Ing. Walter Jud (1906 - ?)

Photograph Historic Town Hall of Hall in Tyrol. Held in: private archive K. Walder Hall in Tyrol.

Introduction: A Biography of Tactical Survival

Walter Jud, born on May 20, 1906, in Hall in Tirol into one of the town's oldest bourgeois families, is a historical figure whose actions appear to be primarily characterized by strategic adaptation. The exonerating 1945 report by resistance fighter Anton Haller paints a specific picture, yet the facts contained within it reveal a pattern of tactical survival through changing political systems.
The report describes Jud's entry into the NSDAP in 1932 as forced: to secure his position as a warehouse manager in Innsbruck, he joined at the urging of his superior. It is emphasized that he never received a membership book, suggesting a deliberate distance.
However, this very portrayal reveals itself as the core of the so-called "Persilschein" (a whitewashing certificate). The source itself contains the contradiction: it admits that Jud received his membership book in 1941 and was forced to surrender it in 1944 – as a disciplinary measure.

His political career shows a clear pattern of adaptation:

·       1932: Joined the NSDAP to keep a job in the private sector.
·       1937/38: Joined the Vaterländische Front (from 21 April 1937 until 13 March 1938) to secure a position in the Hall municipal administration under the Austrofascist corporatist state.
·       Late 1938: Re-registered with the NSDAP after the "Anschluss" to assimilate himself with the new rulers.
This sequence suggests that Walter Jud consistently used the ruling party's membership book as a means for professional advancement. His later confrontation with the Nazi regime and his cooperation with the resistance movement from 1944 can thus also be interpreted as another tactical reversal – motivated by the insight into the regime's impending defeat and a desire to secure his position in a future post-war Austria.
His story is an example of the complex survival strategies of a man who constantly sought his own advantage within different systems, ultimately performing actions that – regardless of his motivation – had positive consequences for the city of Hall and many of its inhabitants. The following report sheds light on this ambivalent role.

A Puzzling Case

At first glance, Walter Jud was a functionary of the Nazi system: a party member, head of the chancellery in Hall's town hall, and a wearer of a party uniform. Yet the report by Anton Haller, a leading figure in the Austrian resistance movement, paints a completely different picture. Jud systematically used his position to protect the population, help the persecuted, and sabotage the radical plans of the regime. His story is an example of "quiet resistance" from within the apparatus.

1. Who was Walter Jud? An Ambiguous Party Career

• Forced Entry and Distant Membership: Jud joined the NSDAP in 1932, while it was still legal, primarily to keep his job in Innsbruck. For a long time, he received neither an ID nor a membership book, only an oral number. After his dismissal from the Erhart & Auer company in Innsbruck in 1933, he stopped paying his membership dues.
  
• The "Party-Duty-Assigned" Official: He obtained his position as head of the chancellery in the Hall town hall not because of his political convictions, but because he was considered professionally competent. The party uniform was issued to him, and he was only required to wear it on specific occasions. He did not belong to any of the party's paramilitary formations, only to the more apolitical Technische Nothilfe (Technical Emergency Service).
  
• Troubles with the Party Leadership: The surrender of his membership book in 1944 indicates a party disciplinary procedure, likely due to him taking sides for persecuted individuals. The report lists several conflicts with the regional and district party leadership, which document his oppositional stance.
  

2. Quiet Resistance: Aid for the Persecuted and the Church

Walter Jud consistently used his official position to provide humanitarian aid and mitigate injustice.
·       Protection for the Imprisoned: He intervened on behalf of a number of persecuted individuals, including the car owners Heiß, Hofrat Dr. Kneußl, Reichmann, and Grünmandl. His efforts for Dr. Schumacher and Anton Haller himself are particularly noted, whose arrests he either prevented or helped to shorten.
·       Support for the Church: At a time when the Church was under pressure, Jud always behaved correctly. His most notable achievement was saving the valuable chalices and sacred vessels from the dissolved Franciscan monastery. He safeguarded them from the Gestapo and informed the resistance movement of their hiding place so the items could be saved.
·       Secrecy: He protected confidential information, such as a letter that enabled a secret re-entry into the Church, and a planned staged break-in to retrieve church registers.

3. Sabotage of Nazi Policy and Wartime Measures

Jud actively resisted the arbitrary rule and destructive plans of the regime in April 1945.

