Ladislaus von Chortulansky

Ladislaus von Chortulansky was born in Batumi in the Caucasus in present-day Georgia as the legitimate son of the Russian officer Eugen von Chortulansky and Julia, née Bogdanovic. His father, a strict opponent of communism, joined the Polish army after the fall of Tsarist Russia and took part in the Polish-Soviet War from 1919 to 1921, where he was killed in the last year of the war.

In 1920, Ladislaus von Chortulansky came to live with his aunt, Maria Netschipor, in Vienna, attended elementary school from 1924 to 1928 and then grammar school, where he graduated in 1937. His mother, Julia von Chortulansky, moved to Thessaloniki in Greece. He visited her there in 1928.

At the age of 20, in 1938, Ladislaus von Chortulansky witnessed the demise of free and independent Austria with the invasion of the German Wehrmacht. In the same year, he acquired Polish citizenship. When the German-Soviet war of aggression against Poland began on September 1, 1939 and ended with the destruction of this state, he became stateless.

In 1941, Ladislaus von Chortulansky began a relationship with Johanna Hanna, from which an illegitimate son was born in 1943. This led to Johanna Hanna breaking away from her parents and moving in with Ladislaus von Chortulansky.

Immediately before the birth of his son in February 1943, Ladislaus von Chortulansky was in occupied Poland to settle an estate. There, he was approached by members of the Armia Krajowa (the Polish Home Army) and asked if he would like to join them. He agrees and is instructed to obtain information about the German Wehrmacht in Vienna. This information would be passed on to the Polish government in exile in London, which would pass it on to the British secret service.

Back in Vienna, Ladislaus von Chortulansky became actively involved in the resistance, meeting regularly with members of the Armia Krajowa, gathering information and supplying members with weapons. His partner Johanna Hanna wrote reports on a typewriter. In mid-March 1943, Ladislaus von Chortulansky was appointed ensign of the Armia Krajowa, with the identification number P15.

The activities of Ladislaus von Chortulansky did not go unnoticed by the Gestapo. He was arrested on April 14, 1943 and sentenced to death by the People's Court on February 27, 1945 for 'treason' and 'espionage'. As the Red Army approached the city of Vienna, he was transferred to Stein an der Donau prison on April 5, 1945. On April 15, 1945, he and other prisoners were driven out of the prison by the SS and shot as they left the gate.

His partner Johanna Hanna, who was sentenced to eight years in prison, survived the war. On 25 November 1945, she marries Ladislaus von Chortulansky in posthumous and becomes involved in the ÖVP Comradeship of the Politically Persecuted and Confessors for Austria. She survives her husband by 57 years.