslavia , and his third brother was killed in a bomb attack on Vienna in 1945. Humbert Spitzer himself became completely deaf and suffered frostbite as a result of forced labor. In 1945 he became a member of WITAF, in 1950 he was elected as chairman's deputy and in 1959 as chairman.

In the course of his work, Humbert Spitzer was able to achieve the following:

  • the construction of the new home for the deaf and dumb in the small Pfarrgasse in Vienna
  • the driver's license for the deaf
  • the new building of the association's own “Edelweißhütte” home for the deaf
  • the lifting of the ban on sign language in schools for the deaf
  • the impetus for the installation of an outpatient clinic for the deaf in Vienna

Honors

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Deaf Austrians under National Socialism. accessed on January 11, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Spitzer, Humbert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Long-term chairman of WITAF (Vienna Deaf-Mute Welfare Association)
DATE OF BIRTH April 28, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH March 15, 2004