Franz Olah (13 March 1910 – 4 September 2009) was an

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 ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served as the country's

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

from 1963 until 1964 as a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPÖ). Olah was born on 13 March 1910 in

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. ...

. He attended school in Budapest for three years. Olah returned to his native Vienna from Budapest where he learned to build

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

s. He also began developing ties with Austrian

trade unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

and the

Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria ( , SPÖ) is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (, SDAPÖ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria () from 1945 unt ...

during this period of his life. Franz Olah Buchenwald Arolsen Archives DocID6739848

Franz Olah Buchenwald Arolsen Archives DocID6739852

Olah found himself in trouble with the police during the 1930s. In 1938, Austria lost its independence and was annexed by

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 ...

during 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 ...

, which brought the rule of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

. Olah was arrested by the Nazis following the Anschluss and deported on the very first train of Austrian prisoners to the

Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

in 1938. He was transferred as a prisoner to several German concentration camps throughout

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 ...

. Olah was finally freed shortly before the end of World War II. Olah was elected as a member of the

Austrian Parliament The Austrian Parliament () is the bicameral federal legislature of Austria. It consists of two chambers – the National Council and the Federal Council. In specific cases, both houses convene as the Federal Assembly. The legislature meets i ...

in 1948. He served as second president (''Zweite Präsident'') of its lower house, the National Council, from 1959 until 1961. He next served as the Austrian Interior Minister from 1963 until 1964. Olah opposed the 1950 Austrian general strikes by means of force. Olah resigned from the

(SPÖ) in 1964. He was also caught in a financial scandal during this time period. In 1969, he was sentenced to one year in prison for misusing union funds. He founded the now defunct

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...

(Demokratische Fortschrittliche Partei) in 1965. The party garnered more than 3% of the vote in the 1966 Austrian legislative election, but failed to win any seats in Parliament. In 1969, the Democratic Progressive Party won three seats on the Vienna

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

. Franz Olah died on 4 September 2009 at the age of 99.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olah, Franz 1910 births 2009 deaths Austrian anti-communists Austrian people of Hungarian descent Austrian politicians convicted of crimes Austrian prisoners and detainees Austrian trade unionists Dachau concentration camp survivors Ministers of the interior of Austria Members of the 5th National Council (Austria) Members of the 6th National Council (Austria) Members of the 7th National Council (Austria) Members of the 8th National Council (Austria) Members of the 9th National Council (Austria) Members of the 10th National Council (Austria) Politicians affected by a party expulsion process Politicians from Vienna Prisoners and detainees of Austria Social Democratic Party of Austria politicians