Walder, Anton (1913 - 1985) (Part 1) The Role of Administrative Resistance

Further article about Anton Walder

Walder _Anton_ Blog_ (EN) _Part 2

Anton Walder (1913–1985) – Resistance Fighter from Hall in Tyrol

Anton Walder (1913–1985) was one of the most important resistance fighters from Hall in Tyrol. Immediately after the annexation (Anschluss) of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938, he began opposing the National Socialist regime. As a member of the Innsbruck Postal Resistance Group, the resistance network within the Military Registration Office (Wehrmeldeamt), and the circle around Anton Haller, he supported the Austrian resistance by passing on information, maintaining clandestine contacts, and engaging in acts of organizational sabotage. This article traces his life and examines his role within the Tyrolean resistance movement.

Anton Walder, postal inspector and resistance fighter, photographed in Hall in Tyrol, Austria, 1944. Source: Private Archive of K. Walder, Hall in Tyrol.

Youth and Education Between Tyrol and South Tyrol (1913–1924)

Anton Walder was born on 30 January 1913 in Albeins (Albes), near Brixen (Bressanone) in South Tyrol. He spent his childhood and early youth in South Tyrol until 1924. Following the end of the First World War, the region was transferred from Austria to Italy under the Treaty of Saint-Germain (1919) and today forms the Autonomous Province of Bolzano–South Tyrol (Alto Adige).

Graduating class of the Augustinian Canons' Abbey of Neustift (Novacella) near Brixen (Bressanone), 1923. Anton Walder is standing in the third row from the right as the fourth student, shown in profile and looking to the right. Source: Private Archive of K. Walder, Hall in Tyrol.

 Historical Context

Following the end of the First World War and the Treaty of Saint-Germain (1919), South Tyrol was annexed by the Kingdom of Italy. Despite the new international border, many German-speaking students from North Tyrol continued to attend long-established Catholic educational institutions south of the Brenner Pass. In 1923, Anton Walder completed his final year at the Augustinian Canons' Abbey of Neustift (Novacella) near Brixen (Bressanone). As he was originally intended for the priesthood, his parents enabled him to remain at the ecclesiastical boarding school despite the political changes and the newly established border between Austria and Italy.

Students of the Vinzentinum in Brixen, 1st course, 1924. Anton Walder stands in the back row, fifth student from the left. Source: Private archive of K. Walder, Hall in Tirol.

Historical commentary:

After completing his schooling in Neustift, Anton Walder transferred in 1924 to the Vinzentinum in Brixen, a Catholic boys' seminary that prepared students for the priesthood. Although his family lived in Hall in Tirol and Anton held Austrian citizenship, he was initially able to remain at the boarding school. However, the political reordering of the region after the First World War and the growing Italian nationalization of South Tyrol increasingly complicated the presence of foreign students. Within a short time, Walder was forced to leave the Vinzentinum and continue his education at the Paulinum in Schwaz, in North Tyrol. This brought an end to his schooling in South Tyrol, which had originally been intended as preparation for an ecclesiastical career.
This educational path illustrates how the new state borders established after 1919 also profoundly reshaped the lives and educational opportunities of young Tyroleans. Despite a shared language, culture, and ecclesiastical tradition, Austrian students were increasingly excluded from educational institutions in what had now become Italian South Tyrol. For Anton Walder, this marked an early rupture that decisively shaped the further course of his life.

Hall in Tyrol - The Old Parish House

The Old Parish House in Hall in Tyrol, 1932. The parish sexton's apartment, occupied by Anton Walder Sr., was located on the ground floor. Standing in front of the building are the Walder siblings: Anton, Anna, and Franz. Source: Private Archive of K. Walder, Hall in Tyrol.

Origins and Family: From South Tyrol to Hall in Tyrol

In 1922, Anton Walder Sr. and his wife Maria Walder (née Krismer) moved to Hall in Tyrol, Austria, together with their family. Like many families in the difficult post-war years, they initially faced severe housing shortages and were forced to live in a decommissioned railway carriage at Hall railway station. Their living conditions improved only after Anton Walder Sr. was appointed sexton (parish sacristan) at the Parish Church of St. Nicholas in Hall in Tyrol, enabling the family to establish a modest but stable home.

Like many families of that period, the Walders were affected by the severe housing shortage that followed the war. Their first home was a decommissioned railway carriage at Hall railway station. Only after Anton Walder Sr. obtained employment as the parish sexton at Hall's parish church did the family's circumstances improve, allowing them to establish a modest but secure livelihood.
Raised in a deeply Catholic family, Anton Walder attended the Catholic boarding schools Vinzentinum in Brixen (Bressanone) and Paulinum in Schwaz. This education profoundly shaped his Christian humanist values and laid the foundation for his firm rejection of National Socialism.

