Ernst Isidor Borger
Personalia
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Curriculum Vitae
Not much has been preserved about Ernst Isidor Borger. He was born in Vienna in 1882 as the legitimate son of Adolf and Rosa Borger. He is registered in the Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG). As he is not deported after 1938, one of his parents is likely to have been 'Aryan', making him a 'Mischling I. degree'. He later enters the civil service and becomes a civil servant. He took part in World War I as an officer, was buried and returned home as a war invalid.
After the occupation of Austria by the German Wehrmacht on March 12, 1938, he was arrested by the Gestapo on November 10, 1938 and detained for 14 days. The exact reasons for his imprisonment are unknown. During this time, he was severely mistreated.
When I was sitting in a cell with about 35 people in Elisabethpromenade, an SS officer suddenly came in. As I didn't immediately stand at attention, he asked me why I wasn't taking a stance. I replied: "Because I don't want to."
As an old Austrian officer, I was reluctant to stand still in front of such a rascal. He then slapped my face. From that day on, I had nothing good. The very next day he took me to a solitary cell where I was forced to stare into a bright electric light. For about an hour and a half. If I closed my eyelid for just a few moments, he hit me in the back with the butt of his pistol.
I had to endure this for ten days. As a result, my eyesight became visibly blurred. I probably wore glasses from the First World War, where I was buried twice. Now, as can be seen from medical certificates, my condition deteriorated more and more. Only because I was a war invalid from the I. World War I, I was released after 14 days, while the others were all sent to Dachau.
After his release from prison, he was dismissed from the civil service on April 30, 1939. He is unemployed during the Second World War.
On 1 July 1944, Ernst Isidor Borger joins the resistance group Gruppe Freies Österreich/Gruppe Karl Gruber (FÖ). Initially only leaflets were produced, but from November 15, 1943, members of the Gruppe Freies Österreich/Gruppe Karl Gruber (FÖ) secretly published the combat newspaper 'Freies Österreich! Blätter für Friede, Freiheit und Fortschritt' at the Viennese publishing house Vorwärts Verlag. In a total of six issues, it reported on the theaters of war and the defeats of German troops, in addition to calling for the re-establishment of a free and independent Austria and the overthrow of the National Socialist terror regime.
The group met in premises at Stuckgasse 6 in Vienna's 7th district. When the group was exposed in the fall of 1944 and many members were arrested by the Gestapo, Ernst Isidor Borger managed to remain undetected.
In Vienna, Ernst Isidor Borger witnessed the liberation of Austria and the re-establishment of the Republic in April and May 1945. He retired due to his age. He joins the newly founded Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and the ÖVP-Kameradschaft der politisch Verfolgten und Bekenner für Österreich.
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Citations
Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv (WStLA)
