Rudolf Towarek

Rudolf Towarek (born June 9, 1885 in Krakow ; † November 29, 1959 in Linz ) was an Austrian major general and commander of the Theresian Military Academy from 1934 to 1938.

Life

Towarek was educated in military educational institutions from the age of 11 and graduated from the Theresian Military Academy from 1902 to 1905 . On August 18, 1905, he was retired to lieutenant in the kuk infantry regiment No. 9 in Przemyśl . From 1909 to 1912 he attended the war school in Vienna and was then assigned to the general staff. From then until the end of the First World War he was active in various general staff assignments. As a general staff officer of Prague's 17th Infantry Brigade, he took part in the fighting on the Drina in 1914 and in 1915 on the Russian front in the Carpathians and Galicia . In 1916 he was appointed to the staff of the XVII. Army corps that fought on the Italian front in Val Sugana and in the seven municipalities . In 1917 he, who spoke fluent Polish and Ukrainian, was assigned to the German Governor General in Warsaw to represent Austria's interests and to take care of the reorganization of the Polish Aid Corps . In 1918 he was responsible for supplying the VI. Corps in the Dolomites .

Awarded several times for his conduct and services in war, he was accepted into the army of the first republic in 1920. Initially he was assigned to the command of the 4th Brigade in Linz , where he had been the chief of staff since 1926 - first as a lieutenant colonel and then as a colonel. In 1934 he was appointed commandant of the Enns Army School and in the same year was allowed to bring this institution back to Neustädter Burg as the "Theresian Military Academy".

St. Barbara-Friedhof Linz, Towarek's grave

In March 1938, immediately after the National Socialists came to power, he prevented the armed associations of the Austrian Nazis from entering the military academy. After the annexation of Austria , he resigned his command and refused to take the Fuehrer's oath . He was then forced to retire and since then has lived in seclusion in Upper Austria. As one of the very few of those who had served the previous government loyally, he was given the privilege of being able to wear the old Austrian uniform in the pension. After the war, in 1958, he was elected honorary president of the Alt-Neustadt association.

He is buried in the St. Barbara cemetery in Linz.

In 1967 the building of the Army NCOs School (later: Academy) in Enns was named " Towarek School Barracks " in his honor .

Awards (as of 1933)

• Hungarian World War II Commemorative Medal
• Royal Saxon Order of Albrecht with swords
• Karl-Troop Cross
• Bronze Military Merit Medal on the ribbon of the Military Merit Cross with Swords
• Silver Military Merit Medal on the ribbon of the Military Merit Cross with Swords
• Military Merit Cross III. Class with the war decorations and swords
• Order of the Iron Crown III. Class with war decorations and swords (but without elevation to the nobility)
• Gold medal for services to the Republic of Austria

literature

• Wittas: In memoriam Major General d. R. Rudolf Towarek. in: Alma Mater Theresiana. 1960 yearbook.
• Oskar Regele : The Theresian Military Academy and its commanders. V part, in: Alma mater Theresiana. Yearbook 1965, p. 48f.
• Marcel Stein: Austria's Generals in the German Army 1938–1945. Bissendorf 2002, ISBN 3-7648-2358-5 , pp. 4, 128, 129, 130.
• Peter Barthou: Not all swore the oath of allegiance. in: Troop service. No. 3/2008, p. 199.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Johann Christoph Allmayer-Beck: Herr Oberleitnant, it's not worth it! ; HG. Erwin A. Schmidl Böhlau Verlag Vienna 2013; ISBN 978-3-205-78891-1 ; P. 34.