Historical Context: The Loss of South Tyrol after the First World War

The loss of South Tyrol was one of the most far-reaching and painful consequences of the First World War for Austria. A region that had developed over centuries as a culturally and linguistically unified part of Tyrol was divided by the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1919—without a referendum and against the clearly expressed wishes of the local population.
The new border at the Brenner Pass was not drawn on the basis of historical, cultural, or linguistic considerations, but was instead the result of strategic power politics. Under the secret Treaty of London of 1915, the Entente Powers had promised South Tyrol to Italy as an incentive for its entry into the war on the Allied side. What was a calculated geopolitical decision for the victorious powers meant the loss of their national homeland for tens of thousands of South Tyroleans, and for many families marked the beginning of a long experience of displacement and uprooting.
The Brenner border still exists today as a lasting reminder of the post-war settlement that reshaped nations and communities according to the interests of the victorious powers rather than the wishes of the people who lived there.

read more: 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_South_Tyrol

Education and Early Career in Innsbruck and Hall in Tyrol

Group photograph “8. Kurs 1935” (“8th Course, 1935”). Anton Walder (1913–1985), with a serious expression, visible only from the head and shoulders, second from the right in the back row. Private archive of Elisabeth Walder.

From 1928 to 1935, Anton Walder attended the Federal Secondary School (Bundesoberrealschule) at Adolf-Pichler-Platz in Innsbruck, where he successfully passed his Matura (secondary school leaving examination) in May 1935. He subsequently completed training as an insurance clerk before entering the Austrian civil service as a postal employee in 1937.

Dismissal in 1938: The Beginning of His Resistance to National Socialism

As a committed opponent of the Anschluss—the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in March 1938—Anton Walder soon came under the scrutiny of the Nazi authorities. During the plebiscite of 10 April 1938, he was compelled to cast his vote publicly under the direct pressure of the regime, as any sign of dissent could have resulted in severe consequences.
Shortly after the Anschluss, Walder was dismissed from the Austrian postal service by the Nazi authorities. The official reason was his "political unreliability," a label applied because of his openly anti-Nazi convictions, which he had expressed even before 1938. Significantly, he had never been a member of the Vaterländische Front (Fatherland Front), the authoritarian ruling party of pre-war Austria. His dismissal ranks among the earliest documented examples of civilian resistance to the Nazi regime in Hall in Tyrol and marked the beginning of his active involvement in the Austrian resistance movement.

read more: 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anschluss

https://www.mauthausen-memorial.org/en/News/12-March-1938-The-Anschluss-(annexation)-and-the-prehistory

Verdross -Dr. Ernst -Biografie - Blog (EN)

Book _ Presentation _Concentration Camp Dachau

"As Anton Walder remarked, reflecting on his time in the anti-Nazi resistance: 'Clear, sober thinking can very well be reconciled with sincere Catholic sentiment.'"

Black-and-white photograph of the entry of the German Wehrmacht into Hall in Tirol on 13 March 1938. A large crowd gathers along Unterer Stadtplatz; some spectators raise their right arms in the Nazi salute, while others stand watching the passing troops in a reserved and observant manner. The arrival of the Wehrmacht marked the immediate establishment of National Socialist rule in Austria. Source: Private Archive Reinhard Federspiel, Absam.

Life in Hall in Tirol: Community, Church, and Everyday Life

Anton Walder was deeply rooted in the close-knit community of the small town of Hall in Tirol. Sporting events, football matches, gymnastics excursions, and local competitions were an important part of social life, bringing together people who knew and trusted one another. Attending Sunday Mass and participating in the Catholic parish community were natural and integral parts of his everyday life.
From 1939 onwards, Anton Walder lived with his young family in a small ground-floor apartment at Krippgasse 12 in Hall in Tirol. The building belonged to the Jewish businessman Alfred Grünmandl. This neighborhood symbolized the close coexistence of different social groups in Hall—a peaceful way of life that was violently destroyed by the Nazi regime.
The following photograph shows the entrance door and the window of Anton Walder's former apartment at Krippgasse 12.

Residence of the Walder family at Krippgasse 12 in Hall in Tyrol, Austria. Anton Walder lived in a one-room apartment in the Grünmandl house from 1939 to 1945. Source: Private Archive of K. Walder, Hall in Tyrol.

