Dr. Josef Anton Dechler
Personalia
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Curriculum Vitae
Josef Anton Dechler is born in Vienna as the legitimate son of Josef and Marie Dechler. His father was born in Lake Geneva, United States of America. After elementary school, he attended the Akademisches Gymnasium in Vienna, where he graduated in 1924. He then enrolled in law at the University of Vienna and graduated on May 13, 1929, where he married Renate Stöhr.
After completing his doctorate, he began working as a lawyer in the Federal Chancellery of the Republic of Austria, where he was involved in combating the illegal National Socialist movement. By 1938, he was involved in the arrest of 8,000 illegal National Socialists.
On March 12, 1938, Josef Dechler witnessed the demise of a free and independent Austria with the invasion of the German Wehrmacht. He was arrested by the Gestapo on the night of the occupation of Austria from March 11 to March 12, 1938. He was severely maltreated in custody and 11 of his teeth were knocked out, and on May 24, 1938, he was deported to Dachau concentration camp.
On March 13, 1939, Josef Dechler was released from prison. He then works as
[...]
I was taken to Dachau concentration camp via the Elisabethpromenade prison and the Schiffamtsstraße and Karajangasse notary's quarters. The inflammation of the middle ear on both sides led to joint infections with severe swelling (constantly wet and inadequate clothing in winter) and general nerve and muscle inflammation. In the second week after I was sent to the camp, I had to take over a wheelbarrow that had been specially overloaded with gravel after the film comedian Grünbaum, who had collapsed under the load, and carry it on at a run. In the process, I collapsed unconscious.
In the police station, I could see that intestinal loops had emerged from the abdominal wall and that there must have been lacerations from the kicks with boots.
[...]
On March 13, 1939, Josef Dechler is released from prison. He then works for the construction companies Adolf Illmer and Gebrüder Schlarbaum. He managed to avoid being drafted into the Wehrmacht. In 1944, he had to undergo surgery in a concentration camp due to his injuries.
In April 1945 and May 1945, Josef Dechler witnessed the liberation of Austria and the re-establishment of the Republic. He joins the newly founded Austrian People's Party (ÖVP)and the ÖVP-Kameradschaft der politisch Verfolgten undf Bekenner für Österreich.
After Austria's liberation, he initially worked as a banker, but later founded a wholesale and commercial agency company. He acquires a tobacconist's license for his wife.
Citations
Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv (WStLA)
Archiv der Universität Wien
Matricula Online
