| Born: | 12-07-1909 |
| Faculty: | Roman Catholic Theological School |
| Category: | Expelled student |
Josef (Fra. Otto) PINZENÖHLER, born on December 8th, 1909 in Vienna/Austro-Hungarian Empire [Austria] (entitled residency ("heimatberechtigt") for Kettlasbrunn/Lower Austria, citizenship 1938: Austria), son of Franz Pinzenöhler (foreman of the Sirius company in Vienna's 15th district, Plunkergasse 23/II/12), lived in Vienna's 8th district, Alser Straße 17 (Minorite convent), and transferred in the spring term of 1938 from the Catholic Theological College in Zagreb to the Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Vienna, where he was accepted as an extraordinary student in the 3rd year of his studies on the basis of the secondary school studies applicable in Yugoslavia.
He was arrested under National Socialism for political reasons and was forced to abandon his studies and leave the University of Vienna.
He joined the monarchist resistance group around Wilhelm von Hebra (1884-1944), to which the clerics Peter August Blandenier (1905-1941), Frater Beda Land and Frater Franz Hierzer (1897-1945) also belonged. They were introduced by the medical student Karl Alfons Portele (1912-1993). Together they planned leaflet campaigns at the Vienna Minorite convent on Alser Straße. Pinzenöhler, a trained printer, was involved in both production and distribution.
A draft leaflet written by Hebra in November 1938 and signed "Östfrei" (Austria free) read:
"Austria is not a part of the German Empire, but a country conquered by lies and violence, held by tyranny, deprived of all rights, tormented and tortured. We Austrians are distinguished from the other Germans by our history and culture, in spirit and attitude, in character and way of life, and are opposed to the Prussians. We are a nation of our own: the Austrian nation."
The resistance group was betrayed to the Gestapo by an infiltrated police informer, Franz Paiha. At the end of March 1939, around 20 members of the resistance group were arrested, including von Hebra and Blandenier. Josef Pinzenöhler was arrested soon afterwards on April 18th, 1939, and imprisoned in the Vienna police detention center and then in the prison at the Vienna district court. The indictment before the People's Court was for "preparation for high treason" and he was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison and loss of honor by the People's Court on November 14th, 1943. He was imprisoned until December 16th, 1943, most recently in Regensburg/Germany. At the University of Vienna, he had already been officially removed from the list of students "for participation in treasonous endeavors" since his conviction.
He was ordained as a priest in 1944 and was later able to continue his studies, but he did not graduate at the University of Vienna. He then worked as a teacher, became a "Oberstudienrat" (senior teacher) and was a member of the ÖVP Comradeship of the Politically Persecuted and vice president of the Documentation Archive of the Austrian Resistance. As vicar, Monsignor Josef Pinzenöhler worked at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna until the end.
OStr Msgr. Alfons Prinzenöhler died on April 7th, 1991, and is buried at Vienna's Central Cemetery.
Lit: Archive of the University of Vienna, enrollment forms ("Nationale") KATH 1938-1939, rectorate GZ 1210 ex 1938/39 (=S 185.1169), US 245 No. 5; Luigi CIVARDI, Das Handbuch der Katholischen Aktion, Innsbruck/Vienna 1938, 213; Franz DANIMANN, Patriotischer "Hochverräter", in: Die Furche No. 33 of August 15th, 1991, 10; Die Furche No. 16 of April 18th, 1991.
Herbert Posch
