Josef Anton King (1922–1945) – Resistance and Aid to Forced Labourers

Introduction

Josef Anton King was born in Hörbranz, Vorarlberg, on 17 February 1922. A highly gifted former pupil of the Episcopal Grammar School Paulinum in Schwaz, he used his exceptional knowledge of languages during the Second World War to help foreign forced labourers.
As a conscripted interpreter and letter censor, King gained direct insight into the Nazi system of surveillance and persecution. Instead of unconditionally serving this system, he used his limited room for action to support those affected. He interpreted statements in their favour, passed on information about the course of the war and became involved with a Russian resistance group.
The Gestapo arrested him on 6 June 1944. After months of detention in Lindau, Innsbruck and Vienna, he was deported to Mauthausen concentration camp in January 1945. He was murdered only a few days before the liberation of the camp, at the age of 23.
His biography represents a form of resistance rooted in Christian faith, personal responsibility and practical humanity.

Josef Anton King (1922–1945) – Resistance and Aid to Forced Labourers

Josef Anton King as a student at the Episcopal Gymnasium Paulinum in Schwaz. Source: Episcopal Gymnasium Paulinum, Schwaz; provided to Elisabeth Walder by email on February 4, 2025.

Childhood and Exceptional Ability

Josef Anton King grew up in a farming family in the Berg district of Hörbranz. His exceptional intelligence and eagerness to learn were already apparent during primary school. In his home village, the physically slight and severely short-sighted boy was nicknamed “Professorle”, or “little professor”.
On the recommendation of the local priest, King entered the Episcopal Grammar School Paulinum in Schwaz in 1933. There, his interests extended far beyond the school curriculum. He studied radio technology, high-frequency engineering and foreign languages while also helping classmates who were struggling with their studies.
His years at the Paulinum establish an important connection between King’s biography and the history and culture of remembrance in Tyrol.

The Episcopal Gymnasium Paulinum in Schwaz, viewed from the sports field. Photograph by Simon Legner, February 3, 2018. Source: Wikipedia, available online at Episcopal Gymnasium Paulinum (accessed May 20, 2026).

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Education under National Socialism

Group of students at the Episcopal Grammar School Paulinum in Schwaz, probably around 1935/36. According to the school archive, Josef Anton King (1922–1945) is pictured in the second row on the far right. Source: Archives of the Episcopal Grammar School Paulinum, Schwaz.

Following the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in March 1938, the Catholic Paulinum was closed by the Nazi authorities. Josef Anton King therefore had to transfer to the grammar school in Bregenz.
He completed his secondary education there in March 1941, graduating with distinction. His former classmates later remembered him as the best pupil in his year.
King originally intended to become a priest. Under the political conditions of the Nazi dictatorship and its hostility towards independent Catholic education and institutions, however, he was unable to pursue this vocation.

Military Service and Return to Hörbranz

Josef Anton King was called up for military service on 12 December 1941 and stationed in Landeck in Tyrol. His unusual linguistic abilities soon attracted attention. Among other languages, he spoke Italian and Modern Greek, which he had partly taught himself by listening to radio broadcasts.
King was offered opportunities for further employment within the Wehrmacht but refused to pursue a military career. Because of his severe short-sightedness and poor physical health, he was discharged on 8 August 1942.
He then returned to Hörbranz and worked on his parents’ farm.

Historical Context: Forced Labour in Nazi Vorarlberg

During the Second World War, Nazi Germany deported millions of people from occupied European countries and forced them to work within the German Reich. Foreign civilians and prisoners of war were also employed throughout Vorarlberg in industrial companies, construction, agriculture and other sectors.
People from Poland and the Soviet Union were subjected to particularly severe racial discrimination. They endured inadequate food and accommodation, restricted freedom of movement, constant surveillance and harsh punishments. Contact between the local population and the men and women labelled “Eastern workers” was monitored and could result in prosecution.
Several forced-labour camps existed in the Bregenz region, including a camp connected with the Dornier armaments company. Through his encounters with the people detained there, Josef Anton King became increasingly aware of the injustice and violence of the Nazi forced-labour system.

