Dr. Walter Barth

Walter Barth was born in Graz, the son of the merchant Leonhard Barth, and attended elementary school and lower secondary school there. The family then moved to Vienna, where he attended the commercial academy and graduated with distinction in 1940. He then enrolled at the University of World Trade [today: Vienna University of Economics and Business]. During this time, he must have met members of the Ottonen student fraternity who had remained undetected or had not been arrested and joined it underground, especially as he appears as a member.

In the fall of 1941, Walter Barth was drafted into the Wehrmacht and promoted to lieutenant at the beginning of 1943. He became an orderly officer in the Croatian training brigade and played a key role in setting up the training camp's library. Walter Barth is an opponent of National Socialism and Prussian militarism. He gathers like-minded people around him at discussion evenings in the library. In March 1944, he managed to disarm and was able to resume his studies in commercial science. As early as July 1944, he graduated as a business graduate and in February 1945 he was able to celebrate his dissertation. He wrote his dissertation on the subject of "cocoa". He justified his choice of topic in a small circle with the words: "Hitler has no influence on cocoa and the dissertation has a chance of getting through without a National Socialist bias."

In view of the approaching Red Army, Walter Barth began to become actively involved in the resistance around the head of the military resistance in Wehrkreiskommando XVII (Vienna Grand Command), Major Carl Szokoll. Although he is already disarmed, he organizes himself a uniform, forged papers and a motorcycle from the defence commander's motorcycle squadron. He uses his freedom of movement to travel between districts in Vienna and unite resistance groups. He manages to establish a link between the military resistance and the civilian resistance movement. He was one of the organizers of red-white-red armbands for the day when the Red Army would be at the gates of Vienna and the resistance would rise up against the SS and NSDAP. The uprising was planned for 6 April 1945 under the code name 'Operation Radetzky'. The aim was the bloodless surrender of Vienna.

However, this was betrayed immediately beforehand, on April 4, 1945. Captain Karl Biedermann, Captain Alfred Huth and First Lieutenant Rudolf Raschke are hanged at Floridsdorfer Spitz on April 8, 1945. However, the resistance movement is not yet defeated and attempts to re-establish contact with the Red Army. Walter Barth volunteers for this. While carrying out this mission, he was confronted by two members of the SS in the hallway of the house at Bösendorferstraße 4 in Vienna's 1st district and murdered by two shots to the head on April 7, 1945. His body was then taken away by two men in a cart.

His parents initially knew nothing about the whereabouts of his body and hung up notices throughout Vienna.

In the end, Walter Barth was found among the dead in a grave in front of the Technical University. He was laid to rest on August 28, 1945 at the Hietzing cemetery.

[Note: It is sometimes falsely claimed in the literature that Walter Barth was shot by another resistance fighter due to an error.]