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Blog (EN) Alfred Grünmandl

Blog (EN) Otto Grünmandl

The Christian Social Sports Association as a Haven for Resistance

The excursions organized by the sports club, in which Anton Walder had participated even before the Anschluss of 1938, continued quietly under Nazi rule. These outings served a purpose far beyond recreation. Away from official scrutiny and surveillance, they provided one of the few protected settings where like-minded individuals could speak openly.
Within the trusted circle of fellow club members, it became possible to do what would have been life-threatening elsewhere: share personal convictions, exchange information, and discreetly coordinate resistance activities without attracting attention. What appeared to outsiders as harmless club excursions was, in reality, a network of trust that enabled hidden resistance against the Nazi regime.

read more: 

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportunion

🇬🇧 (EN) Dr. med. Viktor Schumacher

www.hall-wattens.at/en/josef-lambichler-pastor-hall-in-tyrol.html

Anton Walder (front left) marching with the gymnasts during the gymnastics festival in Sterzing (Vipiteno), Italy, in 1937. He is wearing the white gymnastics uniform of his team and marches as the last member of his row, directly in front of a delegation of three flag bearers. Source: Private Archive of K. Walder, Hall in Tyrol.

Anton Walder (1913–1985) performing at a gymnastics display during the Turnfest in Vipiteno (Sterzing), 1937. Private archive of Kurt Walder.

Participants in the large gymnastics festival held on the Pletzer Meadow in Hall in Tyrol, Austria, in 1933. Anton Walder also took part in the event. A large residential building can be seen in the background. Source: Private Archive of K. Walder, Hall in Tyrol.

Anton Walder performing on the horizontal bar during the large gymnastics festival on the Pletzer Meadow in Hall in Tyrol, Austria, in 1933. Source: Private Archive of K. Walder, Hall in Tyrol.

Black-and-white photograph of an excursion by the Solbad Hall Gymnastics Club to Maria Wörth in June 1940. The photograph shows members of the club gathered in a local inn during the outing. Anton Walder is seated at the front left as the first person in the group. The photograph captures a social moment with the participants sharing refreshments. Source: Private Archive K. Walder, Hall in Tirol.

Black-and-white photograph of an excursion by the Solbad Hall Gymnastics Club to Klagenfurt in June 1940. The photograph shows a group of 13 participants during the club outing. Anton Walder is standing in the back row, second from the right. Source: Private Archive K. Walder, Hall in Tirol.

Anton Walder (1913–1985)-The Innsbruck Postal Resistance Group

At the time of the Anschluss in March 1938, unemployment remained high throughout both Austria and Tyrol, and the economy was only slowly recovering from the effects of the global economic crisis. Many people in Tyrol hoped that the National Socialist takeover would bring economic prosperity and social stability. Support for union with Germany had already existed in Tyrol since the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918, the provisions of the Treaty of Saint-Germain, and the loss of South Tyrol to Italy. Against this background, the idea of a "Greater German Reich" appeared attractive to many.
In 1938, approximately 48,149 people, or 14.6 percent of Tyrol's population, joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP), giving Tyrol the second-highest membership rate among Austria's federal provinces. Before the Nazi takeover, only a small number of NSDAP supporters had existed in most Tyrolean communities, but party membership increased dramatically after March 1938. Nevertheless, within only a few months, growing dissatisfaction with Nazi rule began to emerge among the population of Innsbruck, even though organized resistance to state authority had previously been virtually unknown in Tyrol.
Resistance in Tyrol developed in many different forms, as groups with diverse political, religious, and ideological motivations emerged. The Postal Resistance Group consisted largely of postal employees who regarded themselves as patriotic Austrians and firmly rejected the annexation of Austria to the German Reich. They also viewed Nazi propaganda with considerable skepticism, arguing that the regime's grand promises could only be fulfilled if they were first supported by genuine economic achievement.

Historical Context

The Postal Resistance Group was one of the few resistance networks operating within a government institution that succeeded in maintaining contact with other resistance organizations despite constant surveillance. Its importance lay less in spectacular acts of sabotage than in the clandestine transmission of information, assistance to persecuted individuals, and preparations for the political transition during the final days of the Second World War. Within this network, Anton Walder served as an important liaison between Hall in Tirol and Innsbruck.

Black-and-white photograph of 25 senior postal officials of the Tyrol-Vorarlberg Postal Directorate in Innsbruck, October 1937. The photograph shows members of the Austrian postal administration before the “Anschluss” of Austria into Nazi Germany in March 1938. Anton Walder is standing in the back row, third row from the front, second from the left. Source: Private Archive K. Walder, Hall in Tirol.

The Different Currents of the Austrian Resistance

Resistance against National Socialism in Austria was far from uniform. Instead, it consisted of several ideologically distinct movements:

• Legitimist–Monarchist Resistance: Supporters of the Habsburg monarchy who advocated its restoration and rejected National Socialism from a conservative and traditionalist perspective.
• Catholic Resistance: Members of political Catholicism, many associated with the Fatherland Front, who regarded Nazi ideology as fundamentally incompatible with Christian beliefs.
• Communist Resistance: Members of the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ), which had been outlawed since 1933. They relied on clandestine organizational structures and sought not only to overthrow the Nazi regime but also to establish a socialist society.
• Socialist Resistance: Former members of the banned Social Democratic Party and the Republican Schutzbund, who continued their activities underground after 1934.
• Individual Resistance: Men and women who acted independently, motivated by personal, moral, or religious convictions. Without the protection of an organized group, they often faced particularly great risks.

