Resistance to Nazism in Hall in Tyrol

Photograph The Upper Town Square in Hall, Tyrol, with the Town Hall. Held in: private archive Walder Hall in Tyrol.

Introduction: Defiance in Solbad Hall

The resistance against the Nazi regime in the Austrian town of Solbad Hall was as diverse as its people. While organized political groups played their role, a more subtle yet equally courageous form of opposition flourished: the defiance of courageous individuals.
These men and women, often without formal party affiliation, mounted their protest through acts of nonconformity and open criticism. Their "crime" was frequently labelled as Heimtücke (subversion), a charge used by the Nazi authorities to silence dissent. Historical archives reveal that particularly women risked their safety by voicing anti-regime opinions in public, daring to challenge the status quo despite the ever-present threat of denunciation.
This website explores the stories of these remarkable individuals, documenting how the spirit of resistance in Solbad Hall was upheld not by a single movement, but by a multitude of brave citizens from all walks of life.

Anna Braunegger

Even merely repeating a rumor could have severe consequences under the Nazi dictatorship, as the case of Anna Braunegger, a seamstress from Hall, demonstrates. In the spring of 1943, while working in the sewing workshop of the Eichat/Absam camp, she reported a story she had heard: that forty German signals auxiliaries in France had deserted and gone over to the English.
This single remark was enough to bring charges against her under the so-called "Heimtücke" Law (Subversion). On July 28, 1943, she was conclusively convicted and sentenced to four weeks in prison—a stark example of the persecution faced for even the smallest perceived defiance of the Nazi regime.

Maria Ebner (1881- 1955)

On January 10, 1941, the Regional Court in Innsbruck sentenced Maria Ebner, a widow from Hall, to eight months in prison. The charge was an offense under the so-called "Heimtücke" Law (Subversion).
Her case was shaped by the coercive policies of the Nazi regime: Resettled South Tyroleans—new settlers who were Nazi sympathizers and had come to the German Reich under the "Option Agreement"—were billeted in her house at Zufluchtshausgasse 3. This forced coexistence under one roof inevitably led to tensions. For Maria Ebner, it meant she was surrounded by political opponents in her own home, individuals who were attentive to any criticism of the regime and willing to report it.
In April 1940, when her tenant Frieda M. welcomed her returning husband with the "German Greet" (the "Sieg Heil" salute), Maria Ebner's contempt for the Nazi regime could no longer be contained.
The court records documented the following incident:
She said to Frieda M.: “You can kiss my arse, and Hitler too!” While saying this, she made a contemptuous hand gesture toward her buttocks.
This single, unambiguous gesture and the crude insult against the "Führer" were all the Nazi regime needed to deprive Maria Ebner of her freedom for eight months. Her case starkly illustrates how systematic denunciation by pro-regime cohabitants and the Nazi judiciary worked in tandem to crush even the most private forms of resistance.

Anna Tausch (1891-?)

On April 27, 1942, Anna Tausch, an unmarried childcare worker from Hall in Tyrol, was sentenced to a penitentiary term of one year and six months. The charge: violating the so-called "Heimtücke" Law (Subversion).
The reason for this harsh sentence was a private letter she had sent to her sister Fanny, who lived in St. Gallen, Switzerland, on December 19, 1941. In it, Anna Tausch courageously criticized the Nazi regime and recalled a prophetic incident from the day German troops marched into Innsbruck, March 13, 1938:
Excerpt from the letter:
*"I often think of the words I spoke foresightfully to Karl on March 13, 1938, as the German military marched into Innsbruck, Saturday into Sunday. We didn't watch this spectacle for a single minute, which is why we went out of town on Sunday the 13th, up towards the Rechenhof. On the way, walking along the forest, I said to Karl: 'Indirectly, Hitler has now ignited the torch of war.' And indeed it happened, blow upon blow, one nation and people after another was affected, for good or ill, by the waving torch of war. I sensed immediately that this invasion and seizure of Austria, the most beautiful central heart of Europe, would have far-reaching consequences. [...] Nobody in Tyrol likes the Gauleiter anyway, may the devil take him. [...]"*
With these words, Anna Tausch paid a high price. Her insightful political analysis and open contempt for the Nazi Gauleiter were construed as "treacherous" attacks on the state and earned her a long prison sentence.

Theresia Grosch (1904 – ?)

Die Händlerin Theresia Grosch, geborene Kapferer (*11. November 1904) aus Hall in Tirol, wurde am 4. April 1941 vom Landesgericht Innsbruck wegen eines Verstoßes gegen das Heimtücke-Gesetz zu drei Monaten Gefängnis verurteilt. Der Grund für das Urteil lag in Äußerungen, die sie Anfang Juli bei einer Verkaufsfahrt in Mieders gemacht hatte. Als sie dort von Tür zu Tür Obst und Gemüse verkaufte, beklagte sie sich gegenüber der Zeugin Zenzi Ruech über die wirtschaftliche Situation.
Dabei erklärte sie:

„Sie bekäme zum Verkaufen zu wenig Gemüse, und in der Stadt müssten die Leute fast verhungern – was die Menschen auf dem Lande ja nicht wüssten. Außerdem würden die Soldaten in der Kaserne so schikaniert, dass sie oft zusammenbrächen. Für ihr Auto erhalte sie viel zu wenig Benzin, während die Herren von der Kreisleitung genug bekämen, um Vergnügungsfahrten zu unternehmen.“