Resistance Inside the System

Institutional Resistance in Innsbruck during the Nazi Regime

In the wake of Austria’s annexation to Nazi Germany in 1938, the first signs of organized resistance emerged within state institutions in Innsbruck. Employees of the Post and Telegraph Office began establishing clandestine communication networks to share and pass on critical information. From 1941 onward, a separate group formed within the Military Recruitment Office (Wehrmeldeamt), which remained active until 1945 and was directly involved in planning, preparing, and ultimately carrying out a coup attempt. These two groups exemplify forms of institutional resistance within official state structures under the Nazi regime—an aspect of resistance history that has received little attention in public memory.

Blog 46 Anton Walder 1

Blog 47 Anton Walder 2

Blog 60 Ing. Carl Hirnschrott

Resistance in the Town Barracks of Hall in Tirol

In Hall in Tirol, a group formed within the town barracks around Captain Baumgartner, a proponent of institutional disobedience within the Wehrmacht. He played a key role in carrying out the local coup in Hall and stands as a representative example of resistance emerging from within a military structure.

Blog 44 Hauptmann Baumgartner

Blog 43 Anton Dosch

Resistance by Wehrmacht Personnel Abroad

Even outside the German Reich, members of the Wehrmacht took a stand against the Nazi regime. Some soldiers deliberately deserted their units and joined local resistance groups in occupied countries such as Norway. A prominent example is General Erwin Lahousen, who became part of the military resistance surrounding Admiral Wilhelm Canaris within the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service. These cases demonstrate that resistance was possible even within military structures and while stationed abroad—often at great personal risk.

Blog 13 Resistance by Wehrmacht abroad

Blog 51 Generalmajor Erwin Lahousen

Resistance in the School System: Josef Egg and Disobedience in the Classroom

Even within the educational sector, there were examples of resistance to the Nazi regime. Josef Egg, a teacher in Hall, refused to swear the oath of loyalty to the Führer in 1938, positioning himself as an opponent of Nazi ideology. From 1943, when he resumed teaching at the vocational school in Hall, he refused to indoctrinate the students. He only taught what he considered necessary, embodying resistance within the school system – a form of active, yet often invisible disobedience within the institution of education.

Blog 45 headmaster Josef Egg

Resistance Among Forced Helpers: Josef Anton King and His Efforts Against the Nazi Regime

Josef Anton King, a man conscripted to serve as an assistant to the Gestapo, chose to resist the Nazi system despite being forced into service. Using his language skills, he supported forced laborers in their fight against the regime. He wrote leaflets urging them to hold on, as he already sensed in 1944 that the Nazi regime was on the brink of collapse. His courageous actions ultimately cost him his life – a tragic example of resistance from individuals who were forced into the system but still maintained their moral compass.

blog 54 Josef Anton King