Oskar Helmer (1887-1963) was an Austrian printer and social-democrat party politician. He served as the

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

from 1945. He won the Nansen Refugee Award in 1959.

Early life and education

Helmer was born on 16 November 1887 in Oberwaltersdorf in

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

. After he finished his school education, he studied printing in

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; Lower_Austria.html" ;"title=".e. Lower Austria">.e. Lower Austria , ) is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administr ...

, while also trying to sign apprentices up to the Austrian social-democratic youth movement. His political activities put him in contact with 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 ...

which he joined in 1903 and became the Wiener Neustadt constituency secretary.

Career

After his education, Helmer worked as a newspaper printer. He became the editor of Gleichheit and Wiener Volkstribüne in 1910. He became the youngest ever social-democrat politician to be elected to the Lower Austria state parliament on 15 May 1919. After

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. ...

separated from Lower Austria he worked as the head of the social-democratic provincial government constituencies and the parliamentary faction. In 1927 he was promoted to the provincial capital representative. Helmer was a member of and the deputy party chair of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

. He was arrested by Nazis in 1934, and from 1935 to 1945 worked in the insurance industry. In 1945, he became the Ministry of the Interior of Austria, he played a major role in the

denazification Denazification () was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by removing those who had been Nazi Par ...

process, including reforming the police force. In 1959, he became president of Austria's

Länderbank The Länderbank, full original name k. k. privilegierte Österreichische Länderbank (), was a major Austrian bank, created in 1880. In 1922 its head office was moved to Paris under the name Banque des Pays de l'Europe Centrale (BPEC, , ), even ...

. He won the Nansen Refugee Award the same year.

Selected publications

* Ö''. Kampf um die Freiheit'', 1949 * 50 ''Jahre erlebte Geschichte'', 1957 * ''Ausgew. Reden and Schriften'', 1963 * ''Aufbruch gegen das Unrecht'', 1964

Death and legacy

Helmer died in 1963. The Oskar Helmer Hof, a social housing complex was named after him in 1970. A commemorative postage stamp honouring him was released on November 13, 1987.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helmer, Oskar 1887 births 1963 deaths 20th-century Austrian printmakers 20th-century Austrian male artists 20th-century Austrian politicians Social Democratic Party of Austria politicians Nansen Refugee Award laureates