Leopoldine Berger (geb. Blaha)

Leopoldine Blaha was born in Vienna as the legitimate daughter of the mechanic Franz Blaha and the seamstress Leopoldine, née Oulehla. After elementary school, she attended secondary school and then became a seamstress in her grandparents' business.

Even before the invasion of the German Wehrmacht and the occupation of Austria on March 12, 1938, Leopoldine Blaha was already involved in the Nazis. March 1938, Leopoldine Blaha became involved in a communist youth association of the Austrian Communist Party (KPÖ), which operated under the guise of the sports club 'Olympia 33'. Josef Masser and Hermine Löwenstein were in charge of this club.

After the occupation of Austria, the communist organization continued to work underground, producing and distributing flyers with anti-regime content and organizing training courses.

The group's activities did not go unnoticed by the Gestapo and on 13 July 1939, 30 members of the resistance group, including Leopoldine Blaha, were arrested. Leopoldine Blaha was charged with 'assisting high treason' before the special court. However, due to her young age and lack of evidence, the charges against her were withdrawn and Leopoldine Blaha was released from prison on December 15, 1939. Even after her release, she had to report to the police twice a week and was only allowed to leave Vienna after prior police notification.

In Vienna, Leopoldine Blaha experienced the liberation of Austria in May 1945. In 1946, she married the communist Spanish fighter Ferdinand 'Ferdl' Berger and took his surname. She leaves the Catholic Church in 1950. She then works for a wholesaler of raw materials and industrial supplies.

In protest against the suppression of the Prague Spring, Ferdinand Berger resigns from the Communist Party. Leopoldine Berger probably also leaves the Communist Party at the same time. In any case, after her retirement, she joined the ÖVP-Kameradschaft der politisch Verfolgten und Bekenner für Österreich at the same time as her husband in 1978. She died in Vienna at the age of 83, just over a year after her husband.