Anton Walder (1913 - 1985)

Photograph Anton Walder (1944).​In private archive Kurt Walder Hall in Tyrol.

Biography of Anton Walder

Anton Walder (born January 30, 1913, in Albeins/Albes/Italy, died October 14, 1985, in Hall in Tyrol) was an Austrian resistance fighter against Nazism.
Anton Walder was born as the legitimate son of railway official and later parish sexton of Hall in Tyrol Anton Walder sen. (1870 - 1943) and his mother Maria geb. Krismer (1870–1954), After attending primary school in Albeins, he became a boarding student at the lower level of the Vinzentinum Gymnasium in Brixen, where he studied until 1923. Afterwords he transferred to the Paulinum Gymnasium in Schwaz, Tyrol.
From 1928 to 1935, Walder continued his education at the Bundesoberrealschule on Adolf-Pichler-Platz in Innsbruck, graduating with his Abitur (matriculation exam) on May 31, 1935. As early as 1934, he was involved in the "Christlich-deutscher Turnverein" (now the Sportunion). After completing his exams, he began training as an insurance clerk.
In 1937, Walder entered civil service as a postal official, but in March 1938, he was dismissed by the Nazi authorities. The reason for his removal was his clear anti-Nazi stance, which he had held even before 1938—despite never engaging in party politics or joining the Vaterländische Front (Fatherland Front).

After his dismissal from postal service, Walder worked as an employee in a private trading company in Hall, Tyrol. On February 1, 1939, Anton Walder was conscripted by the Wehrbezirkskommando (Military District Command) Innsbruck. After brief weapons training, he was discharged as a reserve soldier (Ersatzreserve II) due to L 67 (left hand, unfit for service at the front, home service only).
From February to September 1942, he was forcibly assigned to railway mail service (Bahnpost). On September 1, 1942, he was transferred to the Wehrmeldeamt (Military Reporting Office) Innsbruck and sworn in. The then-head of the Innsbruck Wehrmeldeamt, Colonel Rauch, submitted a request for Walder’s discharge in November 1942, as Rauch deemed Walder unsuitable for clerical work at the office.
Following a change in command at the Wehrmeldeamt in 1943, Walder was listed as a staff member of the Wehrmeldeamt Innsbruck from January 21, 1943, until April 16, 1945. However, he was repeatedly reassigned to postal duties for several weeks each year during this period.

After the war and the fall of the Nazi regime in Austria, Walder was rehired by the Austrian postal service as an inspector. Upon retirement, he received the honorary title of Government Councillor. In October 1965, he was honored with the Republic of Austria’s Golden Decoration of Merit.

​Anton Walder passed away on 14 October 1985 in Hall in Tirol. His grave is located in the cemetery of Hall in Tyrol.

"As Anton Walder remarked, reflecting on his time in the anti-Nazi resistance: 'Clear, sober thinking can very well be reconciled with sincere Catholic sentiment.'"

Photograph German troops March 13, 1938 in Hall in Tyrol. Private archive of Mr. Federspiel Absam/Tyrol.

Resistance during World War II

The Tyrolean resistance (1938–1945) comprised fragmented groups with differing motivations. Anton Walder participated in three key cells: as a founder of the postal workers' resistance network (1938–1945), a member of the Innsbruck Military Reporting Office resistance circle (1943–1945), and the Anton Haller-led group in Hall in Tirol (1941–1945).

Post Resistance Group (1938–1945)

The Post Resistance Group (German: Widerstandsgruppe Post) consisted of postal employees opposed to the Anschluss (Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria). Members were patriotic Austrians, including postal officials dismissed after the annexation. Anton Walder joined this underground circle in 1938 after his own dismissal, under the leadership of Viktor Haberditzel.

Photograf: Anton Walder (right, 1941) in a post railway wagon. In private archive E. and K. Walder Hall in Tyrol.

