On April 19, 1943, 80 years ago, a highly decorated Kaiserjäger officer and leading scout took his own life with his wife in their apartment in Innsbruck. A last resort after the National Socialist regime had increasingly harassed the “mixed couple”.
The war year 1943: The defeat at Stalingrad shocked the Third Reich. On the home front people are more than ever obsessed with a radical solution to the ‘Jewish question’.
This also applies to the Innsbruck couple Teuber. She is Jewish, but so far enjoys the protection of her ‘Aryan’ husband Oskar. He is a Kaiserjäger officer who was attested in a World War I ceremony: “Humble, undemanding, sharing the joys and sorrows with the team.” He then worked as a homecoming officer for the Tyrolean state government, was a respected officer in the army of the time and helped found the Austrian Boy Scouts.
The connection turned life upside down
The year 1938 turned the life of the patriot and his wife upside down, they became “second-class people”. “It is not possible to live under the same roof with a Jewess”, not only neighbors say. “The pressure to divorce gradually increased,” researched scout chronicler Bernhard Linhofer. De Völser came up with a lecture about the fate of the Teubers and was also able to view two photo albums of the family.
The Nazi authorities expelled Teuber’s niece Charlotte from school and arrested his brother Emmerich. Things get even worse at Easter 1943: Gauleiter Franz Hofer rants about a Gau completely free of Jews. Therefore, the protection afforded by an Aryan spouse no longer applies. SS-Obersturmführer Werner Hilliges had all Jewish husbands – mostly older women – placed in protective custody step by step and as quietly as possible. With delivery to the Innsbruck-Reichenau camp.
‘We started begging for her life’
The Teubers were also ordered into pre-trial detention and desperate interventions followed. “We started begging for her life,” cousin Charlotte later recalled. Shortly afterwards, even Gauhauptmann Gustav Linert wrote about Teuber’s “impeccable life” that one should not “splinter”. It is also good proof that, despite all the austerities, he does not deny his wife. However, all this had no effect on the superior Gauleiter Hofer.
Preparations for the act of desperation
Residents of the house at Goethestraße 15 in Innsbruck-Saggen then noticed that Oskar Teuber began to seal his apartment on the ground floor. A day before his wife should have come to Reichenau. The couple eventually committed suicide with coal gas on April 19, 1943.
fuss about the funeral
The funeral creates waves, personalities from the former corporate state and Linert join in. He is therefore severely reprimanded by Hofer. The Teubers are almost forgotten in public. Photos, documents, a grave cross and a small weekend house in the Leutasch that still exist today help Bernhard Linhofer in his research. A fate in the darkest years. . .
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
