Dr. Alfred Verdross (1890–1980) – A Jurist of International Law Between Political Proximity, Personal Danger, and Aid to the Persecuted

Dr. Alfred Verdross (1890-1980)

​Dr. Alfred Verdross von Drossberg in a historical black-and-white photograph. Photo: Private Archive of Dr. Edith Kaufmann, Innsbruck.

Dr. Alfred Verdross – Short Biography

Introduction

​Dr. Alfred Verdross (1890–1980) was one of the most significant Austrian scholars of international law of the twentieth century. As a student and collaborator of Hans Kelsen, he shaped the Vienna School of International Law and legal philosophy. His scholarly work had a particular influence on the doctrine of peremptory norms of international law, known as *ius cogens*. After 1945 he held major academic and international offices.

His conduct during the National Socialist period, however, does not fit into any simple picture. After the "Anschluss," his apartment was searched by the Gestapo and he himself was temporarily suspended from university service. According to the recollections of his daughter, Dr. Edith Kaufmann, he simultaneously supported people persecuted by the Nazi regime and maintained connections to the Austrian resistance.

More recent research into university history, however, also points to his German-nationalist orientation, earlier contacts with National Socialist circles, and his later professional accommodation to the conditions of the Nazi regime. His biography is therefore not only a story of scholarly greatness and personal danger, but also one of political contradictions.

read more: 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Verdross

geschichte.univie.ac.at/en/persons/alfred-verdross-drossberg

Dr. Alfred Verdross with his mother Edda Verdross (1867–1955) and Dr. Ernst Verdross, photographed in 1937. Photo: Private Archive of Dr. Edith Kaufmann, Innsbruck.

Origins and Education

Alfred Verdross was born on 22 February 1890 in Innsbruck. His father was the Austro-Hungarian general Ignaz Verdross von Drossberg (1851–1931); his mother was Edda Verdross (1867–1955). Among his brothers were the twins Paul and Ernst Verdross. Paul was killed in action in 1914, at the outset of the First World War. Dr. Ernst Verdross later became Magistrate Director (*Magistratsdirektor*) of Hall in Tirol, was deported to the Dachau concentration camp in 1938, and subsequently became active in the Hall resistance.

Alfred Verdross attended schools in Rovereto and Brixen and studied law in Vienna, Munich, and Lausanne. He received his doctorate from the University of Vienna in 1913. As a student, he took part in Hans Kelsen's private seminars and later became his assistant.

During the First World War, Verdross served as a military judge. In January 1918 he moved into the legal service of the Imperial and Royal (k.u.k.) Foreign Ministry. After the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy, he worked, among other places, at the Austrian legation in Berlin.

Academic Career at the University of Vienna

Alfred Verdross devoted himself chiefly to international law and legal philosophy. Whereas Hans Kelsen focused primarily on legal theory and constitutional law, Verdross developed a conception of the international legal order grounded in natural law and Catholic thought.

He belonged to those legal scholars who did not regard international law solely as the product of state will. In his view, states were bound by superordinate legal principles. These considerations later became significant for the development of the doctrine of peremptory international law.

Verdross served as Dean of the Faculty of Law and Political Science in 1931/32 and was repeatedly a member of the Academic Senate in the years before 1938. His scholarly reputation already extended well beyond Austria at that time.

Political Stance Before 1938

Alfred Verdross was Catholic and, at the same time, strongly shaped by German-nationalist convictions. According to more recent research, he sympathized at times with National Socialist ideas, maintained contacts with German-nationalist and National Socialist students, and is said to have continued moving in such circles even after the Austrian NSDAP was banned. He did not, however, become a member of the NSDAP.

His political stance was at the same time marked by contradictions. On one hand, he advocated for German-nationalist students; on the other, he protected Jewish and democratically minded students on one occasion from a National Socialist attack. The University of Vienna now classifies the honors later bestowed on him as "worthy of discussion" (*diskussionswürdig*) in light of this proximity to National Socialism.[^univie1]

"According to an oral account by his daughter Dr. Edith Kaufmann, Verdross also protested to Federal President Wilhelm Miklas — referred to within the family, in confidence, as 'Uncle Miklas' — against the suppression of the political parties by Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß.[^1] According to Kaufmann's recollection, the conversation took place in the family's apartment; her father is said to have urgently warned Miklas against the abolition of the principles of the rule of law.