Against this background, the Postal Resistance Group in Innsbruck can be understood as a network rooted primarily in patriotic-conservative values and, in many cases, inspired by Christian beliefs.

read more: 

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Anton Walder and the Postal Resistance Group

Historical photograph of the former main post office building of the Regional Postal Directorate in Innsbruck on Maximilianstraße (2025). The building served as the headquarters of the postal administration for Tyrol and Vorarlberg and represents an important site in the history of Austrian postal and administrative institutions. Source: Private Archive K. Walder, Hall in Tirol.

Dismissal in 1938 and Joining the Postal Resistance

Anton Walder was employed as a postal official in Innsbruck when he was dismissed from the Austrian postal service by the National Socialist authorities in March 1938 on the grounds of "political unreliability." Later that same year, he joined a circle of regime-critical postal employees that had formed around TTI Viktor Haberditzl. According to Walder's own testimony, he belonged to this circle "from the very beginning" and played an active role in its development. In 1943, this network evolved into what became known as the Postal Resistance Group.
Following his dismissal, Walder found employment with a private trading company in Hall in Tirol.

1938: A Small and Cautious Circle

The circle around Haberditzl included both dismissed postal employees and officials who had remained in service. They rejected not only the Anschluss of Austria to the German Reich but also the very designation "Deutsche Reichspost"(German Reich Postal Service).
During this early phase, extreme caution was essential. The group did not yet engage in organized resistance activities or openly campaign against the Nazi Party. Instead, its members met discreetly in cafés in Innsbruck, exchanged information about the political situation, and discussed how they might prepare for "the hour of liberation." At the same time, they provided financial and material assistance to the families of imprisoned comrades, demonstrating solidarity with those who had already fallen victim to Nazi persecution.

Military Service Call-Up (1939)

Between Alternative Military Service and Resistance (1939–1943)

​The years between 1939 and 1943 marked a decisive period in Anton Walder's life. During his alternative military service with the Railway Mail Service, he travelled regularly throughout Tyrol and the Province of Salzburg. This assignment enabled him to establish contacts with regime-critical postal employees and other opponents of National Socialism. Over time, these connections developed into a reliable network that would later play a crucial role in his resistance activities.

Alternative Military Service with the Railway Mail Service

On 1 February 1939, Anton Walder was ordered to report to the Innsbruck District Military Command (Wehrbezirkskommando Innsbruck) and was assigned to the Ersatzreserve II (Second Reserve). Owing to severe wartime staff shortages within the postal system, he was required to perform alternative military service with the Railway Mail Service until 21 January 1943.
For Walder, this assignment represented a professional demotion. As a civil servant employed by the Innsbruck Postal Directorate, he was excluded from promotion to more responsible positions, which were increasingly reserved for loyal members of the National Socialist Party. Service in the Railway Mail Service was therefore regarded as a significant step down in status and responsibility.

Black-and-white photograph showing the interior of a railway mail carriage in Innsbruck in 1942. The image shows four people during Anton Walder’s alternative military service assignment (Wehrersatzdienst). Anton Walder is seated at the front right at a desk, shown performing his duties in railway postal service. Source: Private Archive K. Walder, Hall in Tirol.

Black-and-white photograph of a railway mail carriage at Innsbruck railway station in 1942. The image shows three people standing at the entrance of the carriage; Anton Walder is visible in a close-up portrait at the window, looking out onto the platform. The photograph was taken during his alternative military service assignment with the postal service during the Second World War. Source: Private Archive K. Walder, Hall in Tirol.

The Innsbruck Military Registration Office: A Change of Command in 1943

In 1943, a change of command took place at the Innsbruck Military Registration Office (Wehrmeldeamt Innsbruck). As a result, Anton Walder was officially assigned to the office from 21 January 1943 until 16 April 1945 as a member of its administrative staff (Unit and War Service Rolls, Register No. 68). Although formally attached to the Military Registration Office, he was repeatedly seconded to postal service duties for several weeks each year.
This position made Walder a key figure in linking the various resistance circles throughout Tyrol. Through his work, he was able to arrange for several anti-Nazi postal employees to be classified as "uk" (unabkömmlich – indispensable), thereby exempting them from military conscription into the Wehrmacht and allowing them to remain in civilian service.

read more: 

Blog (EN) Fritz _Würthle

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1943: The Formal Establishment of the Postal Resistance Group

