Josef Anton King – Resistance Fighter from Vorarlberg and Victim of the Nazi Regime

Photo of Josef Anton King as a student at the Bischöflichen Gymnasium Paulinum in Schwaz. Email from [email protected] to Elisabeth Walder on February 4, 2025.

Early Life and Extraordinary Talent

Hörbranz was the birthplace of Josef Anton King, who was born on February 17, 1922, into a farming family. From an early age, his exceptional intelligence became apparent. The local priest recognized his remarkable potential and secured him a boarding school place at the prestigious Paulinum Grammar School in Schwaz.
Beginning in 1933, King attended the Paulinum and quickly distinguished himself as an outstanding student. His great curiosity and remarkable intellect earned him the nickname “S’Professorle” among his classmates.

Photo Bischöfliches Gymnasium Paulinum in Schwaz vom Sportplatz aus. Die freie Enzyklopädie Wikipedia. Online unter https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisch%C3%B6fliches_Gymnasium_Paulinum (Access: 20.5.2026);  Autor Simon Legner 3. Februar 2018)

read more:

paulinum.tsn.at

School Years During the Nazi Era

With the rise of National Socialism, King’s life changed dramatically. In 1938, the Nazi regime dissolved the Paulinum in Schwaz. Josef Anton King continued his education at the grammar school in Bregenz, where he completed his secondary education between 1938 and 1940.
After graduation, he was drafted into military service. However, he was discharged due to severe short-sightedness.

Josef Anton King and the Resistance Against the Nazi Regime

From 1941 onward, the Nazi regime increasingly deployed forced laborers in Hörbranz. Because of his language skills, the Gestapo forced Josef Anton King to work as an interpreter. Instead of supporting the regime, however, he used every opportunity to secretly help the forced laborers.
Today, Josef Anton King is remembered as a courageous resistance fighter against National Socialism in Vorarlberg. Despite the constant danger, he showed humanity and solidarity toward the men and women subjected to forced labor.

Arrest by the Gestapo

In 1944, King wrote and distributed a leaflet giving forced laborers hope that the Second World War would soon come to an end. This courageous act did not go unnoticed, and the Gestapo arrested him shortly afterward.
He was initially imprisoned in Lindau before being transferred to the police prison in Innsbruck. Despite the harsh prison conditions, Josef Anton King remained steadfast in his convictions.

Deportation to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp

In January 1945, the Nazis deported Josef Anton King to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. He endured the inhumane conditions of the camp for only a few months.
Shortly before the liberation of the concentration camp in April 1945, Josef Anton King was murdered with a gunshot to the neck from a submachine gun.

Mauthausen Concentration Camp

Mauthausen Concentration Camp was one of the central Nazi camps in Austria and represented a system of exploitation, extermination through labor, and brutal violence. Between 1938 and 1945, over 190,000 people from all across Europe were imprisoned here and in its numerous subcamps – including forced laborers, prisoners of war, political opponents, Jews, Sinti and Roma, and other persecuted groups. About half of them did not survive. Today, the Mauthausen Memorial is a place of remembrance and warning that honors the victims of Nazi terror and invites reflection on this dark chapter of history.

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www.mauthausen-memorial.org/en

Remembering Josef Anton King

Josef Anton King is regarded as one of the important figures of resistance against National Socialism in Vorarlberg. His courage, compassion, and support for forced laborers continue to make him a lasting symbol of civil courage and resistance against injustice.

Josef Anton King Remembered on the 100th Anniversary of His Birth

On February 17, 2022, the newspaper Tiroler Sonntag dedicated a moving article to former Paulinum student Josef Anton King on the occasion of his 100th birthday. The article, titled “An Interpreter of God’s Love,” commemorated the extraordinary life and tragic fate of the young resistance fighter from Hörbranz during the era of National Socialism.
The article describes Josef Anton King as a highly gifted young man with exceptional intelligence, a deep thirst for knowledge, and a strong Christian faith. His remarkable talents were recognized and encouraged from an early age. However, his education at the Paulinum in Schwaz came to an abrupt end in 1938 when the Nazi regime dissolved the school.

