Marie Barbara Schmahel

Marie Barbara Schmahel was born in Vienna as the legitimate daughter of police officer Ernst Schmahel and Caroline, née Reisinger. After primary and secondary school, she attended business school and entered the workforce as a commercial clerk in 1910.

After holding various professional positions, Marie Schmahel found work as an accountant in 1930. In the 1930s, she did not stand out for her political views. On March 12, 1938, she witnessed the demise of a free and independent Austria with the invasion of the German Wehrmacht.

In Café Henny at Kaiserstraße 30, near her apartment in Vienna's 7th district, she regularly met up with her friends Anna Leicht, who worked there, and Anna Bittner. Anna Leicht and Anna Bittner are critical of National Socialism. When the three of them are alone or in an intimate circle in a coffee house, they loudly criticize the system. In addition, the three often spit on the picture of Adolf Hitler.

One of the visitors to the coffee house is the married couple Ferdinand and Marie Gollob. They heard the statements of Marie Schmahel, Anna Leicht and Anna Bittner.

On November 23, 1942, Anna Bittner and Anna Leicht were arrested by the Gestapo, Marie Schmahel on December 11, 1942. The reason given for their arrest was that they were 'strongly suspected of having made hateful and untrue reports about the party, its branches and the Führer' in Vienna in July 1942.

Marie Schmahel remained in custody until February 25, 1943. Proceedings were initiated against her before the Special Court, but no trial was held as the case was dropped.