Othmar Gächter

Othmar Gächter, who comes from Altach and has been a pastor in Buch near Bregenz since October 1, 1933, is arrested by the Gestapo on February 25, 1939 and taken to the police prison in Bregenz. A request for release by his sister Lina via the lawyer Dr. Jakob Gorbach is rejected by the district leadership of the NSDAP in Bregenz in a letter dated 10.5.1939 as follows: "Pastor Gächter is one of those unteachable people who, wherever they may be deployed, repeatedly demonstrate their hostile attitude towards Nat. Socialism."

The best proof of the correctness of this measure, according to the NSDAP, was that since Othmar Gächter's arrest, "calm, peace and a sense of community have returned to the local group" and that "no one in Buch is waiting for the pastor's return. The party was also of the opinion that Pastor Gächter had to remain in protective custody, as "if the pastor were appointed to another parish, the same thing would happen again that had happened in Buch."

From Bregenz, after failed petitions, he arrived in Innsbruck on May 23, 1939, where, although he was still not convicted of any crime, he had to sign a declaration in which he pledged to be fully loyal to the Nazi regime in future. However, this declaration was subsequently interpreted as a confession that he had not previously acted loyally. He is therefore taken to Dachau concentration camp for re-education on June 1, 1939, where he remains until July 17, 1940.