Helping Forced Laborers and Resisting the Nazi Regime

After returning to his family’s farm, Josef Anton King came into contact with forced laborers who were subjected to inhumane working conditions. Because of his language skills, the Gestapo assigned him to work as an interpreter.
Instead of supporting the Nazi regime, however, King used his position to help the oppressed whenever possible. He demonstrated compassion, humanity, and remarkable civil courage. His actions made him an important resistance fighter against National Socialism in Vorarlberg.

Murder at Mauthausen Concentration Camp

As described in the Tiroler Sonntag article, Josef Anton King was murdered on April 24, 1945, at the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. His tattooed prisoner number was 116189.
An SS guard executed him with a gunshot to the neck from a submachine gun only days before the liberation of the concentration camp. Historical accounts indicate that in April 1945 many potential witnesses to Nazi crimes were deliberately murdered in order to silence their testimony.

read more:

Blog (EN) Dr. Adolf Hörhager

(EN) Jehovah's Witnesses.

Memorial (EN) Karl Killinger

Memorial (EN) Anton Bodenwinkler

jehovas-zeugen.at/de/gedenktag-2026-ns-opfer/

Josef Anton King as a Symbol of Faith and Civil Courage

The article “An Interpreter of God’s Love” emphasizes that Josef Anton King possessed not only extraordinary intellectual abilities, but also deep Christian faith and strong moral courage.
His courageous support for forced laborers and his resistance against Nazi injustice continue to make him an enduring symbol of humanity, bravery, and civil courage in Austria today.

Photos: Memorial Josef Anton King Stele at Paulinum Schwaz. At  the Bischöflichen Gymnasium Paulinum in Schwaz. Email from [email protected] to Elisabeth Walder on February 4, 2025.

Josef King Memorial Stele at Paulinum Schwaz

A memorial stele dedicated to Josef Anton King was created by artist Hilde Chiste and erected at the beginning of the 2007/08 school year in the Kreuzgarten of the Episcopal Grammar School Paulinum in Schwaz. The monument commemorates the life and tragic fate of the former student and resistance fighter Josef Anton King.

Artistic Design and Symbolism

As described by architect Dr. phil. Markus Illmer, the memorial consists of a two-part glass stele composed of an upright column and a horizontal base plate. The base plate contains a photograph of Josef King together with a short biography recounting the circumstances of his death during the Nazi era.
The artistic concept symbolizes the relationship between standing and lying — life and death — as fundamental dimensions of human existence. In cross-section, the stele forms the shape of a cross, reinforcing its spiritual and commemorative significance.

Authentic Glass Art by Hilde Chiste

The transparent surfaces of the memorial were designed by Hilde Chiste using authentic stained-glass techniques. Through a special firing process, ceramic fusion colors were permanently bonded with the glass, ensuring lasting brilliance and color intensity.
The composition is dominated by a powerful red tone, a color once described by poet Paul Celan as the “purple-red that we sang.” This vivid red is complemented by nuanced shades of blue interwoven with green and yellow tones, creating a striking interplay of light and color.

read more:

www.hildechiste.com/individuelle-gestaltungen-mit-glas-im-privatbereich/

Photographs Josef Anton King Memorial Stele at Paulinum Schwaz. In private archive Arch.  Dipl. Ing. Dr. Marcus Illmer Innsbruck.

A Memorial to Life, Courage, and Memory

The upright glass column symbolizes the part of Josef King’s life story that rises into the transparency of the glass and toward the light. In contrast, the horizontal base plate documents his earthly life, which ended abruptly in 1945 with his murder in the Mauthausen Concentration Camp.
This sensitive and thoughtful interpretation of the memorial stele was written in 2008 by architect Dr. phil. Markus Illmer. Today, the monument stands as a lasting symbol of remembrance, civil courage, faith, and resistance against injustice.

Article in "Tiroler Sonntag", February 17, 2023, p. 4. In private archive Architect Dipl. Ing. Dr. Marcus Illmer Innsbruck.

