Near government building

Resistance fighter Szokoll receives memorial plaque

Minister of Economic Affairs Martin Kocher (right) unveiling the memorial plaque(Bild: APA/BMAW/Holey)

A memorial plaque in honor of the resistance fighter Carl Szokoll was unveiled in Vienna on Tuesday. He attempted to surrender Vienna to the Red Army without a fight in 1945 with "Operation Radetzky". He was also involved in the failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler.

The plaque was placed on the façade of the former "Ministry of War" on Stubenring, which is now the seat of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Ministry of Economics and Agriculture. National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka (ÖVP) said that it had taken far too long for Austria to come to terms with its history. In the post-war period, it was not a matter of course to see military resistance as part of the liberation struggle.

Economics Minister Martin Kocher (right) at the unveiling of the memorial plaque(Bild: APA/BMAW/Holey)

"Also naming injustice"
Even today, there are still unjust regimes such as the terrorist organization Hamas. "It does us no good if we commemorate but remain silent about unjust regimes," said Sobotka. Commemorative plaques "remind us today to stand up for our values, for democracy and freedom and against all forms of extremism and violence", said Social Affairs Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens).

Carl Szokoll (1915 - 2004) was a professional soldier in the army of the First Republic and a major in the German Wehrmacht in 1944. After being injured in France, he joined the Deputy General Command of the XVII Army Corps in Vienna as an orderly officer. During this time, he increasingly doubted the Hitler regime. Szokoll remained unrecognized during the assassination attempt on Hitler in 1944.

Worked on "Bockerer" films
In 1945, the next resistance action took place in the Wehrkreiskommando as the Red Army was approaching. However, this was betrayed and Szokoll was able to flee to the Soviets. After the war, he became a film producer, worked on the "Bockerer" films and gave lectures on "Walküre" and "Radetzky."