The informal circle that had existed since 1938 evolved into an organized resistance network during the summer of 1943. TTI Viktor Haberditzl, Engineer Hubert Schittelkopf (1909–1948), and Anton Walder (1913–1985) officially founded the Postal Resistance Group in Innsbruck (Documentation Archive of the Austrian Resistance – DÖW 8390).
Its members consisted partly of postal officials who had lost their positions following the Nazi takeover in 1938, and partly of a small number of serving postal employees who maintained firmly anti-Nazi convictions. Those who remained in government service were under constant surveillance by ideologically loyal superiors and therefore had to act with extreme caution.
The group comprised approximately fifteen to twenty members working in a wide range of postal departments, including the Postal Inspectorate, Mail Forwarding, Mail Sorting, the Radio and Telephone Office, the Communications Interception Service, the Radio Transmitter Station, and the Postal Motor Transport Department. Their activities were conducted under strict secrecy and in accordance with conspiratorial security measures.
During the autumn of 1943 and the beginning of 1944, about half of the group's postal employees were drafted into the Wehrmacht. Their positions were subsequently filled by technicians from the Telephone and Telegraph Office. This personnel change enabled the resistance network to expand its activities into the communications interception service and to exchange strategically important information with anti-Nazi postal officials in Berlin.

Methods of Resistance: Intelligence Gathering and Sabotage

The Postal Resistance Group deliberately used its positions within the postal and telecommunications services to organize resistance activities in Innsbruck. Its most important operations were of considerable strategic significance:

• Signals Intelligence: Through their access to the telecommunications network, members of the group were able to monitor telephone conversations of senior Nazi Party officials and military commanders. Among other intelligence, they learned of conversations between Gauleiter Franz Hofer and Field Marshal Albert Kesselring.
• Sabotage of Communications: Contrary to Wehrmacht orders, the resistance members ensured that key telephone lines remained operational, thereby enabling communication with the advancing Allied forces.
• Preventing Destruction: During the final days of the war, the group's most significant achievement was preventing the planned destruction of vital telecommunications facilities in Innsbruck by the Wehrmacht and the SS, thereby preserving essential infrastructure for the peaceful transfer of authority.

A Liaison Between the Resistance Groups

Because of his position at the Military Registration Office (Wehrmeldeamt), Anton Walder became a key figure in connecting the various resistance networks throughout Tyrol. He served as the principal liaison between the Postal and Telegraph Office Resistance Group, the Military Registration Office group led by Fritz Würthle, and the resistance circle around Anton Haller in Solbad Hall.
This role was of exceptional importance, as it enabled the secure exchange of information and coordination between civilian and military resistance cells, strengthening cooperation during the final phase of the war.
Encouraged by the Moscow Declaration of October 1943, the members of the Postal Resistance Group increasingly directed their efforts from the winter of 1943 onward toward the active overthrow of the National Socialist regime.

The Berlin Connection: AGFA-AF and the Group Post

Few people know that the Tyrolean resistance was part of a clandestine network that reached into the very heart of Nazi Germany in Berlin. Operating under the codename AGFA-AF (Anti-Fascist Front), Austrian postal and telecommunications officials, engineers, and officers worked together in secret, exchanging vital intelligence and supporting the resistance in Tyrol. This remarkable network played a significant role during the final months of the war and was closely connected to Anton Walder's Group Post.

Read more about the AGFA-AF resistance group and its connection to Tyrol:

AGFA-AF in Berlin-Blog (EN)

The Decisive Meeting of 9 April 1945

The Decisive Meeting of 9 April 1945A pivotal moment in the coordination of the Tyrolean resistance took place on 9 April 1945, when representatives of several resistance groups met secretly at the Sanatorium of the Sisters of the Holy Cross in Rum. The meeting was disguised as a hospital visit in order to avoid suspicion.
The gathering was initiated by Anton Walder, who established contact between resistance groups that had previously operated independently and played a leading role in bringing them together. Those present included:

• Dr. Karl Gruber – the political leader of the Tyrolean resistance movement
• Fritz Würthle – representative of the Innsbruck Military Registration Office resistance group
• Anton Haller – leader of the resistance group in Solbad Hall
• Anton Walder – liaison between the Postal Resistance Group, the Military Registration Office group, and the Hall resistance group
• Engineer Herbert Gugelberger – officially registered as a patient at the sanatorium

Walder's role extended far beyond that of a messenger. He acted as an active organizer and mediator who brought together resistance groups with different political backgrounds. During the meeting, Dr. Karl Gruber succeeded in convincing the participants to adopt a common strategy based on the following objectives:

• rapid and coordinated action;
• cooperation among all civilian resistance groups regardless of political affiliation;
• the establishment of an officers' command staff for military operations;
• the expansion of the intelligence and communications network;
• the rapid arming of resistance fighters.

