Background: The Resistance's Final Plan
On May 2, 1945, as U.S. forces advanced toward Innsbruck, Dr. Viktor Schumacher—military leader of the armed uprising for the Hall Resistance Movement—met with fellow insurgents at Anton Haller’s apartment in Solbad Hall (now Hall in Tirol). Their goal: to coordinate a last-ditch uprising against the crumbling Nazi regime.

• Key Figures Present:
  • Anton Haller (resistance cell leader)
  • Anton Walder (courier to the O5 Austrian Resistance Movement in Innsbruck, and one of the founders of the Post Group Innsbruck and Military Reporting Office Group Innsbruck)
  • Captain Johann Baumgartner (sympathetic Wehrmacht officer)
  • Toni Dosch (group organizer)

The plan involved surrendering the city to U.S. troops without resistance, using a white flag carried by acting mayor Engineer Walter Jud.

Late on May 2, Schumacher and Anton Demanega phoned Innsbruck’s resistance leaders from Schumacher’s medical office. At 1:00 AM on May 3, a local switchboard operator (E.A.) overheard Schumacher say:
"Then we strike now."
She immediately:

1. Alerted Gauleiter Franz Hofer (Nazi governor of Tyrol; 1902-1975).
2. Identified the call as coming from Dr. Schumacher’s line (111).
3. Warned Captain Baumgartner, who tried—but failed—to save Schumacher.

• SS officers surrounded Schumacher’s home at Bruckergasse 1.
• He was dragged to the Gauhaus (Nazi HQ) in Innsbruck for interrogation.
• Despite torture, he refused to reveal resistance names.

At dawn, the SS threatened him with a summary execution:
"The firing squad will be ready in two hours."
Aftermath

• Schumacher’s fate remains unclear (execution? liberation by U.S. forces?).
• His courage epitomized Tyrol’s anti-Nazi resistance.

Key Terms:

• O5 = Code name for Austria’s largest resistance network ("O" for Österreich, "5" for the 5th letter, "E", symbolizing "Erwache!"/"Awaken!").
• Gruppe Post/Gruppe Wehrmeldeamt = Resistance cells infiltrating the postal service and military bureaucracy.
• Solbad Hall = Hall in Tirol (historic name referencing its salt baths).

 
(Sources: Tyrolean police archives, resistance memoirs, DÖW documentation.)

Dr. Schumacher himself reported on the final days of the Nazi regime's collapse, noting that U.S. forces approached Innsbruck from the north and west. On May 2, 1945, he met with resistance fighters at Anton Haller’s apartment. During the meeting, they held a situational briefing to plan the uprising against Nazi rule. Discussions continued into the evening, with Toni Walder, Toni Haller, and Toni Dosch participating again, along with the acting mayor, Engineer Jud.
The resistance planned for Engineer Walter Jud to approach the advancing U.S. troops with a white flag, ensuring the city could be taken without bloodshed. To coordinate this, they contacted Captain Johann Baumgartner, the military commander of Solbad Hall, who had secretly supported the resistance for years.

Hourly strategy meetings took place in Anton Haller’s apartment. When no confirmation of the uprising arrived from Innsbruck, Haller and Walder drove to Café München in Innsbruck at 8:00 PM, where the Austrian resistance command under Dr. Karl Gruber was meeting. The code word was: "Palermo.
After being taken to Gruber’s Telefunken office, they agreed that the uprising would be signaled via radio broadcast. However, no message came. Meanwhile, another strategy session was held at Haller’s home, joined by Albrecht and Stecher from the Innsbruck resistance. They insisted that the Volders Bridge had to be held at all costs. Discussions continued hourly until 2:00 AM, followed by a final meeting to prepare for the armed revolt.

After the meeting, Dr. Schumacher (responsible for planning the armed uprising) and Anton Demanega went to his medical practice to phone the Innsbruck resistance.
At 1:00 AM on May 3, 1945, the switchboard operator E.A. at the Solbad Hall post office overheard the words:
"Then we strike now."
She immediately reported the call to Gauleiter Franz Hofer (1902-1975), identifying Line 111 as Dr. Schumacher’s connection. She also warned Captain Baumgartner, who was part of the resistance, that Hofer was sending SS officers to arrest Schumacher.
Baumgartner managed to warn Anton Haller, Heinz Ehrenreich Thöni, Toni Dosch, Anton Demanega, and Toni Walder—but it was too late for Dr. Schumacher. SS officers were already waiting outside his home at Bruckergasse 1.

Schumacher was taken to the Gauhaus in Innsbruck, where SS officers interrogated him until dawn. He refused to reveal any details about the Hall resistance. In retaliation, he was threatened with a summary court-martial at 7:00 AM:
"The firing squad will be ready in two hours."

Events unfolded rapidly, and by the next morning, the city of Innsbruck was already in the hands of the Austrian resistance. Dr. Viktor Schumacher, however, was still being held in the Gestapo interrogation room, though no further questioning took place.

*"Finally, around 4 or 5 PM, the radio broadcast announced: ‘Austrians! The city of Innsbruck is free!’ That was my signal—I had to return to Hall. Due to the uncertainty on the main road, I was advised to take the back routes through the villages. Luis Steinegger accompanied me as far as Mühlau. From there, I saw the red-and-white flag already flying on the church tower in Arzl. I continued on—every village had the red-and-white flag raised. By 7:30 PM, people were heading to May devotions when I reached Hall. I went into the city, met up with the resistance fighters, and together we marched to the town hall. American tanks had not yet entered Hall, but they were reportedly heading toward Lachhof to confront the Gauleiter."*
(Source: Dr. Viktor Schumacher, unpublished manuscript titled "1945," pp. 3–4. Private Archive Schumacher, Hall in Tirol.

Key Details:

• White armband = Symbol of the Austrian resistance.
• Red-and-white flags = The banned Austrian national colors, openly displayed after Nazi rule collapsed.
• Lachhof = Gauleiter Hofer’s residence near Hall.

On the morning of May 4, 1945, Dr. Viktor Schumacher—alongside Dr. Verdross and Anton Haller—officially surrendered the town of Solbad Hall to 1st Lieutenant Arthur G. Weeks of the U.S. Military Government, without resistance.
Schumacher’s Legacy as Mayor

• Served as Mayor of Solbad Hall from 1945 to 1968, guiding the town’s post-war recovery.
• Awarded Honorary Citizenship in 1954 for his leadership.
• Received the Town’s Ring of Honor in 1964 for his lifelong dedication to the community.

​​Key Notes:

• The handover marked the end of Nazi rule and the beginning of democratic reconstruction.
• Schumacher’s appointment reflected the trust of both the resistance and Allied forces.
• Solbad Hall was later renamed Hall in Tirol (dropping the Nazi-era "Solbad" reference).