Kurt Fuchs (August 27, 1919 – March 8, 1945) was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

soldier in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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 ...

during World War II who deserted. He was executed by a

firing squad Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method of ...

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. ...

barely a month before the Vienna fell to the

Vienna offensive The Vienna offensive was an offensive launched by the Soviet 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts in order to capture Vienna, Austria, during World War II. The offensive lasted from 16 March to 15 April 1945. After several days of street-to-street figh ...

of the Red Army.

Life

Fuchs was from

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

, where he was a bartender. He was drafted at the age of nineteen. In 1943 he was put of trial four times, twice because of unauthorized absence, and sentenced to six years in military prison. However, instead of putting him in prison, the Nazis sent him to

Strafbattalion ''Strafbataillon'' ( English: "penal battalion") is the generic term for penal units that were created from prisoners during the Second World War in all branches of the ''Wehrmacht''. Soldiers, criminals and civilians sentenced to those units w ...

No. 17 to fight the Russians. During a brief stay at a military hospital, Fuchs successfully fled from the Nazi military authorities. He claimed to have lost his Soldbuch and was thereafter transferred to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, later on to troops in St. Pölten. On August 20, 1944 he reached

and went AWOL again. Passersby detected Fuchs, reported him to the police and he was arrested again on October 24, 1944. The trial took place at the court of ''Division Oo. 177''. The defendant stated that he wanted to avoid a return to the ''Strafbattalion'' at any cost. But he also claimed to have had the intention to join elsewhere as a ''free soldier''. The court interpreted this to mean that he intended to wait out the war in Vienna. On December 29, 1944, he was sentenced to death. ″According to the court's opinion, the defendant is not to be seen any longer as a useful member of the German ''Volk'' and therefore it would be completely inappropriate to drag him along in times when countless fighters of best German blood have to give up their lives.″ Two months later, on February 20, 1945, Fuchs was indicted again, this time because of

Wehrkraftzersetzung ''Wehrkraftzersetzung'' or ''Zersetzung der Wehrkraft'' ( German for "corroding of defensive strength") was a sedition offence in German military law during the Nazi Germany era from 1938 to 1945. ''Wehrkraftzersetzung'' was enacted in 1938 b ...

(undermining military morale). The court found him guilty of self-injury and assistance to self-injury. The death sentence of the previous trial had not yet been confirmed; the new sentence was six years in prison. On March 8, 1945, Kurt Fuchs was executed by a firing squad, 25 days before the Red Army began to take Vienna.

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuchs, Kurt 1919 births 1945 deaths German Army soldiers of World War II German Army personnel killed in World War II Austrian military personnel killed in World War II Austrian people executed by Nazi Germany Military personnel from Graz People executed by Nazi Germany by firing squad People executed by Nazi courts People executed for desertion