Wilhelm Eckl

Wilhelm Eckl was born in Vienna, the legitimate son of marble cutter Franz Eckl and Bertha, née Robl. After primary and secondary school, he completed an apprenticeship as a shoemaker and passed his master craftsman's examination. He then worked for a shoemaker. In 1936, he married Martha Kimmel and had a daughter with her.

In the interwar period, Wilhelm Eckl became involved in the Vienna Heimatschutz and the Vaterländische Front. Despite his young age, he was probably vehemently and resolutely opposed to National Socialism. On March 12, 1938, Wilhelm Eckl witnessed the demise of a free and independent Austria with the invasion of Austria by the German Wehrmacht.

On June 28, 1938, Wilhelm Eckl was arrested by the Gestapo and deported to the Dachau concentration camp on July 16, 1938. On July 28, 1938, Martha Eckl sent a petition for clemency to Gauleiter Josef Bürckel, which almost led to her husband's release from prison. However, the Gestapo - Vienna control center - prevented this through their objection.

With the invasion of Poland, Dachau concentration camp was needed as a barracks for the SS for a short time and Wilhelm Eckl was transferred to Mauthausen concentration camp on September 27, 1939. He was released there on April 23, 1943. After returning home to Vienna, he was conscripted into the Kottingbrunn munitions factory and drafted into the Wehrmacht on December 4, 1941.

Wilhelm Eckl was discharged from the Wehrmacht on January 19, 1944 for health reasons and experienced the liberation from National Socialism and the re-establishment of the Republic of Austria in Vienna.

Wilhelm Eckl joins the newly founded Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and the ÖVP-Kameradschaft der politisch Verfolgten und Bekenner für Österreich. He worked as a conductor for Wiener Linien until 1949 and then in various positions.

His marriage to Martha Kimmel failed for the time being and he married Maria Seiser, née Frank, in 1957. His second marriage also failed and in 1969 he remarried his first wife Martha Kimmel.

Wilhelm Eckl died in Vienna at the age of 73 and was laid to rest in Vienna's Central Cemetery.