• Prevention of Bridge Demolitions: In the final days of the war, his crucial collaboration with the local commandant, Captain Baumgartner, and the resistance movement prevented the repeatedly ordered demolition of the Hall, Mils, and Volders bridges. This saved the city's vital infrastructure.
• Prevention of a "Last Stand" Defense: An SS leader planned to defend Hall to the point of total destruction, which would have also meant the annihilation of Innsbruck. Jud worked feverishly to undermine this plan.
• Resistance against the Arbitrary Rule of the Gauleiter: The report lists numerous conflicts, for instance regarding the unlawful confiscation of apartments, the planned closure of the salt works, and excessive military billeting.

4. The Rescue Operation for the Resistance Fighters: April 30, 1945

A key scene illustrates how dangerous their cooperation was: When the leadership of the Hall resistance movement (including Dr. Schumacher, Anton Walder, and Ehrenreich Thöni) entered the town hall unnoticed, the very SS leader and Gestapo officers who were discussing mass arrests were present. Walter Jud spotted the arrivals from the window, disappeared under a pretext, and warned them at the last moment. This presence of mind likely saved their lives, and his own.

5. The Motive: Social Justice over Ideology

According to Anton Haller, Jud's actions were dictated not by political calculation, but by his character:

• Social Conscience: He helped workers and the poor in particular, as they had the fewest means to help themselves.
  
• Integrity and Modesty: He was considered completely incorruptible, worked hard, and lived a modest life. His reputation among the population was so good that people said, "If all Nazis were like Mr. Jud, there would be no war and no concentration camp."
  
• Personal Insight: Through conversations with Haller, he gradually realized he had served a criminal system and underwent an internal transformation.
  

Conclusion: An Ambivalent Legacy

Walter Jud remains a historically ambivalent figure. Outwardly an NS functionary, he was inwardly an opponent of the system who skillfully used his position to prevent worse outcomes. His case shows that resistance could take many forms. Without men like him, who "thought rationally" in key positions, Hall might have been destroyed and many people would have lost their lives. The resistance movement acknowledged this and protected him after the war ended.

Critical Analysis of the Source

The text at hand is not simply a neutral report but a targeted statement with the intent of exoneration (colloquially known as a "Persilschein" or "whitewashing certificate"). It is crucial to read it within this historical context:

1. Purpose of the Source: The report was presumably written around mid-1945 at the request of the Austrian resistance movement. Its primary goal was to present Walter Jud to the new Allied or Austrian authorities as an exonerated person ("less incriminated") or even as a silent resistance fighter, in order to protect him from legal or professional consequences (denazification).
   
2. Author and Perspective: The author, Master Anton Haller, was a leading member of the resistance movement in Hall. His account is therefore deliberately one-sided and appreciative. He presents Jud as an ally and helper. A critical distance from Jud or a depiction of potentially ambivalent actions is not to be expected.
   
3. What the Text Omits: As a "whitewashing certificate," the text focuses exclusively on exonerating actions. What Jud, in his function as head of the chancellery, nevertheless had to carry out in terms of system-conforming orders, and what compromises he may have made, is omitted or presented as unavoidable. Thus, the source shows us only one, exculpatory side of the coin.
   
4. Nevertheless Valuable: Despite this one-sidedness, the text is of high historical value. The concrete descriptions of his aid (saving the church chalices, preventing bridge demolitions, warning of arrest) are too specific and detailed to be freely invented. They provide insight into the grey areas and room for maneuver that existed even within the Nazi apparatus, and show how resistance and humanity were possible even from seemingly system-conforming positions.
   

Conclusion: This report tells us less about the objective overall biography of Walter Jud and more about how the local resistance movement perceived him and how they could utilize and justify his actions after the war. It is evidence of the complex entanglements and cooperation between apparent opponents in the microcosm of a small town.

Afterword: Life after 1945 - An Ambivalent Honor

The protective efforts of the resistance movement were successful. Walter Jud was not classified as a incriminated Nazi but, supported by the testimony of Anton Haller and others, was able to return to the service of the city. His professional competence and his locally recognized integrity were valued in the post-war period as well. Until his retirement, Engineer Walter Jud held a position in the municipal waterworks of Hall.
His imprint in this role was so strong that he popularly received the nickname "Wasserjud" (Water Jud). This name is ambivalent from a modern perspective: On one hand, it can be read as a sign of familiarity and informal acceptance of his person—a form of public tribute. On the other hand, the fusion of his surname with his function follows a traditional, small-town practice that is not without a certain coarseness. This nickname illustrates how deeply he was embedded in the town's everyday life and simultaneously marks the difficult path Jud had to walk following his formal Nazi past. Ultimately, his continued career underscores that his true stance during the Nazi era was recognized by the community. His life path stands symbolically for the complex reintegration of a man who had used his difficult position in the Third Reich to do the right thing as the regime crumbled.