Introduction:The Philippe Halsman case remains one of the most controversial criminal trials in Austrian legal history. Through the work of Austrian journalist and historian Martin Pollack, the case has been re-examined as a possible miscarriage of justice shaped by the antisemitic climate of interwar Austria. Pollack's groundbreaking study Accused of Patricide: The Philippe Halsman Case provides an essential historical context for understanding the trial, the role of defense attorney Richard Preßburger, and the broader political and social atmosphere of late-1920s Tyrol. The case also connects unexpectedly to the lives of Austrian resistance figures such as Dr. Ernst Verdross and Dr. Franz Pessler, whose experiences in Dachau illuminate the fate of many Austrian jurists under National Socialism. read more:viennalawreview.com/index.php/vlr/article/view/4181/3930 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halsman_murder_case Dr. Franz Pessler, Dr. Richard Preßburger, and the Halsman Case A Correction Concerning a Remarkable Detail from Dachau Concentration Camp The history of Austrian prisoners in Dachau Concentration Camp contains many surprising biographical connections to significant events of the interwar period. One such connection leads to the so-called Halsman Case, one of the most sensational criminal trials of the First Austrian Republic. During research on Tyrolean lawyers, the name Dr. Franz Pessler emerged. In 1938, the Innsbruck jurist was deported to Dachau Concentration Camp. According to the documentation Resistance and Persecution in Tyrol and Vorarlberg 1934–1945, Dr. Franz Pessler (prisoner number 14383) was imprisoned in Dachau from 31 May 1938 onward. Among his fellow prisoners was Dr. Ernst Verdross. Verdross later recalled that Pessler was well known in the camp because of the “patricide case.” This referred to the famous trial of Philippe Halsman. The Philippe Halsman Case On 10 September 1928, Morduch (Max) Halsman, a dentist from Riga, died during a mountain hike on Mount Schwarzenstein in the Zillertal Alps of Tyrol, Austria. His son, Philippe Halsman, born in 1906, was accused of murdering him. The case quickly developed into an international judicial scandal. Antisemitic undertones in the press and public opinion played a significant role throughout the proceedings. In December 1928, Philippe Halsman was convicted by the Innsbruck Jury Court and sentenced to ten years of imprisonment. His defense was conducted by the renowned Viennese attorney Richard Preßburger. Following an appeal, a second trial was held in Innsbruck in 1929, which again resulted in a conviction. In October 1930, however, Halsman was pardoned by Austrian Federal President Wilhelm Miklas and expelled from the country. Philippe Halsman later emigrated to the United States, where he became one of the most influential photographers of the twentieth century. He gained worldwide recognition for his portraits of political leaders, artists, actors, and writers, as well as for his celebrated collaboration with Salvador Dalí. read more:literaturkritik.de/id/5635 Pessler, Pressler or “Preßburger”-On the Question of Name ConfusionThe confusion between the names "Pessler", "Pressler", and "Preßburger" that appears in later sources can today be reconstructed with greater precision. Richard Preßburger, the celebrated Viennese defense attorney who represented Philippe Halsman in the first trial, died on 28 January 1938 – just weeks before the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany. He therefore never faced deportation to a concentration camp. The references to a "lawyer Pressler" in connection with Dachau most likely do not refer to Preßburger at all, but rather to Dr. Franz Pessler, who was in fact deported to Dachau on 31 May 1938. The striking similarity of the names – Pessler, Pressler, Preßburger – appears to have caused a conflation over the years, traceable in both eyewitness accounts and later written records. Dr. Richard Preßburger (1862–1938)Dr. Richard Pressburger was born on 16 February 1862 in Vienna. After studying law at the University of Vienna, he received his Doctor of Law degree in 1886 and began practicing as a Court and Imperial Advocate (Hof- und Gerichtsadvokat) in Vienna in 1893. He became one of the most prominent criminal defense lawyers of the late Habsburg Monarchy and the First Austrian Republic. Renowned for his eloquence and legal expertise, he gained widespread recognition and secured notable acquittals in numerous high-profile criminal trials. Among his