Karl Biedermann (11 August 1890 in

Miskolc Miskolc ( , ; ; Czech language, Czech and ; ; ; ) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 as of 1 January 2014, Miskolc is the List of cities and towns in Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

– 8 April 1945 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. ...

) was the commander of the Austrian

Heimwehr The Heimwehr (, ) or Heimatschutz (, ) was a nationalist, initially paramilitary group that operated in the First Austrian Republic from 1920 to 1936. It was similar in methods, organization, and ideology to the Freikorps in Germany. The Heimwe ...

, Major of

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

and a member of

German resistance to Nazism The German resistance to Nazism () included unarmed and armed opposition and disobedience to the Nazi Germany, Nazi regime by various movements, groups and individuals by various means, from assassination attempts on Adolf Hitler, attempts to ass ...

Life

After visiting the cadet corps in

Traiskirchen Traiskirchen is a city and Municipality (Austria), Municipality in the district of Baden (district of Austria), Baden in Lower Austria in Austria. It is 20 km south of Vienna, in the Thermenlinie region, known for its wine and heurigers. Trai ...

, Karl Biedermann served from 1910 in the

Common Army The Common Army (, ) as it was officially designated by the Imperial and Royal Military Administration, was the largest part of the Austro-Hungarian land forces from 1867 to 1914, the other two elements being the Imperial-Royal Landwehr (of Au ...

. 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 ...

, he served as an officer. He was released from Bundesheer (1. Republic) in 1920 with the rank of captain. His civil profession was official of the "Österreichische Postsparkasse" (Austrian post savings bank). In February 1934 Biedermann was commander of a company of the "Freiwilligen Schutzkorps", consisting of units of

and helping troops of the Bundesheer. In this function, he participated in the

Austrian Civil War The Austrian Civil War () of 12–15 February 1934, also known as the February Uprising () or the February Fights (), was a series of clashes in the First Austrian Republic between the forces of the authoritarian Fatherland Front (Austria), rig ...

at the conquest of Vienna

Karl-Marx-Hof Karl-Marx-Hof (English: ''Karl Marx Court'') is a ''Gemeindebau'' (English: ''municipal housing complex'') in Vienna, situated in Heiligenstadt, Vienna, Heiligenstadt, a neighbourhood of the 19th district of Vienna, Döbling. At in length an ...

. Biedermann was also an illegal member of the

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 ...

. 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 ...

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 ...

in March 1938, Biedermann joined the

. In 1940, he was promoted to major. 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 participated in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

, the Balkan Campaign and the Eastern front. Biedermann joined the resistance group of Austrian Wehrmacht people led by Major

Carl Szokoll Carl Szokoll (15 October 1915 – 25 August 2004) was an Austrian resistance fighter involved in the 20 July Plot, major in the Wehrmacht, and, after the war, author and film producer. Early life Szokoll was born in Vienna, the son of a low-ranki ...

. In spring 1945, this group planned "Operation Radetzky", to support

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

in the liberation of Vienna and to prevent further destruction, to avoid the blowup of bridges. Information on Biedermann

However, "Operation Radetzky", planned for 6 April 1945, was discovered. Biedermann was arrested the night from 5 to 6 April 1945 and brought to a

drumhead court-martial A drumhead court-martial is a court-martial held in the field to render summary justice for offenses committed in action. The term is said to originate from drums used as improvised tables and drumheads as writing surfaces at fast-track mil ...

and sentenced to death. On 8 April 1945 Biedermann was hanged together with two other resistance fighters, captain Alfred Huth and Rudolf Raschke in public at Floridsdorfer Spitz in Vienna. The chief of "Sicheitspolizei and SD",

Rudolf Mildner Rudolf Mildner (10 July 1902, Janov – unknown) was an Austrian-German SS-'' Standartenführer''. He served as the chief of the Gestapo at Katowice and was the head of the political department at Auschwitz concentration camp, conducting "third ...

personally took command at the hanging place.Thomas Mang: ‚Gestapo-Leitstelle Wien – Mein Name ist Huber'. Wer trug die lokale Verantwortung für den Mord an den Juden Wiens?, Wien 2003, S. 131, . Biedermann was buried 2 August 1945 in Vienna on Hietzingen cemetery in an honorable grave (group 66, row 19, number 5). In the same grave were buried also Alfred Huth and Rudolf Raschke. In the year 1995, in Wien-Floridsdorf, the ''Karl-Biedermann-Gasse'' was named after him (Karl-Biedermann-Alley).

Literature

* Carl Szokoll: ''Die Rettung Wiens 1945. Mein Leben, mein Anteil an der Verschwörung gegen Hitler und an der Befreiung Österreichs.'' Amalthea-Verlag, Wien 2001 . * Michael Krassnitzer: ''Widerstand in Hietzing. Freiheitskampf 1934–1938 und 1938–1945 am Beispiel eines Wiener Bezirks''. Edition Volkshochschule, Wien 2004, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biedermann, Karl 1890 births 1945 deaths Executed Austrian Nazis Austrian resistance members Austrian people executed by Nazi Germany Executed military leaders People executed for treason against Nazi Germany Nazis executed by Nazi Germany by hanging Heimwehr personnel German Army officers of World War II German military personnel who were court-martialed German Army personnel killed in World War II Austrian military personnel killed in World War II People executed by Nazi courts Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany