Josef (Jupp) Händler
Personalia
Born:
Died:
Profession:
Persecution:
Imprisonment 12.03.1938 - 02.04.1938,
Dachau concentration camp 02.04.1938 - 27.09.1939,
Mauthausen concentration camp 27.09.1939 - 09.11.1939,
Dachau concentration camp 09.11.1939 - 23.01.1941,
Neuengamme concentration camp 23.01.1941 - 03.05.1945
KZ Number:
Memberships
Curriculum Vitae
Josef Händler, known as Jupp, is born in Güns [Köscek] in Hungary. Just six months after his birth, the family moved to Vienna, where his two younger brothers were born. Coming from the poorest working-class background, he had to chop wood and carry coal at the age of twelve.
He then began an apprenticeship as a painter and joined the trade union. Josef Händler became involved in the Socialist Workers' Youth (SAJ) and was an active demonstrator in the July Revolt of 1927, during which the Palace of Justice was set on fire. After the SPÖ breaks off the protest strike following the July Revolt 1927, he resigns from the board of the SAJ and joins the KPÖ and the Kommunist Youth Association (KJV).
During the socialist February Uprising 1934, Josef Händler is arrested for carrying ammunition. Sentenced to four years in prison, he was pardoned at Christmas 1935, but at the same time transferred to the Wöllersdorf detention camp, where he was only released on February 17, 1938.
His newfound freedom was short-lived, however, as the Gestapo arrested him in his apartment on the day of the occupation of Austria, March 12, 1938. On April 2, 1938, he was deported to the Dachau concentration camp on the so-called Prominent Transport. There he was given the nickname 'Jupp'.
[...] and I'm no hero either [...] and I screamed and shouted just as much as all the other prisoners when I was hanging on the stakes, because it was simply the most impossible pain.
After the war of aggression against Poland on September 1, 1939, Dachau concentration camp was evacuated for the SS at short notice and Josef Händler was transferred to Mauthausen concentration camp on September 27, 1939. He was transferred back on November 9, 1939.
He worked in the illegal political camp administration. Josef Händler is employed in the securities room. There he was occasionally able to "fork out" small amounts of money for his comrades so that they could buy something to eat in the canteen. After three months, this was discovered and he was sent to the detention bunker for six weeks and then to the punishment company.
On January 23, 1941, Josef Händler was transferred to the KZ Neuengamme
I myself was lucky when I collapsed that the paramedics were political prisoners [...]. That was my salvation.
Later, Josef Händler continued to work on construction sites, including in the roofing crew; in 1944, he worked in the prisoners' baths.
Josef Händler provided help whenever he could. He took care of the children who were being abused by SS doctor Dr. Kurt Heißmeyer for tuberculosis experiments. At Christmas 1944, he and his comrades brought them presents - chocolate that Scandinavian prisoners had received from Red Cross parcels and toys.
After the liberation of Austria, Josef Händler remained in Hamburg and founded the Committee of Former Political Prisoners together with other prisoners. He later testified in court about the SS crimes.
In the early 1980s, he took part in the protest against the impending demolition of the Klinkerwerk and supported the call for it to be listed as a historical monument. He repeatedly spoke about his memories to school classes and on the alternative city tours organized by the Landesjugendring.
Josef Händler died in Hamburg on August 10, 1987.
Places
Residence:
Persecution:
Citations
KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme: Gedenkschrift Josef Händler
