Kurt Fuchs (soldier)

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Kurt Fuchs (born on August 27, 1919 in Graz ; died on March 8, 1945 in Vienna ) was an Austrian soldier. As a deserter from the Wehrmacht , he was executed by shooting .

Life

Fuchs was a waiter. He was drafted into the Wehrmacht at the end of 1938. In 1943 he was convicted four times, including twice for "unauthorized removal". The total sentence was around six years and he was assigned to Field Criminal Prisoner Division 17 on the Russian front. Fuchs used a transport to a hospital in February 1944 to transfer. He stated that he was a free soldier and had lost his pay book . Due to further false information, he was transferred to France and finally to the replacement unit in St. Pölten . On August 20, 1944, he came to Vienna and went into hiding. Passers-by reported a deserted soldier and on October 24, 1944, Fuchs was arrested.

The hearing took place in the Court of Division No. 177 . Fuchs stated that he had wanted to avoid a return to the field prisoner division 17 under all circumstances, "but had the intention to find accommodation with another force as a free soldier". The court, however, assumed that his intention was to “wait for the end of the war” in Vienna. He was sentenced to death on December 29, 1944: “In the opinion of the court, the defendant is no longer to be regarded as a useful member of the national community and it would therefore be completely wrong in today's world when countless people of the best German blood are giving their lives have to drag such a person as the accused. "

On February 20, 1945, Fuchs stood before the divisional court again, the death sentence was not yet final. He was sentenced to six years in prison for decomposing military strength ( self-mutilation and aiding and abetting self-mutilation). On March 8, 1945, two months before the Nazi regime surrendered , he was executed by shooting at the Kagran military firing range.

swell

  • Brigitte Bailer , Wolfgang Maderthaner , Kurt Scholz (eds.): "The execution proceeded without any special features". Executions in Vienna, 1938–1945 . Mandelbaum Verlag, Vienna 2013, p. 59–61 ( online [PDF]).
  • Lisa Rettl : Leopold Breitler - a judging career between adaptation and duty . In: Thomas Geldmacher, Magnus Koch, Hannes Metzler, Peter Pirker , Lisa Rettl (eds.): "We won't take part anymore ...": Austrian soldiers and civilians before courts of the Wehrmacht . 1st edition. Mandelbaum Verlag, Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-85476-341-3 , p. 210-211 ( online [PDF]).
  • Fritz Wüllner: The Nazi military justice and the misery of historiography: a fundamental research report . 2nd Edition. Nomos-Verlag-Ges., Baden-Baden 1997, ISBN 3-7890-4578-0 , p. 357 ( online ).

further reading

  • Thomas Geldmacher, Magnus Koch, Hannes Metzler, Peter Pirker , Lisa Rettl (editors): "We're not taking part anymore ..." Austrian soldiers and civilians before Wehrmacht courts. Mandelbaum, Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-85476-341-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Review on h-soz-kult
personal data
SURNAME Fuchs, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian deserter of the Wehrmacht and victim of Nazi military justice
DATE OF BIRTH August 27, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Graz
DATE OF DEATH March 8, 1945
Place of death Vienna