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Sepp Kerschbaumer (9 November 1913 – 7 December 1964) was a Tyrolean activist and member of the South Tyrolean Liberation Committee ''(Befreiungsausschuss Südtirol (BAS))'', which campaigned for the break-away of
South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...
from
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. In 1961, the BAS staged the so-called '' Feuernacht'' (Night of Fire), the destruction of several dozen electricity pylons, which escalated the South Tyrol conflict. The Italian state viewed the BAS as a terrorist and separatist organization, while large parts of the South Tyroleans regarded them as freedom fighters.


Early life

Sepp Kerschbaumer was the son of the merchant Josef Kerschbaumer and his wife Luise of
Aldein Aldein (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and a village in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about south of the city of Bolzano. Aldein borders the following municipalities: Bronzolo, Montan, Deutschnofen, Auer, South Tyrol, Auer, Trude ...
, and born in the village of Frangart, which today is a ''
frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...
'' of Eppan. Kerschbaumer's father was killed on the Dolomite
Front Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * '' The Front'', 1976 film Music * The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and ...
in
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
when he was four, followed by the death of his mother when he was nine. After his education in
Bolzano Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The ...
and Neustift Monastery, he completed the commercial preparatory school in
Brixen Brixen (; , ; or , ) is a town and communes of Italy, commune in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano. Geography Brixen is the third-largest city and oldest town in the province, with a population of nearly twenty-three t ...
in 1927. In 1933 he was conscripted into military service. In late 1934 Kerschbaumer was banished for two years because of participation in a forbidden political meeting. After
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
pardoned him in late 1935, he returned to South Tyrol. At this point, he was put in charge of his parents' grocery business by his guardian.


Politics

Fascist Italy Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...
had begun a process of
Italianization of South Tyrol In 1919, at the time of its annexation, the middle part of the County of Tyrol, which is today called South Tyrol (), was inhabited by almost 90% German speakers.Oscar Benvenuto (ed.):South Tyrol in Figures 2008", Provincial Statistics Institute ...
, a predominantly German-speaking area gained by Italy after World War I. Under the
South Tyrol Option Agreement The South Tyrol Option Agreement (; ) was an agreement in effect between 1939 and 1943, when the native German and Ladin-speaking people in South Tyrol and several other municipalities of northern Italy, which had belonged to the Austrian Empire ...
(1939), Kerschbaumer chose to migrate to
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
. But he later realized that no assistance could be expected from Germany. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
he joined the
South Tyrolean People's Party The South Tyrolean People's Party (, SVP) is a regionalism (politics), regionalist and mostly Christian democracy, Christian-democratic list of political parties in South Tyrol, political party in South Tyrol, an Autonomous administrative divisio ...
and dedicated himself to local politics. He became local chairman of the party and local council head of Frangart. At the start of the 1950s, he became frustrated at what he felt was the too conciliatory attitude of the SVP. At a large demonstration on 17 November 1957, Kerschbaumer distributed an anonymous leaflet demanding "a free South Tyrol". From then on he began to found and build the South Tyrolean Liberation Committee (BAS), which was at first limited to distributing leaflets and symbolic actions, such as the display of the then forbidden flag of South Tyrol. On 12 June 1961, the BAS organized the destruction by explosives of 37 electricity pylons supplying power to the industrial zone of Bolzano, later known as the
Night of Fire The German Night Gate Fire (; ) happened on the night of 12 June 1961 when 37 electricity pylons were blown up in South Tyrol by the South Tyrolean Liberation Committee. It formed a turning point in the history of the province. Background Afte ...
(''Feuernacht'').


Incarceration and death

In the aftermath of the Feuernacht, Sepp Kerschbaumer was arrested and allegedly tortured by police. The rumored mistreatment of Kerschbaumer may have contributed to further escalation of events. Being the leading member of BAS, Sepp Kerschbaumer was sentenced to fifteen years and eleven months on 16 July 1964, for organizing the bombing. On 7 December 1964 he died in prison in Verona of a heart attack. More than 15,000 inhabitants attended the funeral on 9 December 1964, about 5% of the whole population then.


Personal life

Kerschbaumer was a deeply devout Catholic and participated daily in
holy mass The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass "the same Christ ...
in Bolzano; while in prison, he often prayed the
rosary The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the ...
. On 29 April 1936, he married Maria Sancheti from Bolzano. The couple had six children.


References

* Josef Fontana, Hans Mayr: ''Sepp Kerschbaumer: a biography.''. Bolzano 2001, * Rolf Steininger: Südtirol 1918-1999 Studies-Verlag, Innsbruck/Vienna 1999, , p. 82


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerschbaumer, Sepp 1913 births 1964 deaths People from Eppan an der Weinstraße Italian people of Austrian descent Germanophone Italian people South Tyrolean nationalists Prisoners who died in Italian detention