Dr. Jakob Haidacher

Jakob Haidacher, a native of East Tyrol, studied law in Graz and was admitted to the Traungau fraternity in 1914. After completing his studies, he became politically active, first in Weiz and then in Judenburg. He opened a law practice in Judenburg in 1928 and became a government commissioner in 1934 and mayor of Judenburg in 1935.

On March 13, 1938, he was taken into protective custody and released on March 19, 1938. As early as April 30, 1938, he was arrested again and put on trial for abuse of official authority. However, he was acquitted and released from custody on May 30, 1938. Since the district attorney filed an appeal for annulment, Jakob Haidacher was tried again on January 16, 1941, and was once more acquitted. As early as June 1938, he was forced to leave Judenburg. His attempt to practice law was thwarted by the Nazi authorities, and the family found themselves destitute and homeless.

He initially found employment at the Episcopal Ordinariate, but was soon drafted into the Wehrmacht as an officer from World War I and served on the Eastern Front until 1943. At the age of 50, he returned to his hometown and was assigned to a court-martial, where he was able to temper the harshest actions of the hardliners. Because of the harassment their father had to endure, his sons Helmut and Wilfried—both of whom later took the surname Traungauer—became active in student resistance groups.