Here is the English translation of the German text:

A Translator of God’s Love

On February 17, former Paulinum student Josef Anton King would have celebrated his 100th birthday. But the Nazis prevented him from reaching it through the brutality of their regime.
Shortly before the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp by the Americans, on April 24, 1945, Josef Anton King — prisoner number 116189, tattooed on his arm — was murdered by an SS man, probably with a shot to the neck from a machine pistol.
The young man, gifted with extraordinary intellectual abilities as well as with an unshakable, deeply rooted faith in God, had seen far too much of the terrible, malicious, and deceitful violence of the Nazi system at close range. He had witnessed it personally and experienced it in his own life. He became an eyewitness to the inhumanity of the Nazi regime and was therefore murdered.
Yet the destruction of the witness cannot erase remembrance — neither the memory of the evil he experienced nor of the good he hoped for despite all the abuse. The path of Josef Anton, baptized in the name of Christ, leads without detours and without exaggeration to the meaning of the Latin word “professor”: one who bears witness publicly.
It is a path that many women and men throughout history before and after Christ have walked — and that even today people are forced or condemned to follow. In the language and spirit of the Bible, they are the “cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1), encouraging us today to look at life through the eyes of faith.
We do not know very much about them. But the thought of George Eliot (1819–1880) sheds an illuminating perspective on this:
“…for the growing good of the world depends partly on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”
— Walter L. Buder

About the Person: Josef Anton King

Josef Anton King was born on February 17, 1922, in Hörbranz (Vorarlberg). In 1933, through the mediation of the local parish priest, he entered the Paulinum school. Even then, because of his above-average intelligence, he was nicknamed “Professorle” (“little professor”).
He remained there until the school was dissolved in 1938. During his apprenticeship in the construction trade, he came into contact with the hardship faced by forced laborers. Because of his exceptional practical abilities, the Gestapo recruited him as a translator. In this role he came into even closer contact with forced laborers. He cared for them and helped wherever he could.
In 1944 he was arrested, and on April 24, 1945, he was executed in the Mauthausen concentration camp.
Josef Anton King was a former Paulinum student and was executed shortly before the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp as a so-called “bearer of secrets.”

Article in "Tiroler Sonntag", February 17, 2023, p. 5. In private archive Architect Dipl. Ing. Dr. Marcus Illmer Innsbruck.

Here is the English translation of the German text:

“We Are in God’s Hands”

Josef Anton King lived a relationship with God that was sustained by deep trust.
“The fate of all of us lies in God’s hands. Without His will, not a single hair falls from our heads,”
said Josef Anton King after his arrest by the “Secret State Police” (GESTAPO).
“You do not need to worry too much about me … I know as well as you do that all trials and sufferings that God sends us are meant for our good, if only we accept them properly,”
wrote King, aged 22, in a letter to his parents.
His surrender to God reaches a climax in the words:
“I ask you, place my and your future peacefully in the hands of the Lord, for He knows best what is good for us.”
As clear and steadfast as King was inwardly, so determined he was outwardly. Because of his extraordinary gift for languages, the Gestapo used him during interrogations of forced laborers as a translator, manipulating translations in favor of the accused in order to protect them as much as possible. He passed important information on to them.
In order to bring the terrible actions of the Nazis to an end as quickly as possible, King, as a “secret radio listener,” was exceptionally well informed about the progress of the war. Like the members of the resistance group “The White Rose,” he secretly distributed leaflets. King was eventually betrayed because censors noticed a letter that seemed unusually thick. Hidden inside were leaflets he had written himself.

