Hofrat Dr. Josef Emil Bischof

Josef Emil Bischof was born in Vienna as the legitimate son of the yellow foundry assistant Alois Bischof and Sofie, née Appel. After attending elementary school, he transferred to the grammar school in Linz and then to the Kollegium Kalksburg, where he graduated in 1931. In the same year, on October 2, 1931, he joins the Order of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), but leaves the order at his own request in 1935. He enrols in law at the University of Vienna and becomes a member of the Patriotic Front. In 1936, he joins the secondary school fraternity Austro-Danubia Wien and the student fraternity Alpenland and becomes an educator for the municipality of Vienna.

A staunch Austrian and opponent of National Socialism, he witnesses the downfall of a free and independent Austria on 12 March 1938. He was transferred to the chancellery by the National Socialists. In the same year, he married the elementary school teacher Aloisia Handschur and subsequently had a son and two daughters with her.

Even after the occupation of Austria and the forced dissolution of the Catholic student fraternities, Josef Bischof continued to meet with members of the Confederation and Cartell fraternities (Alfred Alt, Ferdinand Habl, Josef Handschur, Josef Kessler, Johann Paukowitsch) and founds the "Austrian People's Movement" with them. He was arrested by the Gestapo on the night of January 27/28, 1939 on suspicion of 'participation in a secret society' and taken into protective custody.

Josef Bischof was released from custody on March 9, 1939. The Gestapo officers made several mistakes during the investigation. On the one hand, they did not realize that the resistance group 'Austrian People's Movement' had been formed under the guise of continuing the student association 'Alpenland' and on the other hand, they filed the charge of 'continuation of a dissolved association' late, on 3 July 1939, which led to the offence becoming time-barred and the charge being dropped on 12 August 1939. However, he had to report to the police twice a week until 1941 and was repeatedly interrogated and had his house searched. He was also banned from promotion. In the same year, he obtained his doctorate in law.

On March 31, 1941, Josef Bischof was finally drafted into the Wehrmacht. After a brief period as an American prisoner of war, he returned home to Vienna on June 6, 1945. In 1946, he moved from the municipality of Vienna to the Austrian tax administration and became a tax officer at customs. He becomes involved with the ÖVP-Kameradschaft der politisch verfolgten und Bekenner für Österreich. Between 1959 and 1961, he joined the Ethiopian customs guard as a special advisor. He was also a member of the supervisory board of building, housing and settlement cooperatives.