Dipl.Ing. Alfons Galotti

Personalia

Born:

July 16, 1901, Vienna

Died:

March 11, 1986, Vienna

Profession:

Civil engineer

Persecution:

Release: August 31, 1938,
Emigration: September 1938

Memberships

Austrian People's Party, ÖVP Fellowship of the Politically Persecuted and Advocates for Austria

Curriculum Vitae

Alfons Galotti was born in Vienna as the legitimate son of the bookkeeper Simon Ludwig Galotti and his wife Adele, née Beck. His mother had converted from Judaism to the Protestant faith (A.B.); his paternal grandmother was also Jewish, while his father was Protestant (A.B.). Alfons Galotti was also baptized into the Protestant faith (A.B.). His last name was initially spelled “Galoti,” but was later “corrected” to “Galotti.”

After elementary school, Alfons Galotti attended the State Realschule in Vienna’s 6th district [today: Amerling-Gymnasium], where he graduated on September 25, 1919. That same year, he enrolled in mechanical engineering at the Vienna Technical College [today: Vienna University of Technology]; after passing his first state examination, he switched to electrical engineering, where he graduated on June 4, 1927. After holding various positions, Alfons Galotti began working as a traveling engineer at Strebelwerk G.m.b.H. on September 1, 1935, and got married.

On March 12, 1938, Alfons Galotti witnessed the demise of a free and independent Austria with the invasion of the German Wehrmacht. With the occupation of Austria, German legislation was adopted, including the “Nuremberg Race Laws,” under which he was classified as a “full Jew.” At Strebelwerk G.m.b.H., his employment contract was converted to a fixed-term contract. Knowing that his dismissal was imminent, he terminated his employment by mutual agreement on August 31, August 1938 and emigrated with his wife via Yugoslavia to Ankara, Turkey, where he began working on October 1, 1938, at the installation firm Fenni ve Sihhi Tesisat Ldt. Ortakliǧi. Faced with a significant reduction in salary, he laboriously learned the Turkish language.

In Turkey, Alfons Galotti became active in the “Free Austrian World Movement.” This global association of Austrians in exile sought the liberation of occupied Austria.

Program of the World Movement
1. Restoration of an independent and democratic Austria.
2. Support for the National Freedom Front in Austria to unleash a people’s war against German foreign rule.
3. Mobilization of Austrians in the United Nations’ struggle to defeat Hitler’s Germany and its allies.
4. Formation of an Austrian military combat unit.
5. Close cooperation with all states that adhere to the Moscow Declaration on Austria.
6. Commitment to the principles set forth in the Atlantic Charter.
7. Punishment of traitors to Austria and war criminals.
8. Ensuring the supply of food and raw materials to the liberated Austrian people.
9. The formation of a committee recognized by the Allies that, as a trustee of the interests of Austria and the Austrian Freedom Front and drawing on the unity of Austrians abroad, can most effectively support our people’s struggle for national independence.
10. Unity among all Austrians in all countries to achieve these goals.

Program of the Free Austrian World Movement

In Ankara, Alfons Galotti witnessed the liberation of Austria and the restoration of the Republic in April and May 1945, respectively. He decided to remain in Turkey for the time being. His son was born in 1946.

In April 1950, Alfons Galotti returned to Austria with his family and worked in Carinthia as a construction manager at the transit camp of Austria Tabakwerke AG. He joined the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and the ÖVP Association of the Politically Persecuted and Defenders of Austria.

Upon his retirement in 1965, he moved back to Vienna. He died in Vienna at the age of 84 and was laid to rest at the Simmerin Crematorium in Vienna.

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