Johann Ruggenthaler

Born in East Tyrol, Johann Ruggenthaler attended grammar school in Salzburg. After graduating from high school, he went to Vienna to study theology. In 1931, he became a member of the student fraternity Bajuvaria. After his ordination as a priest in 1934, he initially worked as a cooperator and religion teacher in Liesing (23rd district), later as chaplain in Pressbaum, district of St. Pölten, where he came into conflict with the new rulers shortly after the Anschluss.

He was arrested on March 31, 1938, because he had "made derogatory remarks about the Führer and [the] National Socialists" in front of the schoolchildren when he said that there was only one Führer and he was not in Berlin. He is initially transferred to Korneuburg District Court, from there to Vienna II Regional Court. The proceedings are discontinued in May 1938. After his release, he was appointed chaplain to St. Brigitta in Vienna-Brigittenau on September 1, 1938. He was forbidden to hold pastoral lessons for young people there. Because he did not comply with the ban, he was interrogated by the Gestapo several times.

Johann Ruggenthaler was one of the co-founders of the resistance group "Liga junger katholischer Deutscher - Kampfbund für christlichen Glauben und deutsche Art", which worked in the spirit of "Katholische Aktion" [Catholic Action] [KA]. He was arrested again by the Gestapo on 17 February 1944 together with Father Josef Zeininger OSFS (1916-1995), another co-founder of the "League", for allegedly supporting the efforts of this illegal confessional youth organization, as stated in the protective custody order of 20 April 1944:

Johann Ruggenthaler is therefore charged with "preparation for high treason". After six months, he is transferred from the Elizabethpromenade police prison ("Lisl") to the Vienna I Regional Court on September 5, 1944, where he is held in a cell together with Lois Weinberger and Paul Hörbiger, he witnessed the bombing raids until the end of the war as well as the execution of his friend Walter Caldonazzi and his fellow student Heinrich Maier. His "dungeon diary" also dates from this time. On April 6, 1945, he regained his freedom during the siege of Vienna by the Russians.

After the war, he once again turned his attention to young students. In 1946, he becomes a member of the secondary school fraternity Thuringia Wien