This meeting marked the beginning of the final and decisive phase of the organized struggle against National Socialism in Tyrol. The previously fragmented resistance forces were united into a coordinated movement, a development made possible to a significant extent through Anton Walder's initiative, mediation, and tireless efforts to connect the various resistance networks.

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Black-and-white photograph of the resistance group around Anton Haller in 1945. Shown on the left side are Dr. Viktor Schumacher, Anton Demanega, Ing. Herbert Guglberger, and Anton Dosch. On the right side of the image, master shoemaker Anton Haller is working at his workplace with his back to the viewer; behind him, Anton Walder is seated and looking toward the camera. The photograph documents members of the Tyrolean resistance during the final phase of the liberation from National Socialist rule. Source: Rudolf Mackowitz, Der Kampf um die Befreiung Tirols, p. 7.

Anton Walder's Escape and His Resistance Activities in Hall in Tyrol

On 16 April 1945, Anton Walder received the coded message "Storm in a Teacup!" from his colleague Grete Götsch—the agreed password warning him of his imminent arrest by the Gestapo. Walder immediately fled to the Vomperloch ravine near Gnadewald, taking with him his official postal seals and documents. From his hiding place, he continued to produce forged identity papers for persecuted individuals and supported the resistance from underground. By this stage, the Innsbruck Post and Telegraph Office resistance group had already fulfilled its mission, having made a significant contribution to safeguarding essential infrastructure and preparing the liberation of Innsbruck.
Walder's activities after his escape represented his personal contribution to the resistance in Hall in Tyrol, independent of the Innsbruck Post resistance group. Ten days later, he returned to Hall to join Anton Haller and Dr. Viktor Schumacher in negotiating with the National Socialist mayor, Ing. Walter Jud, for the peaceful surrender of the town. The meeting was prevented by the presence of the Gestapo at the town hall; however, Jud managed to warn Haller, Schumacher, and Walder in time, enabling them to escape.
During the night of 2–3 May 1945, the general uprising of the united Tyrolean resistance, led by Dr. Karl Gruber, was scheduled to take place. However, following a telephone call made by Anton Demanega in Hall, the Gestapo and SS units were alerted on the orders of Gauleiter Hofer and instructed to arrest the Hall resistance members. Captain Johann Baumgartner of the Hall barracks warned the resistance fighters in time. With the exception of Dr. Schumacher, who was arrested by the SS outside his home in Bruggergasse, all those present managed to escape. Meanwhile, events in Innsbruck rapidly unfolded, and on the morning of 3 May 1945, Hall, too, was freed from National Socialist rule.

Original document: Typewritten warning from Grete Götsch to Anton Walder dated 16 April 1945. Under the heading “Sturm im Wasserglas” (“Storm in a Teacup”), the message refers to an impending situation of danger and includes the handwritten addition “Holzknecht also to be informed.” The document is connected with the activities of the Tyrolean resistance during the final days of the Second World War. Source: Private Archive K. Walder, Hall in Tirol.

This note was not delivered to Anton Walder through official postal channels but was secretly handed to him in person by a fellow resistance member. It warned him that the military police were already searching for him. The covert delivery illustrates the close cooperation and mutual trust that existed within the resistance network.

The Cipher Table of the "Post" Resistance Group

​Cipher table of the Innsbruck "Post" resistance group, used to encrypt and decrypt secret messages exchanged among its members during the National Socialist period. The document illustrates the clandestine communication methods that helped protect the group's activities from detection by the Gestapo. Source: Original document, Papers of Ing. Carl Hirnschrott, Tyrolean Provincial Archives.

This cipher table was the principal tool used by the "Post" resistance group for the secret exchange of messages. Based on a prearranged key, letters and words were replaced with numerical sequences or other symbols. Only individuals who possessed an identical cipher table were able to decipher the messages, while to outsiders they appeared to be meaningless strings of characters with no discernible content.
The secrecy of the cipher table was vital to the group's survival. It was entrusted to only a single initiated member and was never allowed to fall into the hands of the Gestapo. Had it been discovered, all encrypted messages could have been deciphered, placing numerous resistance members in mortal danger.
The surviving cipher table is now preserved among the papers of Ing. Carl Hirnschrott in the Tyrolean Provincial Archives. It is one of the few surviving original documents that provide a direct insight into the clandestine methods employed by the Innsbruck "Post" resistance group.

Black-and-white photograph of a postal vehicle from 1942. The image shows a vehicle belonging to the postal service during the Second World War. The photograph documents the infrastructure and everyday operations of the postal administration during the period of National Socialist rule. Source: Private Archive Walder, Hall in Tirol.

