Johann Mithlinger

Johann Mithlinger was born in Vienna as the legitimate son of the laborer Vinzenz Mithlinger and Maria, née Preinreich. He had a younger brother and two younger sisters. His father died in 1910, which meant that the family, living in abject poverty, had to feed two of Johann Mithlinger's siblings. After primary and secondary school, he was drafted into the First World War in 1916. He took part in battles on the Austro-Hungarian front in Italy. In 1918, he returned seriously wounded as a staff sergeant.

In 1919, Johann Mithlinger was drafted into the new Austrian army, into the Volkswehrbatalllon Nr. 7 and the Radfahrbataillon and joined the Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei (SDAP) [today: SPÖ] in the same year. As a soldier, he took part in the Carinthian defensive campaign in 1919. In 1920, he married Maria Wurscher and subsequently became the father of a daughter and a son.

In 1929, he resigned from the army and became regimental commander of the Republikanischer Schutzbund (1st Schutzbund Regiment in Vienna's 10th district). As such, he takes part in the socialist February Uprising in 1934 and is punished with three weeks' imprisonment. He then joined the illegal Austrian Communist Party (KPÖ). In 1937, Johann Mithlinger was sentenced to a detention camp for a period of 3 months in order to prevent disturbances of public peace, order and security. However, he was only detained for a few days.

On March 12, 1938, the communist Johann Mithlinger witnessed the demise of a free and independent Austria with the invasion of the German Wehrmacht. He was taken into protective custody by the Gestapo on March 13, 1938, but was released a few days later. In 1941, he was drafted into the Wehrmacht and continued to work for the Austrian Communist Party (KPÖ). In 1942, he became head of the Central Committee of Free Austrian Frontline Soldiers, a communist resistance movement within the Wehrmacht. During this time, his son Johann of the same name was arrested and sentenced for producing illegal pamphlets.

Resistance fighter Johann Mithlinger produced and distributed pamphlets critical of the regime. However, his activities did not go unnoticed. On December 16, 1942, he was arrested by the Gestapo and sentenced to death for "preparation for high treason" in a trial before the People's Court on September 29, 1943. He was murdered by guillotine on June 7, 1944, at 6 p.m. in the Vienna Provincial Court.