Anton Riezler

After graduating from high school, Anton Riezler studied Latin and Ancient Greek at the University of Innsbruck and joined the Austria Innsbruck fraternity in 1935. He was also active in the student government.

He was arrested on the very night the German Wehrmacht marched into Austria. Upon his release, he found his room in the Austria-Haus [student dormitory of the Austria Innsbruck fraternity] completely ransacked. As a result, he filed a written complaint with the Reich Chancellery against the SA’s conduct. He was subsequently summoned and viciously berated; apparently, the Innsbruck SA had received a reprimand from Berlin. He then wrote to Berlin again, demanding compensation. This led to a summons to the Gestapo and a heated confrontation, during which he made no secret of his political convictions. Two days later, he receives a phone call from a school friend who has connections to the SS, informing him that his arrest and deportation to the Dachau concentration camp are planned. He then flees to Switzerland by bicycle, but is granted a residence permit there for only three months. He chooses Uruguay as his next destination, where he finally arrives by ship on December 8, 1938, after traveling through France and Belgium.

There, he worked as a farm laborer, then as a night porter, and finally began his career as a factory owner at a cotton mill.