Compulsory Employment by the Gestapo in Bregenz

Because of his exceptional command of languages, King was compelled to work for the Gestapo in Bregenz in 1943. He was employed as an interpreter during interrogations and as a censor of letters written by forced labourers.
This placed him in an extremely difficult and dangerous position. He was required to work for one of the principal institutions of Nazi persecution, yet he used the limited opportunities available to him to help the people being interrogated.
According to historical accounts, King altered or softened translations in favour of those accused and attempted to prevent statements from being used against them. He also passed on important information.
His biography demonstrates that resistance could develop even within a compulsory working relationship. The decisive question was how King used his knowledge, his position and the information to which he had access.

Helping Forced Labourers

AI-generated historical reconstruction of forced labour at an industrial site in Vorarlberg during the Second World War. All individuals are shown from behind and cannot be identified. The image does not depict a documented event or any historical individuals. Image: AI-generated representation for the Digital Biographical Archive of the Austrian Resistance in Tyrol, Elisabeth Walder, 2026.

Josef Anton King developed particularly close contacts with prisoners in the Eastern workers’ camp operated for the Dornier company. He learned Russian and other Eastern European languages, informed forced labourers about the actual course of the war and gave them hope that Nazi rule would soon end.
King listened to foreign radio broadcasts even though receiving so-called “enemy stations” was prohibited and severely punished. He passed the information he obtained to the camp inmates, thereby challenging the Nazi regime’s control over news about the war.
His support went beyond expressions of sympathy. He deliberately used his abilities to assist persecuted people, improve their situation where possible and counter the disinformation spread by Nazi propaganda.

Contact with a Russian Resistance Group

Through his contacts in the forced-labour camp, Josef Anton King became associated with a Russian resistance group. He assisted in translating or distributing leaflets addressed to forced labourers and prisoners of war.
When one of these leaflets came into the hands of the Gestapo, an investigation was launched. King was accused of conspiring with prisoners of war and forced labourers.
His activities therefore extended beyond spontaneous humanitarian assistance. Translating and distributing leaflets, passing on foreign news and cooperating with a resistance group can be classified as forms of political as well as humanitarian resistance to the Nazi regime.

Arrest by the Gestapo

The Gestapo arrested Josef Anton King on 6 June 1944. He was initially detained in Lindau. On 22 June 1944, he was transferred to the Gestapo in Innsbruck, where he underwent weeks of interrogation.
In letters to his parents, King apparently attempted to spare them further anxiety. He said little about the interrogations or the true severity of his situation. The surviving correspondence nevertheless shows that his Christian faith gave him strength during his imprisonment.
After his detention in Innsbruck, King was transferred via Vienna to Mauthausen concentration camp.

Deportation to Mauthausen Concentration Camp

On 19 January 1945, Josef Anton King was registered at Mauthausen concentration camp as a political prisoner. His prisoner number was 116189.
Mauthausen was the centre of an extensive system of concentration camps and subcamps. Prisoners were exposed to forced labour, starvation, disease, physical abuse and deliberate murder. More than 190,000 people were imprisoned within the Mauthausen camp system between 1938 and 1945; at least 90,000 did not survive.
King is also believed to have been employed as an interpreter in the concentration camp because of his linguistic abilities.

Mauthausen Concentration Camp

Mauthausen Concentration Camp was one of the central Nazi camps in Austria and represented a system of exploitation, extermination through labor, and brutal violence. Between 1938 and 1945, over 190,000 people from all across Europe were imprisoned here and in its numerous subcamps – including forced laborers, prisoners of war, political opponents, Jews, Sinti and Roma, and other persecuted groups. About half of them did not survive. Today, the Mauthausen Memorial is a place of remembrance and warning that honors the victims of Nazi terror and invites reflection on this dark chapter of history.