It should be emphasized that this constitutes an important personal testimony which, in the absence of a written record of the conversation, must be explicitly identified as an oral tradition."

March 1938 and the Gestapo House Search

In the eyewitness interview, Dr. Edith Kaufmann recalled that on the evening of 11 March 1938 the family listened together to Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg's radio address.[^1] Since she was at the time only three years and four months old, her own early childhood perception was likely intertwined with later accounts told by her parents and older sisters. Also part of the family tradition is the not independently verified account that Alfred Verdross, together with a professor of the Faculty of Law, called upon Federal President Wilhelm Miklas to restore democracy. This memory conveys vividly the tense atmosphere within the family, but cannot, absent further documents, serve as firm evidence of this political conversation.

With the "Anschluss" of Austria to the National Socialist German Reich in March 1938, a period of uncertainty began for the family. In the 2023 eyewitness interview, Dr. Edith Kaufmann still recalled vividly a house search carried out by the Gestapo, which she experienced as a small girl.[^1] She remembered with particular clarity the search of her father's study. As the Gestapo officers searched his desk, she is said to have protested loudly:

*"You are not allowed to do that! No one is allowed to touch my Papa's desk, it is especially sacred."*

One of the Gestapo men is then said to have ordered that the child be taken from the room, "or else something will happen." This memory conveys, from a child's perspective, the threat bound up with the Gestapo's intrusion into private domestic space; the desk, which the child regarded as her father's inviolable workplace, thereby became the site of state arbitrariness.

According to tradition, Alfred Verdross and Otto Molden had still attempted, on 11 March 1938, to organize resistance against the impending invasion of the German Wehrmacht and to bring about a military mobilization of Austria; Federal President Miklas, however, is said not to have joined this effort. This account still requires verification in future research against contemporary records.
Footnote: 

Suspension and Restricted Teaching Activity

In June 1938, Alfred Verdross was suspended from his teaching post at the University of Vienna. For the family, the loss of his salary represented a considerable economic burden. According to Edith Kaufmann's recollection, he regained a limited teaching opportunity only after friends intervened on his behalf — one that contributed to the family's livelihood.

The suspension, however, was not permanent. From July 1939, Verdross was permitted to resume his lectures on international law. His license to teach legal philosophy remained revoked until 1945. During the war he was also appointed as an alternate judge at the Prize Court (*Oberprisenhof*) in Berlin.[^db]

The University of Vienna today concludes that Verdross succeeded in coming to terms with the Nazi regime and in adapting parts of his international-law argumentation to National Socialist conceptions. His situation thus differed fundamentally from that of numerous Jewish or politically persecuted scholars who were permanently expelled from the university, forced into flight, or murdered.[^univie2]

The initial suspension is therefore not to be equated with a continuous removal from the university lasting until 1945.

It is also worth considering, in this context, that Alfred Verdross is likely to have been aware of the imprisonment of his brother Ernst Verdross. Without income from his teaching activity, and without the ability to help his brother effectively despite the contacts he had maintained before 1938 with National Socialist–minded students, he is likely to have experienced directly, during this period, his own powerlessness in the face of the regime. It may be surmised that he drew from this experience the conclusion not to oppose the regime openly, but from then on to support the resistance covertly. This interpretation, however, remains a plausible hypothesis and cannot be established with final certainty from the sources available.

Aid to the Persecuted in the Vienna Apartment

Dr. Edith Kaufmann reported that, during the Nazi period, numerous friends and acquaintances visited her parents' apartment. Some also stayed overnight. The children were told that these people were passing through.

Only later did she learn that her father had taken in people who were being persecuted by the National Socialists. According to her recollection, he assisted them in their attempts to leave Austria. She could no longer identify who these people were. Names, dates, and specific escape routes are therefore not known to date.