most significant cases were the treason trial of former Minister of War Moritz von Auffenberg, the murder trial of Philipp Halsman, and several politically sensitive proceedings. In addition to his work as a criminal defense attorney, Pressburger maintained a highly respected civil law practice. He was a committed advocate of legal reform and a determined opponent of capital punishment. As a member of the International Bar Association, he delivered a widely acclaimed lecture in Vienna in 1932 calling for the abolition of the death penalty. Richard Pressburger published several legal and contemporary historical works and enjoyed a distinguished reputation within the Austrian legal profession. He died in Vienna on 28 January 1938. His career established him as one of the leading figures of Austrian criminal defense law in the early twentieth century. read more:Blog (EN) Dr._ jur._Richard _PreßburgerErnst Verdross and the “Dachau Concentration Camp Protocol”  Photograph Dr. Ernst Verdross. Held in the historical photographic archive of Stockhammer Photo Studio in Hall in Tyrol. Particularly noteworthy is the role of Dr. Ernst Verdross himself. The Hall municipal director and jurist was arrested following the Anschluss of Austria in 1938 and deported to Dachau Concentration Camp, where he was assigned prisoner number 14354.[4] Shortly after the end of the Second World War, Verdross wrote his memoirs and the so-called Dachau Concentration Camp Protocol (KZ-Dachau-Protokoll), a powerful and deeply personal account of the conditions within the concentration camp. His writings contain detailed descriptions of the violence inflicted by the SA and SS, the systematic persecution and disenfranchisement of political opponents, and the psychological and physical destruction endured by prisoners. For this reason, Elisabeth Walder’s publication Dachau Concentration Camp Prisoner Number 14354 (KZ-Dachau Häftlingsnummer 14354) represents an important contribution to regional memory culture and to the study of Tyrolean resistance against National Socialism.[5] Footnotes1] Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW), ed., Resistance and Persecution in Tyrol and Vorarlberg 1934–1945. A Documentation, Vol. 2 (Vienna/Munich, 1984), p. 392. [2] Ernst Verdross, Dachau Concentration Camp Memoirs (KZ-Dachau Lebenserinnerungen), unpublished manuscript, Private Archive of Dr. Markus Illmer, Innsbruck. [3] Elisabeth Walder, Dachau Concentration Camp Prisoner Number 14354 (KZ-Dachau Häftlingsnummer 14354), Innsbruck, 2025. [4] “Dr. Ernst Verdross Edler von Drossberg – A Life Dedicated to Law and Justice,” NS-Widerstand Hall in Tirol. [5] “The Enduring Legacy of Prisoner No. 14354,” Hall in Tirol Municipal Gazette (Stadtzeitung Hall in Tirol), No. 35, 9 October 2025. read more:(EN) Dr. _Ernst _Verdross Book _ Presentation _Concentration Camp DachauBlog (EN) Dr. _Manfred _Mumelter (EN) Friedrich Corazza Blog (EN) Dr. _Manfred _Mumelter (EN) Friedrich Corazza Dr. Franz Pessler – Dachau Prisoner and a Possible Connection to the Philippe Halsman Case Dr. Franz Pessler was also a lawyer practicing in Innsbruck. Following the Anschluss of Austria in 1938, he was deported to Dachau Concentration Camp together with his friend Dr. Ernst Verdross on 31 May 1938. Whether Dr. Pessler was directly involved in the so-called “patricide trial” of Philippe Halsman cannot be conclusively established on the basis of the sources currently available. Nevertheless, a connection to the case appears plausible. As a lawyer based in Innsbruck, he may have assisted the Viennese defense attorney Richard Preßburger with local preparations for the trial or participated in one of the various stages of the proceedings. This possible connection to the Halsman case may explain why Pessler was remembered by Austrian fellow prisoners in Dachau as a lawyer associated with the “patricide case.” However, no definitive documentary evidence has yet been found, and the question therefore remains a subject for further historical research. The recollections of former Dachau prisoner Dr. Ernst Verdross indicate that the Halsman trial continued to be associated with Pessler’s name many years later. Whether this was due to Pessler’s actual involvement in the proceedings or resulted from a later confusion of the names Pessler, Pressler, and Preßburger cannot currently be determined with certainty. read more:Blog (EN) Dr._Franz_Pessler Blog (EN) Dr._jur._Franz_Pessler _part_2 Blog (EN) Dr._ jur._Richard _Preßburger
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