Dr. Karl Gruber and the United Tyrolean Resistance

Dr. Karl Gruber (1909–1995) was one of the foremost leaders of the Austrian resistance against the National Socialist regime in Tyrol. During the Second World War, he established an extensive resistance network and coordinated contacts between various resistance groups within Austria and abroad. His efforts contributed significantly to the organization of the united Tyrolean resistance in the final phase of the war.
Following Austria's liberation in 1945, Gruber was appointed the first Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Second Republic. He played a key role in restoring Austria's international standing and was instrumental in shaping the country's post-war reconstruction and foreign policy.

Portrait of Dr. Karl Gruber (1909–1995), leader of the united Tyrolean resistance in 1945. The photograph shows Karl Gruber facing the camera and looking directly at the viewer. As a leading figure of the Tyrolean resistance movement, he coordinated the cooperation of various resistance groups during the final weeks of the Second World War and played an important role in the liberation of Tyrol. Source: Austrian Parliament, available online at: https://www.parlament.gv.at/person/530 (accessed 23 July 2026).

read more: 

Blog (EN) Dr. Karl Gruber

gedenkort.at/en/persons/ccdfb424-e581-5217-b4aa-70e70e9ff0d0

Martin Berger and Josef Pöschl – The "Post" Resistance Group Innsbruck and Hall in Tyrol

Post Office building in Hall in Tyrol, Austria, photographed in 2026. After the Second World War, the building served as the workplace of Josef Dosch, who supported the Tyrolean resistance movement. Source: Private Archive of K. Walder, Hall in Tyrol.

Martin Berger (1885–1953) was a member of the Post and Telegraph Office resistance group in Innsbruck. He was responsible for collecting deserters and resistance-minded soldiers and secretly guiding them to mountain hideouts, where they could evade capture and continue supporting the resistance. (See the blog article Sternkorona III.)
Josef Pöschl (1898–1945) served the "Post" resistance group by arranging long-distance telephone connections and monitoring telephone communications. His position enabled the resistance to obtain valuable information and maintain secure communications. (See the blog article Sternkorona III.)
Josef Dosch (1907–1955) was a member of the "Post" resistance group in Innsbruck and Hall in Tyrol. On 4 May 1945, following the collapse of the National Socialist regime, he was appointed head of the Hall in Tyrol Post Office by Anton Walder.

Martin Berger, photographed on 18 July 1948. In: Helmut Wopfner (ed.): Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Members Directory 1888–1998, Thaur 1998, p. 57. Source: Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol.

Josef Pöschl, member no. 395 of the Sternkorona association in Hall in Tirol. In: Helmut Wopfner (ed.): Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Members Directory 1888–1998, Thaur 1998, p. 101. Source: Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol.

read more: 

Blog (EN) Sternkorona I

Blog (EN) Sternkorona III

Blog (EN) Martin Berger

Blog (EN) Josef Pöschl

The "Post" Resistance Group: Resistance in the Shadows

Innsbruck, April 1945. As the final days of the Second World War descended upon Tyrol, a small group of men operated in secret, relying on the skills they knew best—communications. Ing. Carl Hirnschrott, a postal official since 1932 who had been dismissed from service by the National Socialist regime in 1938 because of his trade union convictions, returned from Berlin after several years to help establish one of Tyrol's most remarkable resistance organizations: the "Post" resistance group.
At his side was Postal Inspector (PI) Anton Walder, who from the very beginning served as the liaison between the Innsbruck resistance, the Military Registration Office (Wehrmeldeamt) resistance group, and the resistance movement in Hall in Tyrol. Their joint efforts—often carried out at the risk of their lives—made a significant contribution to bringing the war in Innsbruck and Tyrol to an end.
It is a story of courage, loyalty, and the quiet determination of men and women who chose the right side at a decisive moment in history.

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Blog (EN) In memory of Ing. Carl Hirnschrott - May 3, 1945 - May 3, 2025"

Victims of the Postal Resistance Group under the National Socialist Regime in Tyrol

The Tyrolean Postal Resistance Group consisted of postal employees who opposed the National Socialist dictatorship despite the constant risk of persecution. Many members were arrested by the Gestapo, sentenced by Nazi courts, or deported to prisons and concentration camps. Four members lost their lives as a consequence of their resistance, while many others endured months or years of imprisonment. The following overview is based on a report by Engineer Carl Hirnschrott, himself a member of the Postal Resistance Group, whose papers are preserved in the Tyrolean Provincial Archives.

