Alfons Goop (15 October 1910 – 25 September 1993) was a Liechtensteiner politician during

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 was the leader of the

German National Movement in Liechtenstein The German National Movement in Liechtenstein (, VDBL) was a Nazi party in Liechtenstein that existed between 1938 and 1945. Formation and ideology Nazi groups had existed in Liechtenstein since 1933, primarily because of the rise of Nazi Ge ...

from 1940 to 1943, a

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

that aimed to unify with

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 ...

Early life

Goop was born on 15 October 1910 in

Schellenberg Schellenberg (; dialectal: ''Schällabärg'') is a municipality in the lowland area of Liechtenstein, on the banks of the Rhine. , it has a population of 1,107 and covers an area of History Early history The area was first settled by Celts, the ...

as the son of Carl Magnus Goop and Seraphina Marxer as one of six children. He attended

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

in Feldkirch and studied

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

and

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

, where he received a directorate in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. From 1935, he was a teacher at the secondary school in

Eschen Eschen (; High Alemannic: ''Escha'') is a municipality in the north of Liechtenstein. It covers an area of , and is one of the five communes in the Unterland electoral district. As of 2024, it has a population of 4,629 inhabitants. Etymolog ...

Political career

Goop was involved in

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

agitation in Liechtenstein throughout the 1930s, inspired by the rise of

in 1933 and the

anti-Jewish laws Anti-Jewish laws have been a common occurrence throughout the history of antisemitism and Jewish history. Examples of such laws include special Jewish quotas, Jewish taxes and Jewish "disabilities". During the 1930s and early 1940s, some law ...

which lead to a large number of

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

taking refuge in the country. He was previously aligned with the

Liechtenstein Homeland Service Liechtenstein Homeland Service (, LHD) was a political party in Liechtenstein that advocated corporate statism and the abolition of party politics. Shortly after its founding, the party also moved towards Nazism. It merged with the Christian-Soci ...

but had become alienated with the party after they merged with the Christian-Social People's Party in 1936. After the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in 1938, he was heavily involved in the establishment of the

(VDBL) and headed the party. He was also a regular contributor to the VDBL party newspaper ''

Der Umbruch ''Der Umbruch'' (lit. "The Upheaval", sometimes referred to by its nickname ''Der Bruch'') was a newspaper published in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.' It was the organ of the German National Movement in Liechtenstein (VDBL), a National Socialist ...

''. In March 1938, the governing

Progressive Citizens' Party The Progressive Citizens' Party in Liechtenstein (, FBP) is a Conservatism, conservative List of political parties in Liechtenstein, political party in Liechtenstein. The FBP is one of the two major party, major List of political parties in Liech ...

and opposition Patriotic Union formed a coalition, assigning a roughly equal number of seats each, in order to prevent the VBDL from acquiring any seats in the

Landtag A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence ...

. In the same month of a visit to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Franz Joseph II Franz Joseph II (Franz Josef Maria Alois Alfred Karl Johannes Heinrich Michael Georg Ignaz Benediktus Gerhardus Majella; 16 August 1906 – 13 November 1989) was the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein from 25 July 1938 until his death in November ...

and

Josef Hoop Franz Josef Hoop (; 14 December 1895 – 19 October 1959) was a diplomat and politician from Liechtenstein who served as Prime Minister of Liechtenstein from 1928 to 1945. He later served as the President of the Landtag of Liechtenstein from 19 ...

, the VBDL staged an amateurish coup attempt, first trying to provoke an intervention from

by burning

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

s, followed by declaring an ''

Anschluß The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany") arose after the 1871 unifica ...

'' with Germany. The leaders were almost immediately arrested and the hoped-for German invasion failed to materialise. The party was effectively defunct until Goop reformed it in 1940. Until 1943, the party attempted to recruit Liechtensteiners into the

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

and gain public sympathy for the Nazi cause, which infuriated

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Due to Liechtenstein's neutrality in the conflict, the Germans became uncomfortable with the local activity towards the war. In 1943, the German

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

tried to force the VDBL to unite with the Patriotic Union, which greatly annoyed Goop, who resigned as party leader. He was then succeeded by Sepp Ritter. According to court testimony, Goop was a member of the

until 1943. He reached the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer. In this position, Goop taught at ethnic German schools in occupied Eastern territories. He was taken prisoner by the French in 1945 and escaped to Liechtenstein in 1946.

Later life and death

In 1946, Goop was prosecuted for his collaboration. In 1947, he was convicted of

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...

and sentenced to 2.5 years in prison, with credit for the time he served in French custody. From 1950 to 1971, he was the managing director of the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as such he strengthened commercial enterprises and promoted the revision of the trade regulations as well as industrial training and further education. Goop died on 25 September 1993 in

Schaan Schaan (; dialectal: ''Schaa'') is the largest Municipalities of Liechtenstein, municipality of Liechtenstein by population. It is located to the north of Vaduz, the capital, in the central part of the country. it has a population of 6,039, ma ...

, aged 82 years old.

Personal life

Goop married Germana Wohlwend (21 January 1911 – 24 October 2005) on 23 September 1937 and they had no children together. Goop was active in sporting administration, serving on the board of the from 1936 and as secretary (1938–1939) and president (1940) of the

Liechtenstein Olympic Committee Liechtenstein Olympic Committee () is the National Olympic Committee representing Liechtenstein. Before the organisation was renamed in 2013 it was called "Liechtensteinischer Olympischer Sportverband" (LOSV). They also organise Liechtenstein's p ...

Honours

* :

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

(1958) * : Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein (1970)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goop, Alfons 1910 births 1993 deaths 20th-century Liechtenstein politicians University of Innsbruck alumni Escapees from French detention Liechtenstein prisoners and detainees Liechtenstein Waffen-SS personnel Nazi politicians SS-Hauptsturmführer People from Schellenberg Antisemitism in Liechtenstein Presidents of National Olympic Committees Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein People convicted of treason against Liechtenstein Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts World War II prisoners of war held by France