Silent Rebellion: Unconventional Resistance by Women in Absam

In Absam, individuals resisted the Nazi regime without belonging to any organized political movement. They were persecuted by the Nazi authorities using the so-called "Treachery Act." Historical sources confirm that alongside formal resistance groups, some individuals successfully challenged the state through deviant behavior.
Solbad Hall appears to have been a particular hotbed of dissent, where numerous female citizens refused to remain silent. Especially remarkable was the courage of women who publicly voiced their opposition to the regime—fully aware that they were exposing themselves to the constant risk of being denounced by Nazi supporters. This demonstrates that resistance against the Nazi regime in the city was carried out by people from diverse backgrounds and of both genders.
*Note: On the orders of Gauleiter Hofer, Absam was incorporated into the city of Solbad Hall and remained so until a public referendum in 1947.
 

The Prophecy of 720: An Encoded Message of Resistance

Between 1941 and 1943, three women from Absam—Julie Huber, Elisabeth Hafner, and Rosa Brindlmayer—disseminated a supposed prophecy dating back to 720 AD. Julie Huber had received this text in 1941 from a woman named Kordula Geiger (since deceased), who had composed it as a coded form of protest disguised as a prophecy.
The text included the following passages:
"A time will come when Germania will be called the warlike people. From its bosom, a warrior will emerge who will unleash a world war. The people will call him the Antichrist. [...] The war he unleashes will be the most terrible that mankind has ever seen. [...] Around the middle of the sixth month of the war's second year, the conqueror will have reached the peak of his triumph. The first period, the period of bloody victories, is over. He believes he can dictate his terms.
The second period will be equal in length to the first. It can be called the period of diminutions. It will be rich in surprises. Around its midpoint, the peoples subjugated by the conqueror will cry out for peace, but it will not come. A great battle will take place in the city of cities.
During this time, many of his own will want to stone him. Many things will happen in the Orient.
The third period will be short. It is the period of invasion. From all sides, peoples will invade the land of the conqueror. His army will be struck by a great evil. Everyone will say, here is the finger of God. The scepter will pass into another hand, and everyone will rejoice. [...]"
The Nazis classified this prophecy as seditious material because it unequivocally branded the Nazi regime as the work of the Antichrist and condemned the war started by Germany as the most horrific of all time.
The resistance of the three women was uncovered on their way home from church. During a meeting, Julie Huber handed the text to her acquaintance Elisabeth Hafner, who made a copy of it. Elisabeth Hafner, in turn, gave her copy to Rosa Brindlmayer with the request to reproduce it.
In November or December 1942, the prophecy reached further hands when theology student and Wehrmacht soldier Peter Klingler visited Rosa Brindlmayer during his leave. During a conversation about the war's duration, Klingler read aloud so-called "savior's words" from the prophecy in Brindlmayer's possession and asked for a typewritten copy to show to his comrades at the front.
This act of dissemination ultimately led to the women's arrest. Peter Klingler had fallen into a denunciation trap in Serbia when he shared the text among his comrades. Consequently, the Gestapo arrested Julie Huber, Elisabeth Hafner, and Rosa Brindlmayer, who immediately admitted to having disseminated the prophecy.
On May 20, 1943, the three women were convicted of undermining military morale and distributing seditious materials and were sentenced to several years in prison.
This information is based on Document No. 8779 from the Documentation Archive of the Austrian Resistance (DÖW).

Juli Huber (1891-1970)

Julie Huber (1891–1970) did not belong to any Nazi Party organization or its women's associations. Known in her community as a staunch opponent of National Socialism due to her deep religious convictions, she became a target of political persecution.
This persecution culminated in her arrest by the Gestapo on January 23, 1943. The Special Court in Innsbruck subsequently sentenced her to 18 months of imprisonment for "undermining military morale." She served twelve months of this sentence before being granted early release on December 23, 1943, due to a severe lung disease. The conditions of her imprisonment left Julie Huber with significant long-term physical and psychological trauma.