read more:

www.mauthausen-memorial.org/en

Transfer to the Camp Prison and Murder

On 18 April 1945, Josef Anton King was transferred from Barrack 9 to the camp prison. The surviving record lists his destination only as “unknown”.
The Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance and the Mauthausen Memorial conclude that he belonged to a group of Austrian prisoners who were murdered during the second half of April 1945—either in the gas chamber or by shooting in the camp prison.
According to information received by King’s father after the liberation, Josef Anton King was executed on 24 April 1945, after which his body was cremated. However, the precise method by which he was killed cannot be established conclusively from the presently available sources.
King may have been among the political prisoners whom the Nazi authorities regarded as potential witnesses to their crimes or as individuals capable of helping to rebuild a democratic Austria. This interpretation is historically plausible, but it should be presented as a source-based assessment rather than as a fully documented individual motive for his murder.
Units of the United States Army reached Mauthausen concentration camp on 5 May 1945. Josef Anton King had been murdered only eleven days earlier.
His transfer to the camp prison is documented by both the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance and the Room of Names at the Mauthausen Memorial.

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Remembering Josef Anton King

Josef Anton King is regarded as one of the important figures of resistance against National Socialism in Vorarlberg. His courage, compassion, and support for forced laborers continue to make him a lasting symbol of civil courage and resistance against injustice.

Memorial Service and Belated Recognition

Because King’s death was not clearly recorded in the surviving camp documents, his family initially received no reliable information about his fate. In the summer of 1945, his father travelled to Mauthausen under difficult conditions to search for his son.
There he was informed that Josef Anton King had been executed on 24 April 1945 and that his body had been cremated.
A memorial service was held for King in Hörbranz on 12 August 1945. Official recognition of his resistance, however, came only many decades later.
On 7 June 1982, he was posthumously awarded the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Liberation of Austria. Since 1988, a memorial stone at the cemetery in Hörbranz has commemorated his life and resistance.

Josef Anton King Remembered on the 100th Anniversary of His Birth

On February 17, 2022, the newspaper Tiroler Sonntag dedicated a moving article to former Paulinum student Josef Anton King on the occasion of his 100th birthday. The article, titled “An Interpreter of God’s Love,” commemorated the extraordinary life and tragic fate of the young resistance fighter from Hörbranz during the era of National Socialism.
The article describes Josef Anton King as a highly gifted young man with exceptional intelligence, a deep thirst for knowledge, and a strong Christian faith. His remarkable talents were recognized and encouraged from an early age. However, his education at the Paulinum in Schwaz came to an abrupt end in 1938 when the Nazi regime dissolved the school.

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The Josef King Memorial Stele at Paulinum Schwaz

On 25 October 2007, a memorial stele created by the artist Hilde Chistè of Absam was unveiled in the cloister garden of the Episcopal Grammar School Paulinum in Schwaz.
The two-part memorial consists of an upright glass column and a horizontal base plate. A photograph of Josef King and a short biography are incorporated into the base. Viewed in cross-section, the installation forms the shape of a cross.
Its artistic design brings together the contrasting ideas of standing and lying, life and death, violence and hope. The transparent glass surfaces were produced using stained-glass techniques. Red dominates the composition and is complemented by shades of blue, green and yellow. The interaction of colour, light and transparency gives the memorial a spiritual dimension.
The stele makes clear that Josef Anton King should be remembered not only as a victim of Nazi persecution but also as a young man who consciously decided to stand beside those whom the regime had deprived of their rights.

Memorial stele dedicated to Josef Anton King at the Episcopal Gymnasium Paulinum in Schwaz. Source: Episcopal Gymnasium Paulinum, Schwaz; provided to Elisabeth Walder by email on February 4, 2025.

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Photographs Josef Anton King Memorial Stele at Paulinum Schwaz. In private archive Arch.  Dipl. Ing. Dr. Marcus Illmer Innsbruck.

Commemoration of the Centenary of His Birth

On 17 February 2022, the Catholic newspaper Tiroler Sonntag commemorated the centenary of Josef Anton King’s birth with an article entitled “An Interpreter of God’s Love”.
The article drew attention to his exceptional intellectual gifts, his deep Christian faith and his practical support for forced labourers. The combination of education, personal conviction and concrete action remains central to the historical significance of his biography.