The parents frequently held confidential conversations in French, so that the children would not understand their content and could not disclose anything if questioned. This behavior shows how necessary secrecy could be, even within a family, in order to protect everyone involved.

Edith Kaufmann's account is an important piece of family-historical testimony. Since the people who were assisted could not yet be identified, the article should not speak of documented rescue cases. The following formulation is historically appropriate:

*According to his daughter's recollection, Alfred Verdross temporarily took in people persecuted by the Nazi regime in his Vienna apartment and supported them in their efforts to reach safety abroad. The identity of these people remains unknown to date.*
​**Source note:** Oral communication from Dr. Edith Kaufmann to Elisabeth Walder, 2023. As this is a personal childhood memory, the event is rendered from the retrospective perspective of the eyewitness.

Catholic Daily Life Under Nazi Rule

Edith Kaufmann attended a Catholic school in Vienna, took part in religious instruction, made her First Communion, and attended Sunday Mass with her family. According to her recollection, these religious practices did not lead to any direct measures against the family in Vienna.

In this, her experience differed from that of her uncle, Dr. Ernst Verdross, in Hall in Tirol. After his return from the Dachau concentration camp, he remained under Gestapo surveillance. His participation in Catholic celebrations, his daughter's First Communion, and the decoration of windows for the Corpus Christi procession were held against him in 1940 as signs of insufficient National Socialist conviction.

The comparison shows that National Socialist surveillance practice could depend on local power relations, the responsible Gestapo officials, and the political background of those affected. Catholic faith alone did not everywhere lead to the same measures.

Excluded from the Nazi Youth Organization

In the 2023 interview, Dr. Edith Kaufmann also recalled an episode from her school years. One of her friends took part in outings and group meetings of the League of German Girls (*Bund Deutscher Mädel*, BDM), or its corresponding Jungmädel group. Edith herself did not belong to the National Socialist youth organization. Because she witnessed the joint activities of her friend and wanted to belong as well, she asked her parents for permission. They tried to talk her out of it but were apparently unable to explain the reason in a way she could understand as a child.

Eventually, Edith secretly went with her friend to a group meeting. The leader present asked her for her name and her parents' names. When she explained that she was Edith Verdross and that her father was Dr. Alfred Verdross, she was refused participation. She had to leave the group immediately. She was not told why the leader turned her away. It is possible that the political classification or standing of her father with the National Socialist authorities was decisive; without further records, however, this cannot be established with certainty.

For the girl, the rejection was at first difficult to understand. Weeping, she told her parents about the experience. They comforted her and pointed to their Catholic faith and to the meetings of the Catholic Youth (*Jungschar*), which they said held greater value for them than the National Socialist community. Only later did Edith Kaufmann recognize the political significance of this exclusion.

This memory shows how the National Socialist youth organizations reached into the everyday life and social relationships of children. Membership promised community, outings, and recognition; exclusion could therefore be experienced by a child as a personal humiliation. At the same time, the episode makes visible that the political assessment of parents could also have consequences for their children.

**Source note:** Oral communication from Dr. Edith Kaufmann to Elisabeth Walder, 2023. As this is a personal childhood memory, the event is rendered from the retrospective perspective of the eyewitness.

 The Arrest of His Brother Ernst

A particularly shattering event for the family was the news of Ernst Verdross's arrest in 1938 and his deportation to the Dachau concentration camp. Edith Kaufmann recalled that the family was in a state of shock and, at the same time, felt utterly powerless.

After the search of his own apartment and his own suspension, Alfred Verdross had to reckon with the possibility of being arrested himself. His brother's deportation made clear that this danger was real. Despite his social standing and his academic contacts, he had no way of freeing Ernst from the concentration camp.

The differing paths taken by the two brothers illustrate, at the same time, different forms of National Socialist rule. Ernst Verdross was imprisoned in the concentration camp for roughly a year and remained afterward a target of the Gestapo. Alfred Verdross was initially disciplined academically but was able, from 1939, to resume part of his teaching activity and to hold his own within the regime's scholarly establishment.

