Josef Noldin

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Josef Noldin (1888–1929)
Obituary for Josef Noldin in the daily newspaper Dolomiten on December 16, 1929, p. 3

Josef Noldin (born November 25, 1888 in Salurn , † December 14, 1929 in Bozen ) was a lawyer and organizer of private schools in South Tyrol during the fascist era .

In 1906 Noldin passed the final examination with distinction at the Franciscan high school in Bozen and then studied law in Innsbruck after completing his military service from 1907 . There he became an active member of the AKV Tirolia in the Cartel Association of Catholic Non-Colored Academic Associations in Austria (ÖKV). In 1912 he finished his studies with honors with a doctorate and became a lawyer. When the First World War broke out , Noldin was drafted immediately and seriously wounded shortly afterwards. In 1915 he was taken prisoner by Russia, which he had to spend in Siberia - most recently in Vladivostok - and which lasted until 1920. In the winter of 1920 he was finally released and was able to return to his homeland, where he arrived in April 1921. Then he settled as a lawyer in Salurn.

When he was released in Vladivostok, Italian officers demanded a written declaration that he considered himself an Italian citizen. Noldin refused to give this explanation.

As an opponent of Italianization , he became a representative of the German Association shortly before it was banned .

When the German language was banned in South Tyrolean schools in 1923, he organized private schools with Canon Michael Gamper , who was also a member of the Innsbruck student union Tirolia, to enable German-language teaching in private homes. These schools were called " catacomb schools ". When teachers were arrested by the Italian police, Noldin defended them in court. He was sentenced to imprisonment and fines in 1925 for his support for the secret schools. When a law was passed in Italy in 1926 according to which people could be arrested and exiled without a judicial decision, Noldin was arrested on the basis of this law in 1927 and exiled to the island of Lipari for five years .

In February 1928, the South Tyrol issue and Noldin's banishment were discussed in the parliament in Vienna. Dictator Mussolini declared that Noldin's banishment was justified because his behavior was "anti-fascist, ie counter-revolutionary". The KV demanded the release several times, most recently at its meeting of representatives in Fulda in July 1928. However, Noldin was only released from exile on December 12, 1928 and returned to Salurn, although he was banned from working and traveling.

In the summer of 1928, in the hot Lipari climate, Noldin was infected with a malaria-like fever, and the Italian authorities prohibited him from leaving for medical treatment. Noldin died of the consequences of this disease at the age of only 41. He was buried in Salurn; only his initials were allowed on his grave cross.

At the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of Noldin's death, Canon Gamper described him as the “martyr figure” of the Bozener Unterland .

Josef Noldin's grave in Salurn

In Tramin, Leifers , Innsbruck and Vienna streets are named after Noldin. In 1988 the Salurn municipal council decided to rename the street on which Noldin's birthplace is located from “Romstraße” to “Dr.-Josef-Noldin-Straße”. The birthplace is now a youth hostel and serves as a meeting point for German and Italian youth.

Noldin was married to Mela Dallago; the marriage had four children. The daughter Traudl Noldin († 1994) was married to the South Tyrolean politician Alfons Benedikter . His grandson Thomas Benedikter wrote a book about Noldin in 2000 ("I don't want grace, I want law"). The book was made into a film in 2012 by director Luis Walter, while Noldin was played by his grandson Rudi Benedikter.

literature

  • Siegfried Koß: For J. Noldin's 100th birthday. In: Academic monthly sheets 1988, issue 5, p. 16 f.
  • Elmar Oberkofler: Josef Noldin - for language and law. In: Dolomites of November 26, 1988
  • Siegfried Koß, Wolfgang Löhr (Hrsg.): Biographical Lexicon of KV. 1st part (= Revocatio historiae. Volume 2). SH-Verlag, Schernfeld 1991, ISBN 3-923621-55-8 , p. 70 ff.
  • Michael Gehler :  Noldin, Josef. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-00200-8 , p. 330 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Christoph Hartung von Hartungen and Alois Sparber (eds.): Josef Noldin: his commitment - his self-sacrifice - his after-effects. Bolzano: Athesia 2009. ISBN 978-88-8266-619-4
  • Hans Karl Peterlini : Dissident reports from Tyrol. Biographical fragments of political foreignness between Prague, Brixen, Trient, Salurn . In: Hannes Obermair et al. (Ed.): Regional civil society in motion / Cittadini innanzi tutto. Festschrift for / scritti in onore di Hans Heiss. Vienna-Bozen: Folio 2012. ISBN 978-3-85256-618-4 , pp. 424–442.
  • Thomas Benedikter (Ed.): “I don't want grace, I want justice”: Josef Noldin 1888–1929. Champion for the German school in South Tyrol: his life, his time, his diary on Lipari. Bolzano: Athesia 2000. ISBN 88-8266-086-9
  • Luis Walter: Documentary "In Josef Noldin's footsteps" based on the book "I don't want grace, but law" by Thomas Benedikter

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Gehler:  Noldin, Josef. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-00200-8 , p. 330 f. ( Digitized version ).
  2. ↑ Michael Gamper: Speech on the occasion of the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the death of Dr. Josef Noldin on December 14, 1949. In: Dolomites. Tagblatt der Südtiroler from December 15, 1949

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Noldin, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lawyer and organizer of private schools in South Tyrol during the time of fascism
DATE OF BIRTH November 25, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Salurn
DATE OF DEATH December 14, 1929
Place of death Bolzano