Article about Josef Anton King published in the weekly newspaper Tiroler Sonntag on February 17, 2023, p. 4. Source: Private archive of architect Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Marcus Illmer, Innsbruck.

Here is the English translation of the German text:

A Translator of God’s Love

On February 17, former Paulinum student Josef Anton King would have celebrated his 100th birthday. But the Nazis prevented him from reaching it through the brutality of their regime.
Shortly before the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp by the Americans, on April 24, 1945, Josef Anton King — prisoner number 116189, tattooed on his arm — was murdered by an SS man, probably with a shot to the neck from a machine pistol.
The young man, gifted with extraordinary intellectual abilities as well as with an unshakable, deeply rooted faith in God, had seen far too much of the terrible, malicious, and deceitful violence of the Nazi system at close range. He had witnessed it personally and experienced it in his own life. He became an eyewitness to the inhumanity of the Nazi regime and was therefore murdered.
Yet the destruction of the witness cannot erase remembrance — neither the memory of the evil he experienced nor of the good he hoped for despite all the abuse. The path of Josef Anton, baptized in the name of Christ, leads without detours and without exaggeration to the meaning of the Latin word “professor”: one who bears witness publicly.
It is a path that many women and men throughout history before and after Christ have walked — and that even today people are forced or condemned to follow. In the language and spirit of the Bible, they are the “cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1), encouraging us today to look at life through the eyes of faith.
We do not know very much about them. But the thought of George Eliot (1819–1880) sheds an illuminating perspective on this:
“…for the growing good of the world depends partly on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”
— Walter L. Buder

About the Person: Josef Anton King

Josef Anton King was born on February 17, 1922, in Hörbranz (Vorarlberg). In 1933, through the mediation of the local parish priest, he entered the Paulinum school. Even then, because of his above-average intelligence, he was nicknamed “Professorle” (“little professor”).
He remained there until the school was dissolved in 1938. During his apprenticeship in the construction trade, he came into contact with the hardship faced by forced laborers. Because of his exceptional practical abilities, the Gestapo recruited him as a translator. In this role he came into even closer contact with forced laborers. He cared for them and helped wherever he could.
In 1944 he was arrested, and on April 24, 1945, he was executed in the Mauthausen concentration camp.
Josef Anton King was a former Paulinum student and was executed shortly before the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp as a so-called “bearer of secrets.”

Article about Josef Anton King published in the weekly newspaper Tiroler Sonntag on February 17, 2023, p. 5. Source: Private archive of architect Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Marcus Illmer, Innsbruck

Here is the English translation of the German text:

“We Are in God’s Hands”

Josef Anton King lived a relationship with God that was sustained by deep trust.
“The fate of all of us lies in God’s hands. Without His will, not a single hair falls from our heads,”
said Josef Anton King after his arrest by the “Secret State Police” (GESTAPO).
“You do not need to worry too much about me … I know as well as you do that all trials and sufferings that God sends us are meant for our good, if only we accept them properly,”
wrote King, aged 22, in a letter to his parents.
His surrender to God reaches a climax in the words:
“I ask you, place my and your future peacefully in the hands of the Lord, for He knows best what is good for us.”
As clear and steadfast as King was inwardly, so determined he was outwardly. Because of his extraordinary gift for languages, the Gestapo used him during interrogations of forced laborers as a translator, manipulating translations in favor of the accused in order to protect them as much as possible. He passed important information on to them.
In order to bring the terrible actions of the Nazis to an end as quickly as possible, King, as a “secret radio listener,” was exceptionally well informed about the progress of the war. Like the members of the resistance group “The White Rose,” he secretly distributed leaflets. King was eventually betrayed because censors noticed a letter that seemed unusually thick. Hidden inside were leaflets he had written himself.