Four Fatal Victims

Oskar Frank – Innsbruck Post Office
Convicted on 1 August 1941 to seven years of penal servitude for listening to foreign radio broadcasts. He died on 25 February 1945 in the Mauthausen Concentration Camp as a result of the inhumane treatment he endured.
Alois Graus – Wörgl Post Office
Convicted on 5 February 1942 to five years of penal servitude for making defeatist statements and attempted treason. He died on 5 November 1943 in the Mauthausen Concentration Camp.
Alois Hupfauf – Innsbruck Post Office
On 26 February 1945, he was sentenced to death by a summary military court convened by the commander of the SS Reichsführer's Reception Line 1 in Prenzlau for desertion. He was executed by firing squad.
Ferdinand Triendl – Jenbach Post Office
On the same day as Hupfau (26 February 1945), he was summarily executed by firing squad in Danzig after being convicted of attempted desertion.

Prison Sentences

Heinrich Huter – Prutz Post Office
Shot and wounded by the local Nazi Party leader on 13 March 1938. Subsequently imprisoned from 2 August 1941 until 6 April 1943.
Edmund Burger – Innsbruck Post Office
Sentenced by the People's Court (Volksgerichtshof) in Vienna to seven years of penal servitude. He spent 1,404 days in prisons and concentration camps. His alleged offences were listening to foreign radio broadcasts and engaging in anti-Nazi propaganda.
Inguin Auer – Innsbruck Post Office 2
Imprisoned for 1,149 days for listening to enemy radio broadcasts.
Alfred Salomon – Postal Directorate, Accounting Department
Imprisoned for 982 days for listening to enemy radio broadcasts.
Maria Tscholl – Innsbruck Post Office 1
Imprisoned for 445 days for listening to enemy radio broadcasts.
Juliane Weinmann – Postal Directorate, Accounting Department
Imprisoned for 446 days for listening to enemy radio broadcasts.
Alexander Graf Künigl – Innsbruck Post Office 1
Imprisoned for 375 days for listening to enemy radio broadcasts.
Dr. Franz von Schullern – Postal Directorate
Imprisoned for 150 days on suspicion of monarchist activities.
Albert Jestl – Innsbruck Post Office 3
and Walter Kareis – Postal Operations Service (TBS), Feldkirch
Both were interned in a camp and sentenced to forced labour because of their ancestry. Jestl spent 206 days in detention and Kareis 181 days. Both succeeded in escaping a massacre planned by the SS.
Franz Beiler – Innsbruck Post Office 2
Sentenced to 150 days of imprisonment for making defeatist statements.
​
Source: Report by Engineer Carl Hirnschrott, Papers of Ing. Carl Hirnschrott, Tyrolean Provincial Archives (Tiroler Landesarchiv).

Conclusion

Anton Walder stands as a representative of the many women and men who rejected National Socialism and accepted great personal risks in order to defend human dignity and freedom. His work within the "Post" resistance group, the Wehrmeldeamt resistance group, and the resistance movement in Hall in Tyrol demonstrates the crucial role that regional networks played in the Austrian resistance. His life reminds us that civil courage often begins quietly and unseen, yet even under the most difficult circumstances it can make a decisive difference.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Anton Walder?

Anton Walder (1913–1985) was an Austrian postal official from Hall in Tyrol. After being dismissed by the National Socialist authorities in March 1938, he joined the active resistance. From 1938 to 1945 he was a member of the Innsbruck "Post" resistance group, and from 1941 to 1945 he also belonged to the Wehrmeldeamt resistance group. As a liaison officer, he coordinated the exchange of information between the resistance networks in Innsbruck and Hall in Tyrol, thereby making an important contribution to cooperation between the two organizations.

What was the Innsbruck "Post" Resistance Group?

The Innsbruck "Post" resistance group was founded in the summer of 1938 by postal employees who opposed the annexation (Anschluss) of Austria by Nazi Germany. At its peak, the group consisted of approximately twenty members working in telephone interception services, the broadcasting office, and the telephone exchange. It made an important contribution to the resistance by sabotaging military communications and ensuring that telephone connections remained operational until the liberation of Innsbruck on 3 May 1945.

What role did Karl Gruber play in the Tyrolean Resistance?

Dr. Karl Gruber returned to Innsbruck in March 1945 and, on 24 April 1945, assumed leadership of all Tyrolean resistance groups. Under his direction, the various organizations were coordinated and united into a single resistance movement. Even before the arrival of the American forces on 3 May 1945, he organized the occupation of key military barracks and public buildings, including the Postal Directorate.

How did the Resistance Liberate Innsbruck in 1945?

On 3 May 1945, only twelve members of the "Post" resistance group occupied the Innsbruck Postal Directorate and secured all telecommunications facilities without damage. As early as 30 April, the group had established direct telephone contact with the U.S. Seventh Army through a telephone line that had remained operational to Garmisch. At 7:00 p.m. on 3 May 1945, the first American tanks entered Innsbruck, marking the liberation of the city.