Richard Aspöck

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Richard Aspöck jun. ( June 14, 1919 in Salzburg - 1941 in the Hartheim killing center ) was an Austrian gardener assistant . He was murdered by the Nazi regime as part of Operation T4 .

Life

Richard Aspöck was born as the youngest child of a family of notaries . His father was Richard Aspöck senior, notary public in Hallein , born in 1882 or 1883, died on August 10, 1934. Richard jun. had three sisters, one of them died at the age of five as a result of the Spanish flu , a pandemic from 1918 to 1920. Richard Jr., who grew up in Radstadt and Hallein, also fell ill. He was finally housed from October 1925 to August 1928 in the Caritas institution St. Anton in Bruck an der Großglocknerstrasse , where the children were looked after by the Vöcklabruck Franciscan Sisters . On the occasion of his resignation it was noted: “Stayed with his parents because of health concerns.” Despite his impairments, he subsequently received private lessons and lived with the family.

After his parents died, Richard Aspöck came to the Evangelical Deaconess Institution in Gallneukirchen in Upper Austria in May 1939 . He lived there in the Friedenshort house and worked in the gardening shop. His most important contact person was his sister Hilda, who lived in Hallein and with whom he also spent at least a few weeks' vacation. She was also appointed his guardian by a decision of the Urfahr District Court on September 21, 1940. The decision was based on a medical report, according to which Aspöck - as a result of the Spanish flu - was “mentally weak, hard of hearing, deaf in the right ear” and “suffered from a speech disorder associated with facial strains”. Although limited incapacitation was indicated from a medical point of view , it was determined that “detention in a closed institution is out of the question, but constant supervision and guidance is necessary. He will best partake of this in an institution like the one where he is currently staying. A change in the stay is therefore not necessary ”.

Nevertheless, the cost bearer, the Gaufürsorgeverband Hallein, “ordered Richard Aspöck [...] to be transferred to the Kuchl supply house because the costs of public welfare are significantly lower compared to the Gallneukirchen facility”. Hilde Aspöck wanted to prevent her brother from being relocated and in a letter to the Kuratelgericht Linz-Land she declared that she was ready “to personally cover all of her brother's needs and not to use any public funds”. This offer was in vain. On January 13, 1941, Richard Aspöck was deported from Gallneukirchen, not to Kuchl, but - together with other foster people from the Diakoniewerk - to the Hartheim killing center near Linz . On his index card is written in red: "Departed: to unknown." Now the National Socialists' deception maneuvers began. A week later, Hilde Aspöck received a postcard informing her that her brother had been transferred to the Sonnenstein sanatorium near Pirna . In truth, her brother was murdered in Hartheim. Hilde Aspöck immediately contacted the institution and learned that "the patient's condition was satisfactory". According to the official death certificate , Richard Aspöck is said to have died of severe dysentery the following night . The sister was sent an urn from Pirna, it is not certain whether it was actually Richard Aspöck's ashes. At the end of February 1941 the urn was buried at the Hallein cemetery.

Stumbling block for Richard Aspöck in Hallein, 2014

Commemoration

In 2014, the German artist Gunter Demnig laid a Stolperstein for Richard Aspöck in Hallein in front of his last house in Sulzeneggstraße 2. The laying of the Stolperstein was organized by the Stolpersteine ​​Hallein project . Financing is provided through a sponsorship that was taken over by the murdered man's nephew. The nephew was also present during the transfer.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Austrian National Library : Notices from the Salzburg Society for Regional Studies , accessed on April 24, 2016
  2. ^ Walter Reschreiter , Johannes Hofinger and Christina Nöbauer : (Un) worth living: Nazi euthanasia in [in] the state of Salzburg. Recovered life stories of victims of racial hygiene. Exhibition in the State of Salzburg 2007 (book accompanying the exhibition in the Celtic Museum Hallein , Oct. 22nd – Nov. 21st, 2006, and in Goldegg Castle , Feb. 22nd – April 1st, 2007), Edition Tandem, 2007 ISBN 978-3-9501570 -8-6 , pp. 90f.
  3. ^ Project Lebenswert: Diakoniewerk Gallneukirchen: "Abggangs nach Unbekannt" , accessed on April 24, 2016
  4. ↑ Stolpersteine ​​Hallein: Euthanasia Victims: Aspöck, Richard , accessed on April 20, 2016
  5. ↑ Salzschreiber: Dramatic commemoration embossed in brass: Six new “stumbling blocks” in the city of Hallein remind of the former Nazi terror , accessed on April 24, 2016, with a series of photographs of the relocations also on: Salzschreiber , accessed on April 24 2016
  6. ^ City of Hallein : Press release: Stumbling blocks should remember. Six more stumbling blocks moved in Hallein , July 11, 2014, accessed on April 24, 2016


personal data
SURNAME Aspöck, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian victim of the Action T4 euthanasia program of the Nazi regime
DATE OF BIRTH June 14, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Salzburg
DATE OF DEATH 1941
Place of death Hartheim killing center