“Standing Up for People”

The creation of the King memorial at the Episcopal Gymnasium Paulinum is owed to Director Bernhard Schretter, the association of former Paulinum students, and historically conscious teachers. One of them, Martina Schweigl, soon involved Michaela Seewald in designing the King memorial. A spark that continues to have an effect.
Michaela Seewald wrote her academic thesis about Josef King. Today, 14 years later, Seewald says:
“King is a role model of humanity. Even today, it is important in everyday life to stand up for other people who are disadvantaged.”
Another person who intensively engaged with Josef King was the artist Hilde Chisté. She designed the colorful memorial stele. In it she attempted to portray Josef King: the base color blue stands for his intellectual brilliance, red for King’s devotion to his fellow human beings — and in the cross-shaped side view, violet symbolizes the union of heaven and earth.
Embedded at the base is a short biography. Around the memorial runs an inscription band with the words:
“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”

"Memorial for the Josef King Stele"

In Private Archive of Dr. Ing. Illmer, Innsbruck. 

Here is the English translation of the German text:

Thoughts on the “Josef King Stele”

The glass column, erected at the beginning of the 2007–08 school year in the newly designed cloister garden of the Paulinum, is intended to be something like a memorial, a commemorative stele for Josef King.
Over the years, silence had gradually fallen around King; forgetfulness had almost spread. Through the initiative of students of the Paulinum, inspired by an encounter with Federal President Rudolf Kirchschläger, the memory of King was revived. This initiative was joined by the Association of Former Paulinum Students, which set a visible and tangible sign in remembrance of him.
Much will now be said about Josef King. Therefore, it is not the intention here to anticipate what students, together with their teachers, will themselves come to understand and develop through discussion and living engagement with his story. Here, we only wish to contribute a few thoughts on the artistic design of the memorial stele itself.
The stele is a work of art, and it is from this already remarkable fact that our reflections begin. First, we ask something that may easily be overlooked: what does a work of art actually have to do with remembering a person? Would not — as one might think — historical documentation, knowledge about King, discussion, perhaps even action in his memory, be more appropriate? All of this is important — but art reaches beyond all of that.
Art goes further because, in a first step, it meets us within the limitations of our own memory. This limitation becomes visible when we seriously ask ourselves how much we truly know about King. In truth, very little.
We certainly know enough to still be horrified today by his terrible death in the Mauthausen concentration camp. And here and there, in the few surviving personal testimonies or reports from contemporaries, brief glimpses appear of who King was: a man of pure heart, filled with devoted concern for others and deep trust in God. He can truly be a shining example to us.
And yet: King has been taken away from us. Such is the relentlessness of death — that he was taken from us. In this way he eludes us. Most of what he was remains beyond words.
It is here, within the unspeakable, that art begins, and at the same time embraces our inability to fully understand. The undefined and vague, the inexpressible, speaks through the painting of the glass column. Colors and forms climb upward, rise and fall; lightness and heaviness alternate, joy and sorrow — everything becomes mood and atmosphere.
The colors begin to sound; a song arises. Quiet remembrance resonates within this song.
My dear student, over the years of your school life you will grow accustomed to it, and suddenly you will notice: the song is sounding in your own heart.
But art reaches even further. It meets us in our limitations in order to lead us, in a second step, toward the greatness of our humanity. Human existence is, by its very nature, unfinished — and with it also the remembrance of another human being.
For the human person is both origin and beginning in such a way that an entire world begins and unfolds within him. Art is related to this spiritual origin of the human being…

"…originates from such a source. One can almost define its essence in this way: It shows us the familiar by unexpectedly revealing within it that which is ever new. So you might think you have already seen the column in the courtyard a thousand times. But when you look at it, you discover it anew, again and again. The act of seeing never ceases.
As a memorial, the column thus remains a permanent challenge, a file that cannot be closed. We understand that a banal sign cannot bear memory. But art, which always grants new beginnings, gives memory wide scope. Within this vast, unclosable space, memory also includes us, the ones who remember. Our own lives open up and stretch beyond the present moment; in this sense, they become anticipation. As anticipation, remembering is not only directed toward the past—as we usually understand it—but at the same time, it also opens up the future for us.
Illmer & Tautschnig, Architects"

