Eduard Tschokl

Eduard TSCHOKL, born on March 24^th, 1916 in Vienna/Austria (entitled residency ("heimatberechtigt") for Vienna/Austria, citizenship 1938: Austria), son of Eduard Tschokl (1885-1949, coffee house owner and head of the coffee boilers' guild) and Pauline, née Clement (b. 1890), lived in Vienna's 6^th district, Girardigasse 10. In 1933 he was punished by the police for National Socialist activities and was therefore expelled from the Realschule Vienna's 6^th district. Nevertheless, he was able to successfully pass the school-leaving examination (Matura) at the Realschule in Vienna's 7^th district in 1935, then enrolled at the Philosophical School to take the supplementary examination in Latin and studied at the University of Vienna from the fall term 1937/38 and was enrolled at the Medical Choll in the 1st year of his studies in the spring term of 1938.

Due to his maternal grandmother - born in 1858, she had converted from Judaism to Catholicism in 1891 - he was considered a "Mischling 2^nd degree" according to the Nazi racial criteria of 1938 and could only continue his studies provisionally and only upon revocation at any time.
This despite his Nazi political commitment - he was a comradeship leader of the Hitler Youth (HJ) from 1932, also during illegality until 1936, and a member of the SA (Sturmbann 1/4 Hauptsturm 7) from 1937 during illegality - he was expelled from the NSDAP, HJ and SA for racist reasons in 1938.

He was able to pass the First Rigorosum on November 29^th, 1939 and to intern at the Wieden Hospital for two months at the internal department and to famulate at the gynecological department there. As "Mischlinge" he had to submit an application to the Reich Ministry of Education in Berlin for admission to studies as of the 1^st trimester 1940, Edmund Tschokl also submitted an application to continue his studies.
In accordance with regulations, the dean of the medical school, Prof. Eduard Pernkopf, attached his expert opinion to the application, which "in particular [had to] address the personal impression about the personality and appearance of the applicant. It is to be mentioned whether and to what extent characteristics of the Jewish race are outwardly recognizable in the applicant." [Decree of the Ministry of Education, January 5^th, 1940]. In it he stated on April 16^th, 1940: "Tschokl Eduard has appeared here today. His facial features show a little of the Jewish type, but he proves that he was punished by the police at the time for National Socialist activities, and is a Mischling of the second degree. So his past seems to speak for him."
The Reich Ministry of Education, after consultation with the Reich Ministry of the Interior, decided to admit Tschokl to the medical examination, but it should be expressly noted that as a "half-breed" he would have no chance of obtaining a certificate (professional license) as a doctor in the German Reich.
After passing the 2^nd and 3^rd viva voce examinations, Edmund Tschokl would have been entitled to receive his doctorate on April 29^th, 1943, according to the old study regulations. However, without proof of certification as a physician (which was not granted to him as a "Mischling"), he was not allowed to receive his doctorate or the doctoral diploma. "However, in order to make it easier for the aforementioned to obtain suitable employment in industry, I authorize the faculty to issue a certificate to the effect that, apart from the proof of German-blooded descent, they have fulfilled all the requirements for the award of the doctoral degree. It shall be expressly noted on the certificate that it is not valid as a doctoral diploma."
Rather, he was commissioned as a medical sergeant until the end of the war.

It was only after the end of National Socialism that he was awarded a doctorate in the first post-war doctorate on June 8^th, 1945 - retroactively as of April 29^th, 1943 - according to the old and now reintroduced Austrian study regulations to the "Dr.med. univ." of the University of Vienna, married a fellow doctor (d. 1978) and became a physician with hospital employment and his own gynecological practice in Vienna's 6^th district, Mariahilfer Straße and was considered a "celebrity doctor."
He was appointed "Medizinalrat", but from 1958 he also made a name for himself as a diver, underwater filmmaker and documentary filmmaker, and was awarded several prizes for his films (e.g. Mask, Dances and Demons | 1981, Reefs & Islands | 1979, Rhapsody in Blue | 1978; Military | 1974; Dangerous Laurel | 1967; One Always Wins | 1966; Neptune's Blue Garden | 1966; Gymnestrada | 1965; Magic Kingdom Coral Call | 1962; Jazz on the Waves | 1961; Leni Riefenstahl Life; Throne of the Gods) and was also an avid horseman and ice dancer.

Eduard Tschokl had an accident on September 12^th, 1992 during a diving trip in the Red Sea, off Safaga/Egypt (his body was never found and he was later declared dead with this date).

Lit.: Archive of the University of Vienna/enrollment form ("Nationale") MED 1937-1939; graduation registry ("Promotionsprotokoll") MED 1941-1949, No. 1266; POSCH/INGRISCH/DRESSEL 2008, 491; Georg SCHÖRNER, Edi Tschokl - 100, in: Filmpresse 1, 2016, 15; VÖFA|Verband Oesterreichischer Film-Autoren; REITER-ZATLOUKAL/SAUER 2023; information from Dr. Barbara Sauer, Vienna 03/2022.

Herbert Posch