Elisabeth Hafner (1875–1969)

Elisabeth Hafner, born on March 5, 1875, in Merano, lived as an unmarried retiree at Föhrenweg 18 in Absam. She was known for her deep religiosity and resolute rejection of Nazi ideology, which marked her as an opponent of the regime within her community.
In January 1943, she was arrested by the Gestapo in Innsbruck on charges of "undermining military morale." Although released after 16 days in custody, her confessions—particularly regarding the distribution of a supposed prophecy attributed to Saint Ottilia from the year 720—ultimately led to her conviction. The text prophesied the defeat of Germany and Austria in the war started by Hitler. In May 1943, the Special Court in Innsbruck sentenced her to one year in prison.
She began serving her sentence on May 10, 1943, at the Laufen judicial prison in Bavaria. After four months, she was transferred to the Deggendorf prison in the Bavarian Forest, where she completed the remaining eight months until her release on October 17, 1944.
Elisabeth Hafner's resistance was manifested through her steadfast stance: rooted in her religious convictions, she disseminated prophecies critical of the regime that were intended to undermine military morale.
(Source: Letter from the Solbad Hall Gendarmerie Post Command, Innsbruck District, Tyrol, to the Innsbruck District Administration, February 24, 1947, Ref. No. 1161/47a)

Rosa Brindlmayer (1896-?)

At a time when National Socialism was already firmly entrenched in Austria, Rosa Brindlmayer found her own form of resistance. She was married to Johann Brindlmayer, a recipient of the Golden Bravery Medal from the First World War. Despite this honor, he was dismissed from military service due to his anti-Nazi views and eventually found a position as a military official in the construction department of the military in Innsbruck.
On January 8, 1943, the family's life was abruptly upended when Rosa Brindlmayer was arrested by the Gestapo in Innsbruck. The charges: distributing an anti-regime prophecy and making critical remarks about the Nazi state. After her arrest, she endured five months of pre-trial detention—first at the Innsbruck police prison, later at the Regional Court. She was ultimately sentenced to three years in a penitentiary, which she served in the prisons of Augsburg, Nuremberg, and Deggendorf.
During Rosa's imprisonment, her daughter had to leave secondary school to maintain the household and support the family. Simultaneously, her son had been fighting on the front lines since January 4, 1940—in France, Yugoslavia, and Russia. His wartime experiences were horrific: four months in Stalingrad, severe injuries sustained at Dnipropetrovsk.
The Brindlmayer family's story exemplifies the courage and determination that some individuals summoned during the darkest of times. They paid a high price for their convictions, but their story reminds us that there were always those who stood up against injustice—even when circumstances appeared bleak.
 

Maria Graf from Absam: Resistance Through Refusal

Individual resistance took many forms, often ambiguous – from refusing to give the Hitler salute, to making critical remarks about the regime, and listening to enemy broadcasts. A case in point is Maria Graf from Absam, who stubbornly refused to perform the German salute. Her consistent behavior led to her being repeatedly provoked and eventually denounced by girls from the League of German Girls (BDM).
A letter from Solbad Hall Mayor, Engineer Heinz Bauer, to the Gendarmerie post, dated June 25, 1940, documents the incident:
"Requesting intervention in the following matter:
Maria Graf née Wirtemberger in Absam No. 181 (opposite the Ebner Inn) is known to be an disagreeable person. When BDM girls, who have the order and the obvious duty to greet with 'Heil Hitler', greet her in this manner, she acts outraged and boxes the girls' ears. When confronted about this, she explained that she interprets this greeting as impertinence.
I summoned her a long time ago to appear in person to make the official standpoint clear to her, but she did not appear.
I therefore request that the aforementioned woman be sternly confronted, wherein consideration should be given to determining whether she is malicious or indeed just senile.
Solbad Hall in Tirol, 25 June 1940, The Mayor per pro (signature illegible)"
The letter bears the stamps of the City of Solbad Hall and the Gendarmerie Post Solbad Hall, District of Innsbruck, with a receipt mark of June 26, 1940, No. 4012.