Connections to Otto and Fritz Molden

According to Edith Kaufmann's recollection, her father was in contact with Otto and Fritz Molden. Otto Molden had already belonged, before the "Anschluss," to an Austrian-patriotic student organization, was arrested repeatedly after 1938, and later took part in building the resistance group O5.[^molden] O5 developed, in the final phase of the war, into a supra-regional symbol and network of the Austrian resistance. Fritz Molden established connections between resistance groups in Austria and the Western Allies.

The concrete form in which Alfred Verdross was involved in O5's activities cannot yet be conclusively determined on the basis of the sources cited so far. His contacts with Otto and Fritz Molden, as well as his daughter's recollections, are important indications. To describe him as a documented member of O5, however, additional contemporary records or further independent testimony would be required.

The article therefore recommends the cautious formulation:

*According to his daughter's recollections, Alfred Verdross was in contact with Otto and Fritz Molden. These contacts point toward the milieu of the Austrian resistance and the later O5 group; the extent and concrete form of his involvement, however, require further source-critical investigation.*

Memories of Hall in Tirol

he family remained closely connected to Hall in Tirol. Edith Kaufmann recalled visits to her uncle Ernst and joint excursions to the Voldertal valley and to Volderwildbad. The spa was linked to Dr. phil. Josef Fink, who likewise came under Gestapo scrutiny.

These childhood memories connect the history of the Vienna family with the local history of persecution and resistance in Hall and its surroundings. They show that political threat affected not only individuals but had far-reaching effects on kinship networks, circles of friends, and regional networks.

Resumption of the Academic Career After 1945

After the end of National Socialist rule, Alfred Verdross also regained his license to teach legal philosophy. Since he had not been a member of the NSDAP, he was able to continue his academic career without undergoing a denazification procedure.

He was a member of the Academic Senate in 1945/46 and 1946/47, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Political Science in 1947/48, and Rector of the University of Vienna in 1951/52 and 1952/53. The occasionally cited claim that he had already been Rector in 1946/47 must therefore be corrected.[^univie3]

In 1946 his work *Grundlagen der antiken Rechts- und Staatsphilosophie* (Foundations of Ancient Legal and Political Philosophy) was published. In the following decades he also attained great international significance. He was a member of the International Law Commission of the United Nations, a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, and, from 1959 to 1977, a judge at the European Court of Human Rights. The University of Vienna honored him in 1960 as an honorary senator and in 1961 with an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Catholic Theology.[^univie4]

Alfred Verdross died on 27 April 1980 in Innsbruck.

 A Man of Contradictions

Alfred Verdross cannot be described solely as a persecuted person and resistance fighter, nor solely as an unreserved supporter of National Socialism. His initial suspension, the Gestapo house search, and his daughter's memories of his support for persecuted people stand alongside his earlier proximity to German-nationalist and National Socialist circles and his later accommodation to the academic operations of the Nazi regime.

It is precisely these contradictions that make his biography historically significant. They show that human conduct under a dictatorship cannot always be neatly sorted into the categories of resistance, persecution, accommodation, and endorsement. These modes of behavior could overlap, change over time, or coexist simultaneously.

The recollections of Dr. Edith Kaufmann broaden the existing picture with a personal and familial perspective. They are valuable historical testimonies but must not be considered in isolation. Only in comparison with university records, Gestapo files, correspondence, and more recent research can the most differentiated overall picture emerge.

Summary

Dr. Alfred Verdross was one of the internationally most significant Austrian scholars of international law of the twentieth century. After the "Anschluss," his apartment was searched by the Gestapo and he was temporarily suspended from the University of Vienna. From July 1939, however, he was permitted to teach international law again, while his license to teach legal philosophy remained withdrawn until 1945.

According to the recollections of his daughter, Dr. Edith Kaufmann, he took in persecuted people in his Vienna apartment, supported them in fleeing, and was in contact with Otto and Fritz Molden. The identity of the people he assisted, as well as the precise extent of his activity in the resistance milieu, remain unclear to date.

At the same time, more recent research points to his earlier proximity to National Socialist circles and his later scholarly accommodation to the Nazi regime. A responsible biography must therefore take into account both the recorded acts of assistance and experiences of threat, as well as these problematic aspects. Alfred Verdross thus appears as a significant legal scholar and, at the same time, as a man full of political and biographical contradictions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Who was Dr. Alfred Verdross?

