Johann Heinrich Blumenthal (officer)

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Johann Heinrich Blumenthal (born June 5, 1895 in Vienna , † April 29, 1964 in Baden near Vienna ) was an Austrian officer , lawyer and military scientist . He was a resistance fighter against National Socialism and a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp .

Life

Johann Heinrich Blumenthal, of Jewish descent (three grandparents) and practicing Roman Catholic Christian, was born as the son of a doctor of law. At the age of 19, after graduating from high school , he joined the 3rd Tyrolean Kaiserjäger regiment as a war volunteer . After the reserve officer training, he was first deployed on the Italian front (Dolomites) as a platoon commander. In August 1916 he became a lieutenant in the reserve, and from December he was deployed in the car troop in occupied Romania. In 1918 he finished his war deployment in 1918 as a first lieutenant in the reserve.

After the First World War he studied at the University of Vienna and was awarded a Dr. jur. utr. (Doctor of Both Rights) PhD. He then completed historical studies (without a degree) a. a. with Hans von Voltelini , Alfons Dopsch , Hans Hirsch and Josef Strzygowski and completed an interpreting exam for French and English. In 1935/36 he performed weapons exercises as a first lieutenant in the Austrian army . In 1936 he became a contract employee in the Federal Ministry for National Defense , where he was deputy press officer . During this time he published numerous works on the history of war, literature and culture. In March 1938 he was taken over as first lieutenant in the administrative service in the armed forces, but in November 1938 he was retired at his own request.

After the “ Anschluss ” in 1938, as an indomitable Austrian patriot , he was exposed to severe political persecution: He was arrested on July 23, 1940 for participating in the resistance group of the bourgeois “ Greater Austrian Freedom Movement ” - he was a contact person for the former Austrian officer corps - and was imprisoned for four years sentenced; he was u. a. Gestapo prisoner . Most recently, he was responsible for about one year forced labor in the Auschwitz concentration camp imprisoned (Oswiecim).

Released after the end of the war, he worked as a translator for British intelligence services and advocated a western-oriented Austrian military intelligence service in the Soviet-occupied zone , which is why he had to flee to the US zone in Salzburg . Blumenthal was then active in art history for the local government .

In 1947 he joined the war archives in the Austrian State Archives in Vienna as state archivist first class . He was also appointed major in the reserve. After the re-establishment of the armed forces, he became the first head of the military science department of the national defense ministry from 1956 to 1960 . Most recently he was senior administrative councilor and (honorary) colonel of calm.

As a teacher of war history and the French language at the Theresian Military Academy and the Staff Academy (later: National Defense Academy ), he gave several generations of officers a vivid picture of old Austria and its army. In it "the idealism of the officer and the spirituality of a highly educated humanist combined with the courtesy of an Austrian to whom the baroque legacy was more than a reminiscence" ( Johann Christoph Allmayer-Beck ). For Peter Broucek and Kurt Peball he was the “very rare example of a military idealist and deeply believing Christian and Austrian patriot”, who after 1945 stood together with Ludwig Jedlicka at the “cradle of [Austrian] military history”.

In 1963 he participated in the volume Our Army. 300 years of Austrian soldiers in war and peace .

Awards

Fonts (selection)

  • Carl Freiherr Torresani. His life and work. (= Austria series Volume 30/31). Bergland Verlag, Vienna 1957.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Broucek : Military Resistance. Studies on the Austrian state sentiment and Nazi defense . Böhlau, Vienna a. a. 2008, ISBN 978-3-205-77728-1 , p. 363.
  2. ↑ Radomír Luža : The Resistance in Austria 1938–1945 . Österreichischer Bundesverlag, Vienna 1985, ISBN 3-215-05477-9 , p. 67.
  3. ↑ Hubert Zeinar : Manager in uniform. Development and tradition of the officer's profession . Neuer Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-7083-0031-9 , p. 99.
  4. ^ A b Peter Broucek , Kurt Peball : currents and goals since 1945 . In: Ders .: History of Austrian Military Historiography . Böhlau, Cologne a. a. 2000, ISBN 3-412-05700-2 , p. 120.
  5. ^ Peter Broucek , Kurt Peball : Trends and Goals since 1945 . In: Ders .: History of Austrian Military Historiography . Böhlau, Cologne a. a. 2000, ISBN 3-412-05700-2 , p. 135.
  6. ^ Peter Broucek , Kurt Peball : Trends and Goals since 1945 . In: Ders .: History of Austrian Military Historiography . Böhlau, Cologne a. a. 2000, ISBN 3-412-05700-2 , p. 134.
personal data
SURNAME Blumenthal, Johann Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian officer, lawyer and military scientist
DATE OF BIRTH June 5, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH April 29, 1964
Place of death Baden near Vienna