Richard Hochreiner

Richard Hochreiner alias Florian Riedler (born before 1945; died after 1975) was an Austrian politician ( FPÖ ) and brief mayor of Sankt Michael im Lungau . He became known for his involvement as an SA Standartenführer in the murder of nine Hungarian Jews on the Störingalm shortly after the end of the war in 1945.

Life

In the time of National Socialism Richard Hochreiner was SA-Standartenführer in Graz , leader of the Pionierstandarte Graz and district staff leader of the Volkssturm . End of April 1945, he exhibited at the Störingalpe at Übelbach in District Graz environment ( Styria ) in the sliding Alps to fight the advancing Red Army made up of members of the Volkssturm and Hitler Youth a werewolf group in which nine Hungarian Jews from the central warehouse in Peggau on kidnapped the Alm and held it as a forced laborer. Around May 20, 1945 - several days after the end of the war, although the exact date cannot be found in the court files - Hochrainer ordered the base to be vacated and the nine Jews to be shot. This command was executed. The SA Rottenführer and trainer of the Volkssturm Karl Csercsevics and his comrade Josef Wind later emphasized that they shot their magazines empty when they were shot. Josef Frühwirth, on the other hand, took on the task of killing the victims lying on the ground who were not yet dead after the first volley with headshots.

Only three of the murdered men could be identified by name: György Stern (* 1910), Kálmánlusser (* 1904) and Dr. József Dömölki (age unknown). While those involved in the crime, Reimund Krenn, Josef Kahlbacher, Karl Csercsevics and Josef Wind, were soon arrested and brought to justice, Richard Hochreiner and his companion Josef Frühwirth managed to go into hiding and remain undetected. On August 14, 1946, Krenn and Kahlbacher were sentenced to imprisonment by the Graz People's Court , while Csercsevics and Wind were sentenced to death, and on November 29, 1946 they were executed on the gallows .

Richard Hochreiner went to Sankt Michael im Lungau in the state of Salzburg , where he initially lived unrecognized under the name Florian Riedler, joined the FPÖ and became a local councilor. In 1961, however, he was exposed and brought to court together with Josef Frühwirth. A jury at the Graz Regional Court sentenced Hochreiner on June 27, 1962 to 7 years in heavy prison, while Frühwirth received a heavy three-year prison sentence. On November 26, 1962, however, the Supreme Court overturned the judgment against Hochreiner. The verdict against Frühwirth remained, and he was released on July 26, 1963, subject to conditions; However, Hochreiner was acquitted on March 6, 1963.

After the municipal council elections on October 20, 1974, Hochreiner benefited as the FPÖ top candidate from the new political balance of power in the municipal council of Sankt Michael, in which the ÖVP with seven mandates was now almost as strong as the SPÖ with eight mandates, while the FPÖ had four Mandates came. First, the ÖVP and FPÖ agreed on a collaboration in the local council: ÖVP top candidate Franz Stampl was to be elected mayor by the ÖVP and FPÖ and Hochreiner as deputy mayor should be given additional agendas. But then, when the new municipal council was formed on November 3, 1974, the municipal representatives of the SPÖ and FPÖ jointly elected the FPÖ candidate Richard Hochreiner as mayor of Sankt Michael. To protest against the breach of the original agreement, all community representatives of the ÖVP and their substitutes resigned, so that the community council only consisted of 12 instead of 19 members. The ÖVP chairman of Sankt Michael Brandstätter applied for the dissolution of the municipal council on January 2, 1975, which the SPÖ sharply contradicted on the grounds that an emergency situation that was necessary for this did not exist. Nevertheless, the Salzburg state government, ruled by an absolute majority in the ÖVP, allowed the complaint and on July 21, 1975 unanimously set a new election in Sankt Michael for September 21. In these elections, the SPÖ kept its election result and its eight seats, while the ÖVP and FPÖ lost votes to a new candidate home list. Hochrainer's mandate as mayor ended in 1975, and his successor was Gerhard Ortner , who was not part of the party and was inherited by Benedikt Schaiter from the SPÖ in 1975 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Susanne Uslu-Pauer: "Destruction mania and cadaver obedience". Criminal prosecution of end-phase crimes using the example of the so-called death marches. In: Thomas Albrich, Winfried R. Garscha, Martin Polaschek: Holocaust and war crimes in court: The Austria case. StudienVerlag, Innsbruck 2010. pp. 279–304, here pp. 292f.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Hans Landauer: Styrian Introit. In: Manfred Wieninger: Aasplatz - A presumption of innocence. Residenz Verlag, Salzburg / Vienna 2018.
3. ↑ Martin F. Polaschek: In the name of the Republic of Austria! The People's Courts in Styria 1945 to 1955. Graz 1998. S. 158f.
4. ^ ^{A b} Siegfried Sanwald: Additional information on the court proceedings LG Graz Vg 1 Vr 832/45 and LG Graz 7 Vr 377/61. Proceedings before the People's Court Graz (1946) and before a jury at the Regional Court for Criminal Matters Graz (1961-1963). Nachkriegsjustiz.at, accessed on March 26, 2019.
5. ↑ Christian Stenner: In vain suppressed. Wehrmacht exhibition: "Only looking makes you free". April 1997
6. ^ Historical Provincial Commission for Styria: History of Styria , Vol. 10, 2004, p. 110.
7. ↑ Robert Kriechbaumer: The dissolution of the parish council of St. Michael 1975. A political excitement and a judgment of the constitutional court. In: Robert Kriechbaumer, Richard Voithofer (Hrsp.): Politics in Transition: The Salzburg State Parliament in the Chiemseehof 1868-2018. Volume 1. Boehlau Verlag, Vienna 2018. p. 508.
8. ↑ St. Michaels mayor since 1945. In: St. Michael im Lungau. A service provided by the market town, the tourism association and the St. Michael Economy Association, issue 4/2014, p. 3.