Dr. Hermann Sinz

Hermann Sinz attended grammar school in Bregenz and became a member of the Kustersberg Bregenz secondary school fraternity in 1929. After graduating from high school, he studied law in Innsbruck and joined the student fraternity Austria Innsbruck in 1931. After completing his studies and obtaining his doctorate, he initially worked at the Higher Regional Court in Vienna before returning to Bregenz and completing his court clerkship at the BG, the Vorarlberg Trade Association and the Commercial Court.

In 1939, he passed his assessor's examination and was drafted into the German army. He became a lieutenant in Panzer-Abwehrtrupp 207, where he proved himself through particular bravery and was therefore awarded the EK II and the Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen on January 28, 1943. During his deployment in France, he came into contact with the resistance there. He was then transferred to the eastern front in Russia. When he returned from a business trip to Warsaw in October 1943 to his troop, the 210 anti-tank unit stationed in the north-east of Belarus, he was arrested and brought before a court martial. He is accused of making statements to his soldiers such as "Hitler can no longer win the war despite his best efforts" and "the fall of the Third Reich and the end of National Socialism is the only possible salvation for Austria".

This, he claims, weakened the morale of the troops. The court martial sentenced Hermann Sinz to death by firing squad on November 24, 1943 in the Belarusian city of Vitebsk for "defeatism and subversion of military power". The reason given was: "for continued destruction of military strength", "inciting the people against their troop leader" and for "corrosive political talk".

He was then transferred to Borisov, where he had to spend another five months in prison. Several appeals for clemency are rejected. For example, the commander of the 3rd Panzer Army, Colonel General Georg Hans Reinhardt, replied:

"I agree with the verdict and its justification. The accused was 'vile and deceitful', as the verdict rightly says, not only in inciting the people against their commander, but also in his corrosive political discussions. The death penalty is called for."

Neither is the usual parole granted.