Zur falschen Zeit – A Play about Josef Anton King

The author Claudia Lang-Forcher adapted King’s life story for the stage in the play Zur falschen Zeit--At the Wrong Time. It was first performed by the Möggers theatre company in autumn 2024.
This dramatic treatment brings his story into a contemporary form of remembrance. It offers younger audiences in particular an opportunity to reflect upon individual responsibility, compassion, moral choice and resistance under a dictatorship.

read more:

www.theater-moeggers.at

www.claudia-lang.at

Historical Assessment

Josef Anton King did not belong to one of Austria’s major organised resistance movements. His resistance developed through direct encounters with people who had been deprived of their rights and forced to work for the Nazi war economy.
As an interpreter, he possessed knowledge and limited opportunities for intervention that were not available to most people. He used them not to protect himself but to support forced labourers. He altered translations in their favour, passed on news and participated in the translation and distribution of resistance leaflets.
His actions can therefore be classified as individual, humanitarian and Christian-motivated resistance. The boundaries between humanitarian assistance, non-compliance and organised resistance were fluid. By cooperating with a Russian resistance group, King moved beyond private acts of assistance and became actively involved in resistance to the Nazi regime.

Conclusion

Josef Anton King was only 23 years old when he was murdered at Mauthausen concentration camp. His life demonstrates that resistance did not always involve weapons, political office or membership of a prominent organisation.
King used his education and extraordinary linguistic abilities to help people who had been deported, exploited and deprived of their rights by the Nazi regime. He listened to prohibited foreign radio broadcasts, passed on information, assisted people during interrogations and supported a Russian resistance group. He did so despite knowing that these actions placed his own life in danger.
The memory of Josef Anton King connects Vorarlberg and Tyrol. Hörbranz was his birthplace and home; the Paulinum in Schwaz shaped his education; Innsbruck became a place of his imprisonment and interrogation by the Gestapo.
His biography stands as a lasting example of individual responsibility and of humanity maintained under the conditions of dictatorship.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Who was Josef Anton King?

Josef Anton King was an Austrian resistance fighter from Hörbranz in Vorarlberg. He was born on 17 February 1922 and was murdered at Mauthausen concentration camp on 24 April 1945.

What was Josef Anton King’s connection to Tyrol?

From 1933 onwards, King attended the Episcopal Grammar School Paulinum in Schwaz. Following his arrest, he was transferred to the Gestapo in Innsbruck on 22 June 1944 and interrogated there.

Why did Josef Anton King work for the Gestapo?

He did not volunteer for the Gestapo. Because of his exceptional command of languages, he was compelled to work as an interpreter and letter censor in 1943. His duties included translating during interrogations and monitoring the correspondence of forced labourers.

How did Josef Anton King help forced labourers?

He interpreted statements in their favour, passed on information about the progress of the war and assisted in translating or distributing leaflets connected with a Russian resistance group.

When was Josef Anton King arrested?

The Gestapo arrested him on 6 June 1944. He was initially held in Lindau and transferred to Innsbruck on 22 June 1944.

When was Josef Anton King deported to Mauthausen?

He was registered at Mauthausen concentration camp as a political prisoner on 19 January 1945. His prisoner number was 116189.

How was Josef Anton King murdered?

On 18 April 1945, King was transferred to the camp prison. Later information records his execution on 24 April 1945 and the cremation of his body. The available sources do not conclusively establish whether he was shot in the camp prison or murdered in the gas chamber.

Where is Josef Anton King commemorated?

A memorial stone stands at the cemetery in his home municipality of Hörbranz. Since 2007, a glass stele created by Hilde Chistè has also commemorated him at the Paulinum in Schwaz.

Was Josef Anton King honoured after the war?

Yes. In 1982, he was posthumously awarded the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Liberation of Austria.

Why is Josef Anton King regarded as a resistance fighter?

King used his position as a compulsory interpreter to help persecuted forced labourers. He passed on prohibited information and supported the activities of a Russian resistance group. His actions therefore went beyond private compassion and constituted active resistance to the Nazi regime.