Dr. med. Viktor Schumacher (1894 – 1981)

Photo Dr. Viktor Schumacher.  In: Wopfner, Helmut (Hrsg.): Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998. Thaur 1998, p.79.

The history of Solbad Hall during the darkest years of the 20th century is marked by courage, resistance, and the determination of individuals to stand up to tyranny. One of the central figures in this struggle was Dr. Viktor Schumacher – a man whose life as a doctor and local politician did not stop him from becoming a resolute opponent of National Socialism.

From Medical Student to Municipal Doctor

Born in 1894 in Schwaz, Viktor Schumacher began his career in a conventional way: After attending grammar school in Hall, he studied medicine in Innsbruck, served in the First World War, and earned his doctorate in 1922. He took over his father's medical practice and became the municipal doctor in Hall, where he also entered politics as a city councillor in 1929. His stance became apparent early on when he led the Christian-German Gymnastics Association, which maintained a clear distance from the emerging Nazi ideology.

Early Confrontation and the First Act of Resistance

The threat of Nazism was palpable in Hall long before the Anschluss. As early as 1933, there were provocative incidents involving the Nazi-infiltrated "Gymnastics Association 1862". Events culminated in 1934 with the bombing of the Halltal power plant – an act of sabotage with devastating consequences for the population.
Immediately after the Nazis marched into Austria on March 12, 1938, Dr. Schumacher took action. In the early hours, together with Anton Haller, Jakob Schonger, and Engineer Richard Matt, he secured the membership lists of the Fatherland Front. This brave act saved countless citizens of Hall from persecution and deportation. That very same day, he was arrested by the SS and imprisoned for four weeks. He lost his official positions, but his resistance was not broken; it was reorganized.

Under the Watchful Eye of the Gestapo: The Long Fight

Despite constant surveillance by the Gestapo, Dr. Schumacher used his freedom of movement as a doctor to build up the Hall resistance movement. He even joined the monarchist resistance circle around Count Bernhard Stolberg. After the failed assassination attempt of July 20, 1944, he was arrested again but was released after a week thanks to intervention.
His most dangerous hour came on the night of May 2-3, 1945. While on a phone call with the resistance movement in Innsbruck, he was betrayed. The words "then let's strike now" led to his arrest. SS officers took him to the Gau headquarters in Innsbruck, where he was interrogated and threatened with a drumhead court-martial and execution. In his own account, he describes the anxious hours of his captivity:

"... as it slowly became day, a man with a white armband passed by and asked me what I was doing. I just said, the SS brought me here..."

​Amid the chaos of the final days of the war, he managed to escape on the morning of May 3. Relying on the help of fellow gymnasts, he made his way back to Hall, observing the red-white flags of liberation on the church steeples, and finally arrived in his hometown around 7:30 PM.

Liberation and a New Beginning

On the evening of May 3, 1945, Dr. Viktor Schumacher was elected Mayor of Solbad Hall by the resistance movement. On May 4, he peacefully handed over the city to the representative of the American military government. Hall was thus one of the few cities in the German Reich that was liberated without any fighting – a legacy of the courageous resistance led by Dr. Viktor Schumacher.
His life is a powerful testament to civil courage, duty, and an unwavering belief in Austria's freedom.