Karl Halaunbrenner

Karl Siegfried Halaunbrenner (born May 17, 1881 in Comăneşti in Romania; † December 22, 1938 in Buchenwald concentration camp ) was k.k. in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. State police in Bucovina and Burgenland .

Life

After Halaunbrenner had completed his school education and military service in 1905, he joined the kk Landesgendarmeriekommando, in the following years he rose to the position of sergeant and post leader. During the First World War he was used for reconnaissance against the Russian army . When Bukovina fell to Romania after the collapse of the monarchy, he fled to Vienna , where he was able to resume his profession. In 1922 he moved to the Burgenland regional gendarmerie command. In 1925 he was transferred to Großpetersdorf , due to conflicts with the local population in the posts in Pamhagen , Halbturn and Hagensdorf . There he was promoted to post commander.

Archaeologist and collector

After moving to southern Burgenland, Karl Halaunbrenner began to devote himself increasingly to his hobby, scientific research into the Celtic and Roman colonization of the region. Around 1928 he took part in archaeological excavations, which he carried out alone over time. Most of them were larger finds of Roman barrows , which he uncovered in Badersdorf , Eisenberg an der Pinka , Güttenbach , Hamisch , Kirchfidisch , Kleinpetersdorf , Kotezicken , Miedlingsdorf and Zubersbach . In cooperation with his friend, the museum director of the Burgenland State Museum Alphons Barb , and the sponsor and collector Sánder Wolf, he collected countless documents and secured archaeological finds. In his free time he supervised excavations and emergency excavations in the Oberwart district . Because of his many works, the Roman aqueduct in Rechnitz , the Roman burial chamber in Großpetersdorf and the Roman milestone in Kohfidisch were found. His collections included hundreds of Burgenland folk songs that he donated to the State Museum. His results were published in regional journals. He has received numerous letters of recognition from various academic institutions in Austria. He was also appointed honorary conservator by the Federal Chancellery .

Halaunbrenner also collected writings from communities and corporations and handed them over to the State Museum . With the establishment of the Burgenland State Archives in 1930, these archives were handed over to the latter. On August 4, 1930 he was given the five-year authorization to be archivist at the Federal Chancellery, which made contact with other archives easier for him. On August 2, 1935, he also handed over 35 kg of archive material from various communities to the State Museum. An important part of his work as archivist was the manor and palace archives of southern Burgenland . Halaunbrenner's greatest achievement was the collection and processing of archives from Burgenland's Jewish communities and private writings in the Burgenland's Jewish Central Archives . Due to his work in Burgenland, an archive was set up in Eisenstadt. The room used was an empty room in the Jewish primary school, which was made available by the state government for archival purposes. In the attic of the so-called Jewish building in Güssing , he found numerous archives from two granddaughters of the former rabbi Jakob Pollak . The siblings stated that they had burned more than double of this ancient script. A large collection of songs, sayings and rhymes also emerged from his collecting activity. The songs he has collected are still part of the burgenland folk song collection .

Conflicts

However, his love for science as a researcher soon became his undoing. For neglect of his duties as a gendarme he was sentenced to a disciplinary sentence in November 1933, which should reduce his service income by 15% for one year. However, this was issued to him by the Federal President. Halaunbrenner admitted to having devoted himself to his passion during his service, but he justified himself by saying that he preferred to use his free time meaningfully with science, in contrast to his colleagues, who preferred to spend their time in the inn. During his trial, Halaunbrenner complained about the incomprehension of the other gendarmerie officials about his research and about the hostility of his fellow men because of his Jewish faith. As a civil servant, he also took action against the banned National Socialist and Social Democratic parties and thus drew the anger of the population. He fought particularly intensely against the National Socialists, which is why he had them obliged to perform cleaning services in order to clean the objects they stained. Because of his hostility to the Nazis, he was threatened by several supporters of the party. However, in February 1938, Halaunbrenner was given a post in the National Socialist stronghold of Oberschützen for reasons unknown . Halaunbrenner repeatedly complained about the situation he found himself in as a Jew, including in a conversation with his friend, the museum director Alphons Barb, in which he reported about intrigues against himself and about stories of lies in which he was accused of selling objects . Ultimately, Halaunbrenner was arrested by the SS on the day of the Anschluss on March 12, 1938, because of his belief .

assassination

After the arrest by the SS on the day of the Anschluss on March 12, 1938, District Inspector Karl Halaunbrenner was taken to the Dachau concentration camp after severe abuse . After a while he was transferred to the Buchenwald concentration camp , where he was murdered on December 22nd, 1938 as prisoner with the number 1255.

literature

• Herbert Brettl: National Socialism in Burgenland. Victim. Perpetrator. Opponent. Innsbruck 2012, pp. 99-100, ISBN 978-3706548489

Web links

• Herbert Brettl: "And all because I'm Jewish!"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Herbert Brettl: National Socialism in Burgenland. Victim. Perpetrator. Opponent. Innsbruck 2012, ISBN 9783706548489 , pp. 99-100.
2. ↑ Gert Polster: A gendarme as a local historian . In: Culture connects. Administration. Mediation. Visions . WAB Volume 155. Eisenstadt 2015, p. 141 f.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Gert Polster: A gendarme as a local historian . In: Culture connects. Administration. Mediation. Visions . WAB Volume 155. Eisenstadt 2015, p. 144.