“Standing Up for People”

The creation of the King memorial at the Episcopal Gymnasium Paulinum is owed to Director Bernhard Schretter, the association of former Paulinum students, and historically conscious teachers. One of them, Martina Schweigl, soon involved Michaela Seewald in designing the King memorial. A spark that continues to have an effect.
Michaela Seewald wrote her academic thesis about Josef King. Today, 14 years later, Seewald says:
“King is a role model of humanity. Even today, it is important in everyday life to stand up for other people who are disadvantaged.”
Another person who intensively engaged with Josef King was the artist Hilde Chisté. She designed the colorful memorial stele. In it she attempted to portray Josef King: the base color blue stands for his intellectual brilliance, red for King’s devotion to his fellow human beings — and in the cross-shaped side view, violet symbolizes the union of heaven and earth.
Embedded at the base is a short biography. Around the memorial runs an inscription band with the words:
“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”

"Memorial for the Josef King Stele"

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Here is the English translation of the German text:

Thoughts on the “Josef King Stele”

The glass column, erected at the beginning of the 2007–08 school year in the newly designed cloister garden of the Paulinum, is intended to be something like a memorial, a commemorative stele for Josef King.
Over the years, silence had gradually fallen around King; forgetfulness had almost spread. Through the initiative of students of the Paulinum, inspired by an encounter with Federal President Rudolf Kirchschläger, the memory of King was revived. This initiative was joined by the Association of Former Paulinum Students, which set a visible and tangible sign in remembrance of him.
Much will now be said about Josef King. Therefore, it is not the intention here to anticipate what students, together with their teachers, will themselves come to understand and develop through discussion and living engagement with his story. Here, we only wish to contribute a few thoughts on the artistic design of the memorial stele itself.
The stele is a work of art, and it is from this already remarkable fact that our reflections begin. First, we ask something that may easily be overlooked: what does a work of art actually have to do with remembering a person? Would not — as one might think — historical documentation, knowledge about King, discussion, perhaps even action in his memory, be more appropriate? All of this is important — but art reaches beyond all of that.
Art goes further because, in a first step, it meets us within the limitations of our own memory. This limitation becomes visible when we seriously ask ourselves how much we truly know about King. In truth, very little.
We certainly know enough to still be horrified today by his terrible death in the Mauthausen concentration camp. And here and there, in the few surviving personal testimonies or reports from contemporaries, brief glimpses appear of who King was: a man of pure heart, filled with devoted concern for others and deep trust in God. He can truly be a shining example to us.
And yet: King has been taken away from us. Such is the relentlessness of death — that he was taken from us. In this way he eludes us. Most of what he was remains beyond words.
It is here, within the unspeakable, that art begins, and at the same time embraces our inability to fully understand. The undefined and vague, the inexpressible, speaks through the painting of the glass column. Colors and forms climb upward, rise and fall; lightness and heaviness alternate, joy and sorrow — everything becomes mood and atmosphere.
The colors begin to sound; a song arises. Quiet remembrance resonates within this song.
My dear student, over the years of your school life you will grow accustomed to it, and suddenly you will notice: the song is sounding in your own heart.
But art reaches even further. It meets us in our limitations in order to lead us, in a second step, toward the greatness of our humanity. Human existence is, by its very nature, unfinished — and with it also the remembrance of another human being.
For the human person is both origin and beginning in such a way that an entire world begins and unfolds within him. Art is related to this spiritual origin of the human being…

"…originates from such a source. One can almost define its essence in this way: It shows us the familiar by unexpectedly revealing within it that which is ever new. So you might think you have already seen the column in the courtyard a thousand times. But when you look at it, you discover it anew, again and again. The act of seeing never ceases.
As a memorial, the column thus remains a permanent challenge, a file that cannot be closed. We understand that a banal sign cannot bear memory. But art, which always grants new beginnings, gives memory wide scope. Within this vast, unclosable space, memory also includes us, the ones who remember. Our own lives open up and stretch beyond the present moment; in this sense, they become anticipation. As anticipation, remembering is not only directed toward the past—as we usually understand it—but at the same time, it also opens up the future for us.
Illmer & Tautschnig, Architects"

"Wrong Time" – Play about Josef Anton King.

The author Claudia Lang-Forcher has written a play about Josef Anton King, which was premiered on the stage of Theater Möggers in the autumn of 2024.

read more:

www.theater-moeggers.at

www.claudia-lang.at