Formation and Activities

In summer 1943, Haberditzel, Walder, and Hubert Schittelkopf (1909–1948) formally established the group,which grew to 15–20 members across postal departments. Their work included:

• Coordinating with other resistance cells.
• Monitoring Nazi operations.
• Transmitting clandestine messages.
  Later, they expanded to wiretapping military communications, exchanging intelligence with postal contacts in Berlin.A key collaboration with a 1943 Berlin resistance network enabled the relay of Wehrmacht dispatches (e.g., from Milan’s Störbefehlsstelle) to Innsbruck and onward to Berlin. By 1945, they established ties with Allied forces, including the French 1st Army’s Hemicycle Division.

April 1945: Intelligence Operations

The group set up a command center in April 1945, intensifying surveillance. They intercepted:

• Calls between Gauleiter Franz Hofer and senior Nazis (e.g., Albert Kesselring, Heinrich von Vietinghoff, Joseph Goebbels).
• Wehrmacht directives from the Hungerburg headquarters.
  Critically, they maintained phone lines the Nazis ordered severed.

Liberation of Innsbruck (3 May 1945)

On 3 May 1945, the group:

1. Seized weapons abandoned by the Volkssturm at the former Nazi district HQ (Maximilianstraße).
2. Stormed the Post Directorate at 15:00, forcing president Damrau to surrender authority.
   By 19:00, the first U.S. tanks entered Innsbruck, marking the city’s liberation.

Wehrmeldeamt (Military Reporting Office) Resistance Group, Innsbruck (1940–1945)

During his service as a clerk at the Wehrmeldeamt Innsbruck (1942–1945), Anton Walder was initiated into a small resistance cell operating within the office under the leadership of Fritz Würthle.

Walder's Dual Role

1. Liaison Function:
   • Served as a key link between the Post-Telegraph Resistance Group and the Anton Haller Group, facilitating communication and coordination.
2. Subversion of Military Bureaucracy:
   • Processed official documents: Issued temporary leave passes (Kriegsurlaubsscheine) to exempt soldiers from active duty.
   • Manipulated soldier records: Updated or removed index cards of targeted personnel, erasing them from official rosters.
   • Declared soldiers "indispensable": Collaborated with sympathetic military offices to protect Austrian patriots from frontline deployment.

April 1945: Crackdown and Escape

• A wave of arrests targeted the group between 16–27 April 1945, forcing many members to flee.
• On 16 April, Walder received a coded warning of his imminent arrest and escaped to Gnadenwald.
• After days in hiding, he returned to join the Anton Haller Group in Solbad Hall (Hall in Tirol) for the final days of resistance.

Anton Haller Resistance Group in Solbad Hall/Hall in Tirol (1938–1945)

As early as 1938, Anton Walder and like-minded individuals began meeting in the workshop of master shoemaker Anton Haller at Agramgasse 8 in Hall, Tyrol, to exchange information.  By 1943, a formal resistance group had formed around Haller. Its founding members included:

·       Viktor Schumacher (1894–1981)
·       Ernst Verdross (1892–1963) 
·       Anton Dosch (1914–1979)
·       Anton Demanega (1910–1987)
·       Heinz Ehrenreich Thöni (1894–1971)
·       Josef Terrabona (1898–1986)
·       Anton Walder (1913–1985)  

Photograf  Anton Haller resistance group (1945). In "Rudolf Mackowitz: The Struggle for the Liberation of Tyrol, p. 7."

May 1945: The Uprising

·       2 May 1945: Viktor Schumacher met with resistance members at Haller’s apartment in Solbad Hall. Discussions with Walder, Haller, and Dosch continued into the night about armed revolt plans. When expected orders from Innsbruck failed to arrive, Walder and Haller traveled to Innsbruck to assess the situation.
·       Intercepted Communication: Anton Demanega’s phone call to Innsbruck’s resistance was wiretapped by the Gestapo, forcing the group to flee. Schumacher was arrested but later released.
·       3 May 1945: As U.S. forces entered Innsbruck, Haller’s group secured public buildings in Solbad Hall.
·       4 May 1945: Viktor Schumacher—with Ernst Verdross and Anton Haller—officially surrendered the town to U.S. representative Arthur G. Weeks without resistance.