Kornel Abel

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Kornel Abel (birth name: Cornelius Eugen Maria Abeles ; born August 1, 1881 in Vienna ; † after February 1, 1940 ) was a Jewish officer in the joint army of the Austro-Hungarian land forces and author of the autobiographical novel Karst. A book from the Isonzo , in which he presented his war experiences in the Austro-Hungarian army during the First World War during the Isonzo battles.

Life

Origin and training as an officer

The family name of Abel, who came from a Jewish family, was changed in 1882. After his father's death in 1884 , his mother converted with him and his siblings to the Catholic faith . After attending school, he entered the infantry cadet school in the Stiftskaserne in September 1897 , which was relocated to the Breitenseer Kaserne in 1898 , and graduated with honors in June 1901. Subsequently, he was initially employed as a recruit trainer in the Moravian military police battalion No. 25 and as a teacher at the non-commissioned officer training school in Mostywiełkie , before he was promoted to lieutenant in 1902 and joined the local intelligence department, of which he became boss in 1903.

In 1904 he moved to the troop hospital in Mostywiełkie as a ward and economics officer and then attended the Austro-Hungarian War School in Mauer near Vienna from September 1906 to 1909 . After graduating, he was promoted to first lieutenant in 1909 and was then a teacher at the military junior high school in Straß Castle , today's Archduke Johann Barracks, in Straß in Styria, and then a teacher of German , French and history at the military junior high school in Kőszeg .

At the end of 1912 he became company commander in the Imperial and Royal Galician infantry regiment "Gustav V King of the Swedes, the Goths and Wends" No. 10 , in which he was also a battalion weapons officer and instructor of the shooting course for officers. In 1913 he switched to the 16th Corps Command in Ragusa as a concept officer . During his work there he wrote the novella Ivo Pian and the manuscripts Die Auszugung , Birthday Party on the Adamello and The Great Silent Woman , which, however, were only found in his estate in Leipzig in 1970 .

First World War and participation in the Isonzo battles

After the beginning of the First World War he was wounded twice on the Serbian front as a company commander of the 10th Infantry Regiment and was promoted to captain after starting his employment as a staff officer .

In 1915 he changed as an officer to the general staff at the group command of the 1st Infantry Division and took part in the first , second and third Isonzo battles from June 23 to November 3, 1915 . At the end of 1915 he married Esther Maria von den Velden from Thuringia in Weimar , whose father was the painter, genealogist and heraldist Adolf Emil von den Velden, while her mother was a descendant of Johann Gottfried Schadow , who, among other things, ruled the Quadriga in 1793 Brandenburg Gate created.

During the Fifth Isonzo Battle in March 1916, he took over the representation of the battalion adjutant who had fallen immediately after the start of the battle and captured 561 Italian soldiers with his unit during the five-day battle . He has received several awards for his military service and commitment.

Abel then became an officer in the General Staff of the 17th Infantry Brigade in Jamiano and took part in the sixth to ninth Isonzo battles until November 1916. Then at the end of 1916 he became head of the branch at the military command in Vienna and held this post until January 28, 1918. On March 23, 1918, he was also awarded the Knight's Cross of the Franz Joseph Order for his services in the First World War .

After his promotion to major on May 1, 1920, he worked as a liquidator in the military command and submitted an application to join the armed forces . Despite a positive assessment for suitability as battalion commander and group leader, he entered the on April 1, 1921 retirement .

Post war and karst. A book from the Isonzo

After his retirement in 1925 he became honorary managing director of the Austria-German Volksbund, the chairman of which was Hermann Neubacher , who became mayor of Vienna on March 12, 1938 after Austria was annexed to the German Empire .

In 1934 his book Karst was published for the first time by the Salzburg- based publisher Anton Pustet . A book from the Isonzo in which he described his war experiences during the Isonzo battles. After an Italian translation was published in 1935 , his book, the first edition of which contained a foreword by Bruno Brehm , was published by Pustet-Verlag in 1936 in its third edition.

After Abel left Vienna with his wife in 1939, he moved to his wife's hometown in Weimar. His last sign of life was a letter to the Military Pension Office in Vienna on 2 February 1940. After that, he was considered lost, while his wife in 1942 on April 3 suicide because of the imminent deportation to a concentration camp committed.

Most recently, a translation of his book into Slovene was published in 2008 with the title Kras, knjiga o Soči .

Publications

  • Karst: A book from Isonzo , Verlag Anton Pustet, 1934

Background literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Verlag Anton Pustet . In: Austrian publishing history 1918–1938
  2. Kras, knjiga o Soči ( Google Books )