Karl Ammer (resistance fighter)

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Stumbling block for Karl Ammer

Karl Ammer (born September 15, 1898 in Pettenbach ; died February 16, 1945 in Mauthausen concentration camp ) was an Austrian locksmith , communist functionary and resistance fighter against the Nazi regime . He was killed in Mauthausen concentration camp.

Life

In 1912 Ammer moved from Linz-Urfahr , where he spent part of his childhood, to Wels . He learned the trade of a locksmith and worked as a machinist. In 1916 he was called up for military service and served as a private at the front until the end of the war. In 1919 the Wels KPÖ organization was founded, which he immediately joined. When he became unemployed, he devoted himself entirely to work in the party. In 1929 the KPÖ leadership in Wels consisted of Karl Ammer, Hans Klausmair, Max Machlinger, Franz Schöringhumer and Sepp Zwirchmayr.

Even after the KPÖ was banned on May 26, 1933, the communists remained active. From February 1934 Ammer acted as area manager of the Red Aid in Wels, which he was involved in setting up. He was monitored by the police and a dagger was found during a police search of his home in 1935 . Ammer had no authorization, the dagger was confiscated and Ammer had to pay a fine of ten shillings . In 1937 Ammer emigrated to Jersey , England , because he no longer felt safe in Austria, but returned to Wels after a year. In 1938 the KPÖ-Wels appointed him as their district chairman and retained this position even after the annexation of Austria by the National Socialists .

In a Gestapo directory of Upper Austrian communists from August 16, 1938, he was referred to as the “chairman of the Red Aid, local group Wels, and area manager of the anti-fascist committee in Wels”: “He stayed in Wels for 14 days in 1937 and had like-minded people in Wels Contact was made and telegraphed back to England under an alias. He's still an agile communist, ”the report says. From 1940 the communists intensified their illegal work under the leadership of Ammer, Klausmair, Schöringhumer and Franz Loher, but from 1941 onwards numerous KP activists were arrested by the Gestapo. As a result, so-called "groups of five" were introduced as a precaution. In the groups in Wels, Linz and Gmunden, only five people knew each other. Even family members were not allowed to be informed about the illegal activity. Despite these precautions, the Gestapo succeeded in smuggling informers into the Red Aid and uncovering the so-called Wels Group and its contacts in large parts of Upper Austria . This process began on September 7, 1944 with a raid in Wels, during which the majority of the members were arrested, including Cäcilia Fischill , who had been recruited by Ammer for the Red Aid . She was taken to the Kaplanhof women's prison in Linz. Karl Ammer himself was taken to Mauthausen concentration camp, where, according to the protocol, he was murdered on February 16, 1945.

Commemoration

Memorial plaque for the Wels resistance fighters

His name appears on the memorial plaque for the Wels resistance fighters in Pollheimerpark. On August 14, 2008, the German artist Gunter Demnig laid a stumbling block for Karl Ammer in front of his last voluntarily chosen residence at Goethestrasse 21 . In a speech, the Wels City Councilor for Culture, Friedrich Ganzert, paid tribute to the importance of communist resistance, and some schoolgirls read the resistance fighter's biography .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ KPÖ Upper Austria: Six “stumbling blocks” in Wels , August 14, 2008
personal data
SURNAME Ammer, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian locksmith, communist functionary and resistance fighter against the Nazi regime
DATE OF BIRTH September 15, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Pettenbach
DATE OF DEATH February 16, 1945
Place of death Mauthausen concentration camp