Oskar Ludwig Handler

Oskar Ludwig Handler was born in Schottwien, in the district of Nunkirchen in Lower Austria, as the legitimate son of Ludwig Handler and Anna, née Baumgartner. His father ran the Hotel “Zum Touristen” in that town.

In 1916, the family moved to Wiener Neustadt, where his father found work at the aircraft factory and also ran the canteen. In 1918, his parents purchased a property at Bahngasse 25 in Wiener Neustadt and opened a restaurant there.

After attending elementary and middle school, Oskar Handler trained as a carpenter and completed his apprenticeship in 1929 by passing the master craftsman’s examination. He then worked for companies in Wiener Neustadt.

Like his parents, Oskar Handler was a staunch Austrian and an opponent of National Socialism. In 1933, he joined an organization affiliated with the Fatherland Front, and as a member of the Front Militia, he served on the Czechoslovak border. He took a firm stand against National Socialism in Wiener Neustadt.

On the very night of the German Wehrmacht’s invasion of Austria, from March 11, 1938, to March 12, 1938, Oskar Handler was arrested by the SS and taken to the “Wirtschaftshof” on Ungargasse in Wiener Neustadt; no arrest warrant was issued.

On March 13, 1938, he was ultimately interned at the Wöllersdorf detention camp along with other opponents of National Socialism. Among those interned with him were the innkeeper and provincial councilor Johann Haller, the deputy mayor of Wiener Neustadt and member of the provincial parliament Johann Goldschmidt, and the Wiener Neustadt provincial civil servant Ferdinand Jindracek.

Oskar Handler was released from prison on July 23, 1938, and began working at the Wiener Neustadt aircraft factory on October 16, 1939. He was not drafted into the Wehrmacht and, as a worker at the aircraft factory, witnessed the liberation of Austria in May 1945.

After the war, he returned to work as a carpenter, married, and became the father of two children. He became active in the newly founded Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and the ÖVP Association of the Politically Persecuted and Defenders of Austria. He retired in 1973 and died at the age of 93 in Wiener Neustadt.