Dr. Alfred Verdross (1890–1980) was an Austrian jurist, university professor, and internationally recognized scholar of international law. He was one of the major representatives of the Vienna School of International Law and legal philosophy.

When and where was Alfred Verdross born?

Alfred Verdross was born on 22 February 1890 in Innsbruck. He died on 27 April 1980, likewise in Innsbruck.

What does the designation "Edler von Drossberg" mean?

"Edler von Drossberg" was the historical noble title of the Verdross family. Since noble titles were legally abolished in Austria in 1919, his legal name in the Republic of Austria is Alfred Verdross.

How was Alfred Verdross related to Dr. Ernst Verdross?

Alfred Verdross was the elder brother of Dr. Ernst Verdross, the longtime Magistrate Director of Hall in Tirol. Ernst Verdross was deported to the Dachau concentration camp in 1938 and later belonged to the Hall resistance.

What significance did Alfred Verdross have for international law?

Verdross held the view that there exist superordinate legal principles binding on all states. His work was particularly significant for the development of the doctrine of peremptory international law, known as *ius cogens*.

What was Alfred Verdross's relationship to Hans Kelsen?

Verdross was a student and, for a time, an assistant of Hans Kelsen. Both belonged to the Vienna School of Law but developed different areas of focus. Kelsen shaped above all the Pure Theory of Law, while Verdross combined international law, natural law, and legal philosophy.

Was Alfred Verdross removed from the University of Vienna in 1938?

After the "Anschluss," Verdross was temporarily suspended from his teaching post in the summer of 1938. From July 1939 he was permitted to teach international law again. His license to teach legal philosophy, however, remained revoked until 1945.

Was Alfred Verdross a member of the NSDAP?

According to the University of Vienna, Alfred Verdross was never a member of the NSDAP. More recent research, however, points to his earlier German-nationalist orientation, his sympathies for National Socialism, and his contacts with National Socialist circles.

Was Alfred Verdross a resistance fighter?

A clear classification is not possible given the current state of research. According to his daughter's recollections, he was in contact with Otto and Fritz Molden and supported persecuted people. The precise extent of his activity within the milieu of the O5 resistance group has not yet been established through independent contemporary documents.

Did Alfred Verdross help people persecuted by the Nazi regime?

According to his daughter Dr. Edith Kaufmann's recollection, he temporarily took in persecuted people in his Vienna apartment and supported them in their efforts to reach safety abroad. The names of these people and their specific escape routes are not known to date. The statement must therefore be identified as an oral tradition.

What did Edith Kaufmann report about the Gestapo house search?

Edith Kaufmann recalled that Gestapo officers searched the family's apartment in 1938, and in particular her father's desk. When she protested loudly as a small girl, an order was given to remove her from the room. Her account conveys the threat from a child's perspective.

Why was Edith Kaufmann not allowed to take part in a Nazi youth group?

According to her recollection, she was turned away at a group meeting after giving her name and her father's profession. The exact reason was not explained to her. A connection with the political assessment of Alfred Verdross at the time is possible but not confirmed by additional documents.

What significance do Edith Kaufmann's recollections have?

Her statements convey personal insights into the family's everyday life during Nazi rule. Since childhood memories and family stories heard later can blend together, they must be identified as an oral source and compared with written documents.

How does the University of Vienna assess Alfred Verdross today?

The University of Vienna acknowledges his international scholarly significance but now classifies the honors bestowed on him as "worthy of discussion" (*diskussionswürdig*), given his proximity to National Socialism. His biography is therefore judged to be politically contradictory.

What offices did Alfred Verdross hold after 1945?

After 1945, he resumed his full teaching activity. He served as Dean and Rector of the University of Vienna, as a member of the United Nations International Law Commission, and as a judge at the European Court of Human Rights and at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

Why is his biography significant for contemporary history?

His life story shows that the boundaries between political proximity, accommodation, personal danger, and aid to the persecuted did not always run clearly. It also demonstrates how important it is to critically compare family memories with official records.