Christine Bezdek (geb. Fuchs)

Christine Fuchs was born in Schrötten in Styria, the daughter of farmers Michael and Christine Fuchs. After primary and secondary school, she found work in the municipal office in Schrötten. She later moved to Graz for work and in 1928 to Vienna, where she worked as an office clerk at the Ankerbrot factory.

In Vienna, she witnessed the downfall of a free and independent Austria when the German Wehrmacht invaded on March 12, 1938. In 1940, Christine Fuchs married Walter Bezdek, a tax official, and from then on took care of the household.

Grete Rieß advises Christine Bezdek to refrain from such speeches, but she ignores this and continues talking.

Grete Rieß and Ruth Florath report what she said to the police and on July 5, 1943, Christine Bezdek is arrested by the Gestapo.

On January 13, 1944, Christine Bezdek is sentenced to 15 months in prison for 'homophobia' in a trial before the special court in Eger. She was transferred to the Bautzen camp, from which she was released on September 13, 1944.

While Christine Bezdek was still in custody at the regional court in Eger, her husband Walter Bezdek, who had been drafted into the Wehrmacht, wrote a letter on January 15, 1944 in which he denounced the jurisdiction of the Nazi courts. As a result, he was also arrested and sentenced to three months in prison.

In freedom, Christine and Walter Bezdek experienced the liberation of Austria in April and May 1945 respectively. After the war, Christine Bezdek became involved with the ÖVP-Kameradschaft der politisch Verfolgten und Bekenner für Österreich, while her husband joined the SPÖ.